Grammy-winning rapper T.I. has weighed in on how he is treating first-week sales tallies for his newTrouble Man: Heavy Is the Head solo album and admitted numbers do not lie.
Tip said his stature in the rap game heavily rests on what his LP does on the sales chart next week.
"Yes," Tip said in an interview when asked if he is worried about first-week sales. "Yes. I ain't worried, I'm just concerned. I'm considering it. I'm a big dog, man. Big dogs do big dogs things. That's the separation of me from them. I'm a big dog. That's what I preach. I practice that. Everybody always tells me the business is changing, the music is changing, the climate's changing but I remain the same." ("The Breakfast Club")
Tip's new solo album may not debut atop the chart, however, it is slated to sell up to 175,000 copies in week one.
YOUR ONE-DAYS: New week, same chart champ. The unstoppable force of nature known as Taylor Swift should remain at #1 next week, with Michael Bublé's resurgent Christmas album and Trouble Man by hip-hop hero T.I. vying for runner-up. Here's how the week's key debuts are shaping up: T.I. (Grand Hustle/Atlantic) 150-175k, 12/12/12: The Concert for Sandy Relief (Columbia) 125-150k Chief Keef (Interscope) 50-55k (HITS Daily Double)
The "King of the South" recently spoke to SOHH about not rushing out the long-awaited No Mercy follow-up.
"For an artist of my caliber, at this point in my career, it's my eighth abum," Tip told SOHH about the delays behind Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head. "With all the time I've been away [in jail] and the expectations of the performance of it, I think [it was necessary] to perfect it and to deliver a classic. [I wasn't] trying to lock myself into a date and compromise my art. Ideally, [I wanted it] before the new year but if [I had to wait] until a few weeks after to get a better shot at delivering to the fans classic material then that's the path [I would have taken]." (SOHH)
Last year, Tip said No Mercy's No. 4 debut and 159,700 opening week sales caught him off-guard.
"I was shocked as sh*t," says Tip of the album which found success, despite his absence, with singles that featured Chris Brown and Eminem. "[But] then it was like 'D*mn, this is my worst selling album since [2001's] I'm Serious.' Then when I saw that I got up to six [hundred thousand copies sold] I was like 'D*mn I'm doing the same and more as motherf*ckers that's on fire out there. I'm talking acts that's all on the radio, got videos out, touring, I'm doing the same as them from in here. So then I started getting anxious. I felt like I gotta get out there and seal the deal." (VIBE)
Check out T.I.'s interview:
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