A strong second sales week for Usher's "Confessions" gives the album a second straight week at No. 1 on The Billboard 200, and forces Janet Jackson's highly anticipated "Damita Jo" to settle for a No. 2 debut. In a typical second week decline, U.S. sales of "Confessions" fell 56% to 486,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, giving Usher's LaFace/Zomba album a two-week total of 1.58 million.
Jackson's Virgin set, meanwhile, sold 381,000 copies in it first week, and is the artist's first album since 1989's "Rhythm Nation 1814" to not debut at No. 1 on the chart. Her last studio release, 2001's "All for You" opened with first week sales of 605,000 copies and has sold 3 million to date.
"Damita Jo" is among five debuts in the top-10, joined by releases from rappers Lil' Flip and J-Kwon and pure blues turns from Aerosmith and Eric Clapton. Overall U.S. album sales fell about 1.5% from the prior week to 12.5 million, but were still about 18% ahead of the comparable week last year when albums from the White Stripes and Cher debuted in the top-10. Year-to-date sales remain higher than 2003 by 9.8%.
Lil' Flip earns his strongest showing on The Billboard 200 with "U Gotta Feel Me," which enters at No. 4 on sales of 198,000 copies. The Texas rapper's first top 10 debut is the follow up to his 2002 breakthrough, "Undaground Legend" (Sony), which entered at No. 12 with 68,000 copies and has sold 646,000 overall. The single "Game Over (Flip)" is up this week 11-9 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Tapping into their blues roots, Aerosmith and Clapton arrive back-to-back on The Billboard 200. Features one new track amid a list of notable covers, Aerosmith's "Honkin' on Bobo" (Columbia) lands at No. 5 with sales of 160,500 copies. The band's last album, 2001's "Just Push Play," arrived at No. 2 with 240,000 copies and has gone on to sell 1.3 million.
Long a disciple of Robert Johnson, Clapton chose to pay homage to the blues legend with a full set of his music for his latest album. "Me and Mr. Johnson" (Duck/Reprise) enters the chart at No. 6, having sold 128,000 copies. The artist's 2001 studio set, "Reptile," entered at No. 5 with 102,000 copies and has sold 557,000 to date.
Hip-hop newcomer J-Kwon lands at No. 7 with his Arista debut, "Hood Hop." The set sold 103,000 copies, fueled by the success of the hit single "Tipsy," currently No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Filling in the rest of the top 10 is 15th volume in the "NOW That's What I Call Music!" series (Universal/EMI/Zomba/Sony, No. 3), Norah Jones' "Feels Like Home" (Blue Note, No. 8), Guns N' Roses' "Greatest Hits" (Geffen, No. 9) and Kanye West's "The College Dropout" (Roc-A-Fella, No. 10).
Other notable arrivals include Tracy Lawrence's "Strong" (DreamWorks, No. 17), DJ Kayslay's "The Streetsweeper Vol. 2, The Pain from the Game" (Sony Urban Music/Columbia, No. 27), Bob Dylan's "The Bootleg Series Vol. 6" (Columbia/Legacy, No. 28), Shakira's "Live and Off the Record" (Epic, No. 45) and the compilation "Music from the OC, Mix 1" (Warner Bros., No. 52).
Jackson's Virgin set, meanwhile, sold 381,000 copies in it first week, and is the artist's first album since 1989's "Rhythm Nation 1814" to not debut at No. 1 on the chart. Her last studio release, 2001's "All for You" opened with first week sales of 605,000 copies and has sold 3 million to date.
"Damita Jo" is among five debuts in the top-10, joined by releases from rappers Lil' Flip and J-Kwon and pure blues turns from Aerosmith and Eric Clapton. Overall U.S. album sales fell about 1.5% from the prior week to 12.5 million, but were still about 18% ahead of the comparable week last year when albums from the White Stripes and Cher debuted in the top-10. Year-to-date sales remain higher than 2003 by 9.8%.
Lil' Flip earns his strongest showing on The Billboard 200 with "U Gotta Feel Me," which enters at No. 4 on sales of 198,000 copies. The Texas rapper's first top 10 debut is the follow up to his 2002 breakthrough, "Undaground Legend" (Sony), which entered at No. 12 with 68,000 copies and has sold 646,000 overall. The single "Game Over (Flip)" is up this week 11-9 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Tapping into their blues roots, Aerosmith and Clapton arrive back-to-back on The Billboard 200. Features one new track amid a list of notable covers, Aerosmith's "Honkin' on Bobo" (Columbia) lands at No. 5 with sales of 160,500 copies. The band's last album, 2001's "Just Push Play," arrived at No. 2 with 240,000 copies and has gone on to sell 1.3 million.
Long a disciple of Robert Johnson, Clapton chose to pay homage to the blues legend with a full set of his music for his latest album. "Me and Mr. Johnson" (Duck/Reprise) enters the chart at No. 6, having sold 128,000 copies. The artist's 2001 studio set, "Reptile," entered at No. 5 with 102,000 copies and has sold 557,000 to date.
Hip-hop newcomer J-Kwon lands at No. 7 with his Arista debut, "Hood Hop." The set sold 103,000 copies, fueled by the success of the hit single "Tipsy," currently No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Filling in the rest of the top 10 is 15th volume in the "NOW That's What I Call Music!" series (Universal/EMI/Zomba/Sony, No. 3), Norah Jones' "Feels Like Home" (Blue Note, No. 8), Guns N' Roses' "Greatest Hits" (Geffen, No. 9) and Kanye West's "The College Dropout" (Roc-A-Fella, No. 10).
Other notable arrivals include Tracy Lawrence's "Strong" (DreamWorks, No. 17), DJ Kayslay's "The Streetsweeper Vol. 2, The Pain from the Game" (Sony Urban Music/Columbia, No. 27), Bob Dylan's "The Bootleg Series Vol. 6" (Columbia/Legacy, No. 28), Shakira's "Live and Off the Record" (Epic, No. 45) and the compilation "Music from the OC, Mix 1" (Warner Bros., No. 52).
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