3. Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – 81,000 – The bad news? She 187′d her Twitter. The good news? She’s still on top of the charts.

17. Trip Lee – The Good Life – 22,000 - I’m not exactly sure who Trip Lee is, but apparently he lives in D.C. Looks like I may have to do some investigating.

28. Drake – Take Care – 14,000 - That HYFR video will go down as one of the best of 2012. Now, if we can get one for either “Underground King” or “Look What You’ve Done” we can call it a day. Or maybe even “Over My Dead Body.” 

1. Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – 253,000 - There wasn’t much doubt about who was going to land at the number one spot. At least she gave Queens a W this week. Lord knows Havoc and Prodigy damn near gave Q.B. the blackest eye of all time. Oh, and one more thing. Bless Nicki’s soul for that “Beez In The Trap” video.

26. Drake – Take Care – 17,000 - Look who’s creeping up on double platinum. That “HYFR” video was beyond dope, by the way.

36. Tyga – Careless World – 12,000 - Birdman’s somewhere rubbing his hands right now. 

48. Young Jeezy – TM103 – 9,400 - I actually revisited some tracks from this the past week and I’m still convinced Boosie would have ripped “Never Been The Same.”

79. Diggy – Unexpected Arrival – 5,900 - The total numbers aren’t anywhere near where Young Simmons was expecting I’m sure, but there’s a lot to learn from where the debut album went wrong moving forward in his career.

113. Obie Trice – Bottoms Up – 4,400 - I haven’t listened to Obie in a long, long time. Therefore, I really cannot speak to the quality of this album. That said, hopefully his indie hustle is on its A-game.

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Before moving on, let me first say, R.I.P. Martin Luther King. If you’re asking why I said that, utilize Google and read a book. Now, to what we came here for…

22. Drake – Take Care – 15,900 - Any day now those “Take Care” and “HYFR” videos will drop. Any day now.

31. Tyga - Careless World: Rise Of The Last King – 12,400 - Something tells me “Faded” and “Make It Nasty” will become huge songs this summer.

34. Odd Future – OF Tape, Vol. 2 – 11,900 - With this album doing what it’s supposed to do, when can we expect Frank Ocean’s project? 

5. Odd Future – OF Tape, Vol. 2 – 40,000 - Here I was thinking this was a mixtape. 40K on an album with no promotion isn’t anything to laugh at.

12. Diggy Simmons – Unexpected Arrival – 21,000 - The song with Jeremih was such a success, here’s to hoping the young boy has a bonafide follow up.

16. Drake – Take Care – 18,000 - I appreciate the new video, Drizzy. Really, don’t think I’m some greedy fan who only appreciates the present day. But seriously, homie, it’s about time for some new music. 

Crucial Conflict’s “Hay” reminds me of spending summers in Clinton, Maryland, in the mid-1990′s. Released in July 1996, C.C.’s The Final Tic was fueled by the song in discussion which eventually landed at #18 on the charts. Not only that, it helped the album achieve gold status not even two months later.

“Hay” reminds me of how I once obtained music. I’d sit beside radios all day with blank tapes with both the record and pause buttons pressed at the same time pacing anxiously for that one song to come on. The worst part would be catching whatever record you desired halfway through (it took me forever to get Biggie’s “Hypnotize”). Either that or running out of room on the tape before the record was over. Still, Crucial Conflict’s “Hay” was one of those songs that dominated my mid-90′s tapes.

I’m pretty sure at the time it had more to do with the infectious hook than anything else, but it ranks as one of the earlier moments which began to harbor my appreciation for Hip-Hop (and music in general) beyond what the radio dictated was “hot.” My ironic memory about the song and how it played such a crucial role in my pre-teen years was the fact for the longest time I had no clue what “hay” was and why it was smoked in the barn. Time and middle school friends eventually answered that question, however.

Feel free to forward this link to friends and be surprised by the responses you’ll receive; everything from “I haven’t heard this in years” to “I have never heard this song before in my life.” Crucial Conflict may not be in anyone’s top five rap groups of all time, but the fact remains “Hay” is a truly classic Hip-Hop record. And that has to stand for something.

5. Drake – Take Care – 36,000 - The “Take Care” video drops this Friday and apparently one for “HYFR” should soon follow. Drake, if you’re reading this buddy, feel free to drop a “9 A.M. In Dallas Pt. 2″ track whenever you’re ready.

9. Tyga – Careless World – 20,000 - I’m glad to see “Faded” is beginning to make its rounds.

12. Tech N9Ne – Klusterfuk EP – 17,000 - Is it me or does this guy never stop releasing projects? This is like the third one in the past eight months it feels like.

24. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV – 11,000 - Officially double platinum and climbing. I still wouldn’t mind a visual for “Blunt Blowin’” and/or “Megaman.” And by saying that, I just realized “She Will” never got one.

40. Jay-Z/Kanye West – Watch The Throne – 8,600 - For some reason, I’ve been listening to this album more than I ever have over the past two weeks. The first verse on “Why I Love You” is about as real as Jay’s been in a long, long time.

84. KiD CuDi & Dot Da Genius – WZRD – 4,700 - Where’s that G.O.O.D. Music album?

111. Childish Gambino – Camp – 4,000 - For a project that never saw radio or much TV time, moving 140,000 units is impressive.

170. Mac Miller – Blue Slide Park – 2,600 - 300K and climbing and you know what else? The most notable connotation about the album was the fact it landed at number one as an indie. That’s great, but the LP was pretty damn good, too. Let’s not get lost in that.

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6. Drake – Take Care – 58,000 -  The next video set to be released is “Take Care” with Rihanna. I can’t be mad at the decision in the least bit.

7. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV – 36,000 - Look who’s double platinum.

12. Tyga – Careless World – 22,000 - And thus completes the trifecta of YMCMB albums in the top 15.

20. Young Jeezy – TM103 – 14,000 - With the numbers this week, Young official eclipsed the 500K sold mark. Kudos to him because a couple of months ago, there was a lot of speculation surrounding Jeezy’s future.

28. KiD CuDi & Dot Da Genius – WZRD – 10,000 -  Not that this has anything to do with this album, but Cudder’s first album has been on repeat for awhile. In regards to the album in question, I’ve heard conflicting reports.

84. Wale – Ambition – 5,200 - 400K sold for Wale is a win in damn near any situation. I’m just glad he released a video for the album’s title track. And that LSU jacket Ross was wearing in the video? Tough.

197. Maino – The Day After Tomorrow – 2,200 - We’ll just chalk this up to a lack of promotion.

1. Adele – 21 – 246,529 - I’ve run out of compliments to give Adele. This is just ridiculous now. FYI, she’ll be 8x platinum next week.

2. Whitney Houston – Greatest Hits – 112,065 - No real surprise here either. Whitney’s daughter is getting everything though. And everything as in ev-er-y-thing.

6. Tyga – Careless World – 37,413 - I hear “Faded” is probably looking like the next single. Good move.

8. Drake – Take Care – 29,832 - Is it me or has it been a minute since Drizzy dropped some new music? Now imagine what the net will do if he does one of those “drop-a-track-at-4-a.m.” again.

9. Rihanna – Talk That Talk – 25,302 - If Rih-Rih shoots a new video for this and there’s a clip of her eating rice cakes, Twitter may break.

27. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne - 15,109 – With all this talk of a sequel, what I really want to hear is a video for “Who Gon’ Stop Me” is being filmed.