Nas Dethrones Lil Wayne Atop Billboard 200

One rapper replaces another atop The Billboard 200 this week, as Nas' untitled Def Jam album dethrones Lil Wayne's Cash Money/Universal set "Tha Carter III." Nas' album sold 187,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the rapper's fifth No. 1 here.

Nas' prior album, 2006's "Hip-Hop Is Dead," also debuted at No. 1 but sold 354,000 over Christmas week. Meanwhile, after three non-consecutive weeks at No. 1, "Tha Carter III" slips to No. 2 with a 15% sales decrease to 105,000.

The Decca soundtrack to "Mamma Mia!," the film adaptation of the hit theatrical musical based on ABBA's songbook, experiences an 89% sales boost after the movie hit theaters Friday (and earned the highest grossing weekend opening ever for a musical); it climbs 7-3 with 91,000. Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol) slips 2-4 with 90,000 (-20%), while the Jonas Brothers-led soundtrack to Disney's "Camp Rock" descends 3-5 with 78,000 (-12%).

Though it slips 5-6 on the chart, Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" (Atlantic) continues to resurge with the help of the Hot AC/Adult Top 40 single "All Summer Long," selling 73,000 with a 20% sales increase.

John Mellencamp's Hear Music debut "Life Death Love and Freedom" bows at No. 7 with 56,000, his fourth top 10 album. It's his 19th charting record overall, stretching back to the Aug. 18, 1979, debut of "John Cougar."

David Banner debuts right behind at No. 8 with his third straight top 10 studio album, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (SRC/Universal), shifting 52,000. His previous set, 2005's "Certified," peaked at No. 6.

"Beautiful Eyes," a new Wal-mart exclusive EP/DVD from country star Taylor Swift, begins with 45,000 at No. 9. Meanwhile, her Big Machine self-titled debut climbs 14-12 with 35,000 (+20%) in its 59th week on the chart. Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" (SRP/Def Jam) rounds out the top tier, slipping 8-10 with 41,000 (-12%).

O.A.R.'s "All Sides" (Atlantic) earns the group its biggest charting and sales week ever, debuting at No. 13 with 33,000. Country veteran Randy Travis also snares his highest charting album ever on The Billboard 200 as "Around the Bend" (Warner Bros.) debuts at No. 14 with 31,000.

Other debuts this week include Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's soundtrack to new Batman movie "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) at No. 20 with 25,000 and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's live EP "Magic Tour Highlights" (Columbia) at No. 48 with 12,000.

At 7.48 million units, sales this week are up 2.1% from last week's sum and down 7.85% from the same week last year.

Source: Billboard.com

Lil Wayne Back On Top Of The Billboard 200

Despite a 25% drop in sales, Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" returns to the top of The Billboard 200 this week. The Cash Money/Universal album moved 156,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and has now sold 1.68 million in four weeks of release.

Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol) -- which crowned the chart for the last two weeks -- drops down to No. 2, with 149,000 and a 40% decrease in sales. The Jonas Brothers-led soundtrack to Disney's "Camp Rock" stays at No. 3 for a third week straight with 116,000 (-32%).

G-Unit's sophomore set, "T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight)" (G-Unit/Interscope) debuts at No. 4 with 102,000. The crew's 2003's debut album, "Beg For Mercy," started at No. 1 with 377,000.

John Mayer's "Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles" debuts this week at No. 5 with 75,000. It's the third live offering from the songwriter, on the heels of 2005's "Try! Live in Concert" and 2003's "Any Given Thursday." The former debuted and peaked at No. 34 with 50,000, while "Thursday" debuted at No. 17 with 64,000.

The multi-label hits compilation "Now 28" holds tight at No. 6 with 59,000 (-10%), as Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" (Top Dog/Atlantic) re-enters the top 10 12-7 with a 27% boost in sales to 45,000. Much of that album's charge as of late has been powered by the single "All Summer Long," which rises 18-13 on the Hot AC/Adult Top 40 chart, 53-44 on Hot Country Songs and 21-17 on the CHR/Top 40 chart.

Usher's LaFace/Zomba set "Here I Stand" descends 7-8 with a 20% sales decrease to 41,000. Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" (SRP/Def Jam) climbs a slot 10-9 with 40,000 (-14%). That album flip-flops with Disturbed's Warner Bros. album "Indestructible," which falls 9-10 with 37,000 (-25%).

Rapper Tech N9ne scores his highest charting album and best sales week ever as "Killer" (Strange Music/Fontana) debuts at No. 12 with 36,000. The Kansas City native has been charting since 2001; his previous high came with the No. 49 debut and peak of 2007's "Misery Loves Kompany."

Rock outfit Alkaline Trio's "Agony & Irony" (Epic) bows right behind at No. 13 with only a couple dozen fewer sales at 36,000. This is also the Chicago group's best sales and charting week ever.

Other debuts this week include My Chemical Romance's live set "The Black Parade is Dead!" (Reprise, No. 22, 23,000), "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens' "Identified" (Hollywood, No. 23, 22,000), Relient K's "The Bird and the Bee Sides" (Gotee, No. 25, 20,000), Los Lonely Boys' "Forgiven" (Epic, No. 26, 19,000) and Jim Jones & Byrd Gang's "M.O.B.: The Album" (Asylum, No. 29, 17,000).

At 7.56 million units, sales this week are down 1.4% from last week's sum and off 13.4% from the same week last year.

