JAY: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, album sales still matter in hip-hop. Are they as determining of an artist’s success as they were in the early 2000s? No, but that doesn’t mean they don’t matter at all.

Sure, it’s becoming a known fact that the average major label artist in hip-hop is making the majority of their money through touring, merchandise and other ventures outside of music, naturally making the number of albums they sell less meaningful in terms of finances. But think about it like this: can’t album sales still “matter” and still be relevant, even if it’s not the biggest cash cow for an artist? Whether the average number of albums sold is 100, or 1,000,000, if you fall below the average, people will notice and tastemakers will feed you to the wolves.

When Kendrick dropped To Pimp A Butterfly earlier then expected, the first thing people questioned was, “how many records do you think he’ll sell?” When Drake dropped If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late surprisingly, what was the first thing people mentioned? “Wow, I can’t believe Drake sold that many copies of a “free” project,” or something along those lines. Naturally, people still focus on and think about the number of albums sold in hip-hop. There’s no denying that.

So, yes, album sales certainly still matter when it comes to this lovely thing called hip-hop. They don’t necessarily mean as much to an artist’s success as they once did, but in a ruthless industry where critics are aplenty, you better make sure your numbers are right if you don’t want the trolls coming for you.

Keep the albums alive, people!