Now 19, Mariah Carey on Top of Charts
The nineteenth installment of the blockbuster hits series Now That’s What I Call Music! tops a lukewarm sales week with a massive 436,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This time around, the compilation features artists such as Gwen Stefani, Eminem, Ciara, Destiny’s Child, Shakira and Coldplay. At a distant Number Two (90,000) is Mariah Carey, whose comeback album, The Emancipation of Mimi, has held steady in the Top Five since its release three and a half months ago.
R. Kelly’s TP.3 Reloaded, the latest from the embattled R&B star, slipped two spots after two straight weeks at Number One, to Three, moving a passable 83,000 copies. And X&Y, by British mega-rockers Coldplay, hangs at Number Four, with another 81,000 CDs sold. Rapper Bow Wow’s latest all-grown-up release, Wanted, fell two places in its second week to Number Five (61,000), and Monkey Business, from dance-friendly hip-hoppers Black Eyed Peas, climbed up two spots to Number Six (60,000) six weeks after its release.
The other big Top Ten debuts this week are Carly Simon’s fourth collection of standards, Moonlight Serenade, and contemporary gospel sister duo Mary Mary’s self-titled third effort, coming in at Numbers Seven (58,000) and Eight (57,000) respectively.
Rounding out the chart are two returns to the Top Ten: Demon Days, from Blur frontman Damon Albarn’s hip-hop/dub animated concept band Gorillaz, reversed momentum to jump five places to Number Nine (56,000). And the Foo Fighters’ In Your Honor climbed back up one spot to take Ten (53,000).
Beginning the downward slide this week were hip-hop artists the Ying Yang Twins, Slim Thug and Missy Elliott. The Twins’ fourth album, United State of Atlanta, dropped four places out of the Top Ten to Number Thirteen (51,000); while Houston rapper Slim Thug’s solo debut, Already Platinum, fell ten spots from a strong Number Two opening to Number Twelve (52,000). Missy’s The Cookbook fell nine notches to Sixteen (47,000). In addition, country champ George Strait’s Somewhere Down in Texas finally lost its groove, dropping eleven spots to Number Twenty-one (43,000). But the biggest losers of all were alterna-rockers All-American Rejects: After a career-high debut at Number Six, their sophomore album, Move Along, fell to Twenty-two (40,000) in just its second week out.
Next week, R&B veteran Babyface returns with his first album in four years, Grown & Sexy, and singer-songwriter Jason Mraz’ third studio album, Mr. A-Z, also hits stores. And expect Alanis Morissette’s acoustic reworking of her breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill, to still find a spot on the chart, despite its exclusive June Starbucks release.
This week’s Top Ten: Now That’s What I Call Music! 19; Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi; R. Kelly’s TP.3 Reloaded; Coldplay’s X&Y; Bow Wow’s Wanted; Black Eyed Peas’ Monkey Business; Carly Simon’s Moonlight Serenade; Mary Mary’s Mary Mary; Gorillaz’ Demon Days; Foo Fighters’ In Your Honor.