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The question is, will the additional foot traffic the two Friday releases will certainly bring to stores help to increase Tupac’s sales, or work to dilute said sales by dividing the consumer’s rap-buying dollar?

ONE-DAY SALES: IT’S TUPAC OUT FRONT... FOR NOW

Slain Rapper’s Latest Posthumous Collection Leads a Slew of Releases, But Here Come Jay-Z and G-Unit
This is one wacky week.

You got your major pack o’ Tuesday releases making for an already-exciting Q4 sales week, but then you also got your double-shot of rap projects busting out on Friday to avoid the inevitable piracy rush. Key word: unpredictable. That being said, here are some predictions from our team of retail swamis.

After one day on sale, slain rapper Tupac Shakur’s latest posthumous collection, Resurrection (Amaru/Interscope) is out in front, looking like it will easily sell over 350k for the week, according to early reports from national accounts.

That’s the easy part. The hard part is figuring how the upcoming Friday release of both Jay-Z’s The Black Album (Roc-A-Fella/IDJ) and G-Unit’s Beg for Mercy (G-Unit/Interscope) will affect the Tupac (also known as 2Pac on record). The question is, will the additional foot traffic the two Friday releases will certainly bring to stores help to increase Tupac’s sales, or work to dilute said sales by dividing the consumer’s rap-buying dollar?

We can’t even guess at this point, but we can say to expect big numbers on Friday. And speaking of Friday, most retailers are telling us to expect rampant street-date violations on both titles tomorrow. “We won’t be the first, but we won’t be the third,” they're saying. So expect big numbers Thursday as well. Whether there’s a race for next week’s #1 won’t become clear until then.

Meanwhile, a slew of other major releases hit the streets yesterday, including Josh Groban’s sophomore effort. Closer (Warner Bros.) is exceeding expectations, looking like it will move over 250k by the end of the week. And that unexpectedly high number could get even higher—possibly reaching 300k—given Groban’s heavy TV schedule this week.

Also looking good as of today is Kid Rock’s latest. Kid Rock (Atlantic) is expected to come in at around 200k.

Next up is Pink, whose Try This (Arista) appears headed a first week of around 150k. That number, like Groban’s, could pick up as the week progresses thanks to several scheduled TV appearances.

Also hitting yesterday were Pearl Jam’s B-sides/rarities compilation, Lost Dogs (Epic), which looks like it’ll do upwards of 120k, and Bruce Springsteen’s three-disc The Essential Bruce Springsteen remaster (Columbia) which is on track to sell about 100k for the week.

Now go camp out at your favorite record store (if you can find one) until Friday. Hyphens for everyone!
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