Busta Rhymes burst onto the U.S. album charts on Wednesday with his first No. 1 release, “The Big Bang,” leading a generally sedate week on the Billboard 200 pop music roster.
Rhymes’ collection, featuring a hot single alternately known as “I Love My Chick” and “I Love My Bitch,” debuted with 209,000 U.S. copies sold for the week ended June 18, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
That tally marked the rapper’s best seven-day stretch since “E.L.E.: Extinction Level Event” sold 212,000 units in its second week in 1998.
“The Big Bang” (Aftermath/Interscope) also shot straight to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums tallies.
Meanwhile, country trio the Dixie Chicks continued to roost at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with “Taking the Long Way” (Columbia) logging fourth-week sales of 130,000 copies, down 25 percent from the week before. Their set also remains at the top of the country albums chart for a fourth week.
After debuting at No. 1 last week, punk rock band AFI fell to No. 3 as its latest collection, “Decemberunderground,” sold 104,000 copies, down 43 percent in its second week, but the set held onto its grip at the pinnacle of the rock albums chart.
The soundtrack to Disney’s “High School Musical” continued to flourish after 23 weeks on the Billboard 200, climbing a notch to No. 4 on sales of 79,000 copies, down just 8 percent.
The week’s only other top 10 debut was “One-X,” the sophomore album from Canadian rock band Three Days Grace, which landed at No. 5. The Jive set sold 78,000 and easily outpaced the group’s self-titled debut, which peaked at No. 69 but has sold 1.2 million copies to date.
In an otherwise sleepy chart frame, the top 10 was rounded out by the “Cars” soundtrack (No. 6, Disney, 75,000 units); funkateers the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Stadium Arcadium” (No. 7, Warner Bros., 74,000); country unit Rascal Flatts’ “Me and My Gang” (No. 8, Lyric Street, 73,000); rapper Yung Joc’s “New Joc City” (No. 9, Bad Boy, 70,000); and rap vet Ice Cube’s “Laugh Now, Cry Later” (No. 10, Lench Mob, 64,000).
Only two other albums managed to debut in the top 50 this week. Billy Joel’s double-disc set “12 Gardens Live” (Columbia) opened at No. 14 with sales of 44,000 copies. Widespread Panic’s “Earth to America” (Sanctuary) entered at No. 48 with 21,000 units sold, the veteran jam band’s best position ever for a studio album.
At 10.4 million units, overall CD sales were up 9 percent from the previous week and down 13 percent compared to the same week a year ago. Total sales to date for 2006 are down 4 percent compared to 2005 at 251.6 million units.
Reuters/Billboard