Atlanta rapper T.I. debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts Wednesday with the best sales week of the year, while reigning champ Prince tumbled to No. 8.
T.I., whose real name is Tip Harris, sold almost 522,000 copies of his latest album, “King” (Atlantic), whose release coincided with the surprisingly strong No. 3 weekend bow of the movie “ATL,” in which he co-stars.
Other new releases on the Billboard 200 included sets from Tim McGraw at No. 2, rapper Ghostface Killah at No. 4, Rob Zombie at No. 5, and rock bands Atreyu at No. 9 and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at No. 11.
“King” is the best charting release of T.I.’s career. In 2004, his “Urban Legend” bowed at No. 7 with 193,000 copies, while 2003’s “Trap Muzik” had a No. 4 entry with 109,000.
His album is also the best-selling release since the 2005 Christmas season, when Mary J. Blige’s “The Breakthrough” debuted with sales of 727,000 and Jamie Foxx’s “Unpredictable” bowed with 598,000.
McGraw’s “Greatest Hits Vol. 2 — Reflected” (Curb) entered at No. 2 with 242,000 copies, the country superstar’s best sales week since 2003’s “Live Like You Were Dying,” which moved 253,000 in its debut week. McGraw’s first hits set bowed with 306,000 copies in 2000, but that was good enough for only a No. 7 rank.
The soundtrack to Disney’s “High School Musical” fell one place to No. 3 with 165,000 copies.
Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah’s fifth solo release, “Fishscale,” bowed at No. 4 with sales of 110,000. The Def Jam release gives the rapper his second-best career sales week behind the opening frame of 1996’s “Ironman” (156,000).
Hard-rocker Zombie matched his highest Billboard 200 position as the Geffen album “Educated Horses” debuted at No. 5 with 107,000. Zombie’s triple platinum solo debut, “Hellbilly Deluxe,” also opened at the same post in September 1998, moving 120,000 units.
Colombian pop star Shakira, a recent guest on “American Idol,” rocketed up the Billboard 200 as “Oral Fixation, Vol. 2” (Epic) rebounded 92 places to No. 6 on sales of 81,000 copies. Having already been on the chart for 18 weeks, the set was re-issued March 28 with two additional tracks: “La Tortura” and “Hips Don’t Lie.” The latter features Wyclef Jean and has so far reached No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
English balladeer James Blunt’s “Back to Bedlam” (Atlantic) fell four places to No. 7 with 80,000 copies, followed by Prince’s “3121” (Universal) with 76,000 copies in its second week.
Atreyu’s “A Death-Grip on Yesterday” (Victory) entered at No. 9 with 69,000 copies, the band’s best position and sales week yet. Its last set, 2004’s “The Curse,” started at No. 32 with 34,000 copies.
Alan Jackson’s “Precious Memories” (Arista Nashville) slipped one place to No. 10 with 58,000 copies.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Show Your Bones” (Interscope) bowed at No. 11 with 56,000 copies, far surpassing the first week of the group’s last album, “Fever To Tell,” which moved 15,000 in its opening frame back in April 2003. That release ultimately posted its best week (21,000) in March 2004 after radio took to the single “Maps.” “Fever” has sold 532,770 copies to date.
At 10.8 million units, overall CD sales were up 1% from the previous week and up 4% compared to the same week a year ago. Sales for 2006 are down 3% compared to 2005 at 140.4 million units.
Reuters/Billboard