D12 End Usher’s Reign
Eminem can turn most anything to gold, so it’s no great surprise that despite a gaggle of lousy reviews and the dead weight of five less-interesting DJs his D12 troupe sold 545,000 copies of its second album, D12 World, according to Nielsen SoundScan, to debut Number One.
The six Motor City rappers finally unseated Usher, whose Confessions actually enjoyed a sales spike of 9,000 copies from the previous week, but its 262,000 sales was only good enough for Number Two. Usher was trailed by Prince, whose Musicology continues to post the best sales he’s had in more than a decade. After selling 191,000 copies in its first week, the album sold another 172,000, a decrease much smaller than the average Week Two nosedive. Rounding out the Top Five were Diana Krall’s Girl in the Other Room, which debuted at Number Four with sales of 144,000 and Mario Winans’ Hurt No More, which sold 124,000 copies and fell from Number Two a week ago.
There were several other strong newcomers as the Top 200 enjoyed another sales jump from 3.9 million last week to 4.3 million. American Idol Season Three: Greatest Soul Classics sold 55,000 and sneaked in at Number Ten. Beyonce’s new Live at Wembley sold 45,000 at Number Seventeen. And with some help from Jack White, Loretta Lynn enjoyed her biggest sales in ages with Van Lear Rose, which sold 37,000 copies at Number Twenty-four.
Franz Ferdinand continue to do well, one week at a time. The Scottish buzz band’s self-titled debut cracked the Top 100 in its sixth week of release (after spending a few weeks outside of the Top 200), moving up to Number Ninety-three with sales of 11,000.
Next week’s chart doesn’t look to offer much new blood, but Confessions is showing little sign of slowing down, while D12 World is poised for the usual second-week dip, which could have both scrapping for the top slot.
This week’s Top Ten: D12’s D12 World; Usher’s Confessions; Prince’s Musicology; Diana Krall’s Girl in the Other Room; Mario Winans’ Hurt No More; Now That’s What I Call Music! 15; Hoobastank’s The Reason; Kanye West’s College Drop Out; Evanescence’s Fallen; and American Idol Season Three: Greatest Soul Classics.