Source: Billboard.com

Coldplay Cruises To No. 1 On The Billboard 200

As expected, Coldplay tops The Billboard 200 with "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," which shifted a whopping 721,000 first-week U.S. copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The Capitol effort sold nearly as many copies as the band's other chart-topper, 2005's "X&Y," which moved 737,000. Only one other rock band has had a 700,000-plus week since the release of that effort. Last November, the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" began at No. 1 with 711,000.

With the million-plus debut of Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" last week, this marks only the second time the chart has seen back-to-back debuts of more than 700,000 since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. The first time it happened was way back in the summer of 2000, when Britney Spears' "Oops! I Did It Again" (1,319,000) was followed by Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" (1,760,000).

Forty percent of "Viva La Vida" sales, 288,000 copies, were digital downloads, making it the biggest sales frame ever registered for a digital album. It surpasses the previous record, set earlier this year when Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" (139,000).

With a 69% sales decrease, "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money/Universal) slips 1-2 with 309,000 units.

The soundtrack to the Disney Channel film "Camp Rock," featuring the Jonas Brothers, debuts at No. 3 with 188,000. The movie premiered on June 20 and averaged 8.9 million total viewers according to Nielsen, making it the network's second-most-watched original movie after 2007's "High School Musical 2."

The multi-label "Now 28" compilation continues its decline 3-4 with 81,000 (39%), while Plies' "Definition of Real" (Big Gates/Slip-N-Slide) falls 2-5 with 68,000 (-68%). Selling 65,000, Usher's LaFace/Zomba set "Here I Stand" descends 5-6 with a 36% sales decrease.

Flying up the chart 124-7, Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" (SRP/Def Jam) experiences a 930% sales jump to 63,000; a re-issue of the 2007 album hit shelves with three additional tracks. Disturbed's former chart-topping Warner Bros. set "Indestructible" declines 4-8 with 59,000 (-42%).

Capitol pop newcomer Katy Perry has a No. 9 start with her debut album, "One of the Boys," which sold 47,000. The single "I Kissed a Girl" has been climbing its way up the Hot 100 and sits currently at the No. 2 spot, behind Coldplay's "Viva La Vida."

The Offspring's first album in five years, "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (Columbia), debuts at No. 10 with 46,000. The veteran rock act's 2003 album "Splinter" peaked at No. 30.

Metal mainstay Judas Priest's "Nostradamus" (Epic) begins at No. 11 with 42,000, the highest charting album of the band's career. Its previous best came with 2005's "Angel of Retribution" at No. 13.

Blood Raw's first album for Def Jam, "CTE Presents: My Life: The True Testimony," debuts at No. 30 with 17,000, and rapper 2 Pistols' debut "Death Before Dishonor" (J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League) bows at No. 33 with 16,000. Indie rock act Wolf Parade earns its highest chart position with "At Mount Zoomer" (Sub Pop), moving 13,000 to open at No. 46.

Album sales are down 10.6% from last week's sum at 8.30 million units, and are down 6.7% compared to the same week last year. With 196.98 million units sold this year so far, sales are down 10.9% overall compared to last year.

Source: Billboard.com

Lil Wayne: "Tha Carter III" review

He's the self-proclaimed "best rapper alive," has made more than 40 guest appearances since 1999 and has been the most hyped hip-hop artist in recent time. But with help from A-list guest stars (T-Pain, Robin Thicke) and producers (Kanye West, Swizz Beatz), Lil Wayne backs up the boasts on the oft-delayed "Tha Carter III." In case you were on the fence, he reminds how "ill" his skills are on "A Milli" ("I'm a venereal disease/like a menstrual I bleed"), and he drafts fellow Carter Jay-Z to dismiss the haters atop piano and horns on "Mr. Carter." And while tracks like the played-out-themed "Got Money" and the elementary-sounding "La La" fall short of the mark, others like the "E.T."-inspired "Phone Home" and "Dr. Carter," on which Wayne literally attempts to resuscitate hip-hop, further secure his spot in said genre's pantheon.

Source: Billboard.com

Lil Wayne A Lock To Top Next Week's Album Chart

It's all about Lil Wayne this week as The Billboard 200 prepares for the arrival of "Tha Carter III." The rapper's new Cash Money/Universal album will easily bow at No. 1 next week, as it leads Nielsen SoundScan's Building Chart, to be released this afternoon (June 11) at 5 p.m. ET.

Unweighted first-day sales of "Tha Carter III" at nine leading accounts through the close of business yesterday (June 10), stood at 423,000. Sources close to the album project "Carter" could shift between 850,000-950,000 in its first full week.

That would easily give Wayne the biggest sales week of the year, surpassing the 463,000 start that greeted Mariah Carey's "E=MC2," and the best since Kanye West's "Graduation" started with 957,000 last year.

To compare, "Graduation" saw a first-day Building number of 437,000 from eight accounts, about 3% more than that posted by "Carter."

Billboard estimates the nine merchants who report to Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart -- Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Circuit City, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, Target, Anderson Merchandisers and Handleman Co. -- comprise about 80% of all U.S. album sales.

Starbucks was not part of the Building Chart panel when West's title came to market last Sept. 11.

Other albums likely to make top 10 debuts next week, based on first-day numbers reflected on Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart: Plies' "Definition of Real" (Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic), N.E.R.D.'s "Seeing Sounds" (Star Trak/Interscope), Alanis Morissette's "Flavors of Entanglement" (Maverick/Warner Bros.) and My Morning Jacket's "Evil Urges" (ATO).

Source: Billboard.com