Big day for Jay-Z.
On the same day the hip-hopster was officially named president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings (he starts Jan. 3), his latest CD topped the charts–the second time in just over a month that he’s debuted at number one.
The supposedly retired rapper teamed with alt-rockers Linkin Park on Collision Course, which outsold all comers last week. The Jigga’s last high-profile collaboration, the litigious disaster Best of Both Worlds: Unfinished Business with R. Kelly, hit the top spot in early November. Now, five weeks later, Jay-Z repeated the feat with Linkin Park.
The mash-up disc Collision Course moved 368,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures released Wednesday, making the new release better than the Best. The new tally topped the R. Kelly-affiliated disc’s first-week numbers by a whopping 153,000 copies.
This is the third time this year that Jay-Z has been mashed-up to make headlines. The trend, which mixes together songs from different artists, went mainstream when DJ Danger Mouse mashed Jay-Z’s farewell solo release, The Black Album, with the Beatles’ White Album to create the Grey Album. Soon after, Cheap Cologne mixed Jay-Z’s The Black Album with Metallica ‘s own Black Album for–you guessed it–the Double Black Album. Upon hearing these bootlegs, Jay-Z contacted Linkin Park about doing an official mash-up.
Originally planning just one song, Jay-Z and Linkin Park wound up creating six new tracks, including mash-ups of “Papercut” with “Big Pimpin’,” “Faint” with “Jigga What?” and the radio smash mix of “Numb” with “Encore.”
The Jay-Z-Linkin Park pairing bumped U2 from the top spot. The Irish rockers slipped to number two as How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sold 288,000 copies to bring its two-week tally to 1.1 million.
Inaugural American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson bowed at three with her sophomore disc, Breakaway, selling 250,000 units. In 2003, her debut album, Thankful, topped the charts, and season two stars Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken followed suit with numbers ones later that year. Though American Idol’s star power seemed unstoppable at the time, all four Idol solo albums released in 2004 failed to repeat the top-charting glory.
Erstwhile Jay-Z rival Nas opened at number five with his double-disc Street’s Disciple moving 232,000 discs. The rapper’s dad, jazz trumpeter Olu Dara, appears on the single “Bridging the Gap.” The most controversial track is “These Are Our Heroes,” with jabs at Tiger Woods, O.J. Simpson and Kobe Bryant.
Peach State emcee T.I. wrapped up the Top 10 debuts as his Urban Legend sold 193,000 copies at number seven. The rapper, who had public “beefs” with Ludacris and Lil’ Flip over the summer, also spent time this year in the slammer for parole violation.
The rest of the Top 10 were holdovers: Eminem ‘s Encore at four, Shania Twain’s Greatest Hits at six, Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 17 at eight, Destiny’s Child’s Destiny Fulfilled at nine and Toby Keith’s Greatest Hits II at 10.
Debuting at number 24 was Josh Groban ‘s Live at the Greek. Gerald Levert’s Do I Speak for the World? entered at 29, while Simon & Garfunkel crept onto the charts at 174 with Old Friends Live on Stage.
Finally, in the spirit of the season, a trio of holiday albums made their way into the Top 200 this week: Ray Charles Celebrates a Gospel Christmas at 121, Shimmy Down the Chimney at 153 and Lifetime of Romance Christmas at 195.
Next week, expect Ludacris to move everyone out the way, and watch for big gains by this week’s top Grammy nominees Kanye West, Usher, Alicia Keys, Ray Charles and Green Day.
Here’s a recap of last week’s Top 10 albums:
1. Collision Course, Jay-Z and Linkin Park
2. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2
3. Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson
4. Encore, Eminem
5. Street’s Disciple, Nas
6. Greatest Hits, Shania Twain
7. Urban Legend, T.I.
8. Now That’s What I Call Music! 17, various
9. Destiny Fulfilled, Destiny’s Child
10. Greatest Hits II, Toby Keith
Credit: E! Online