Ludacris scores his second No. 1 on The Billboard 200 with “The Red Light District,” which notches U.S. sales of 322,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The rapper/actor’s fourth Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam South effort ends the one-week reign of “MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents Jay-Z/Linkin Park: Collision Course” (Warner Bros./Roc-A-Fella), which drops to No. 9 on a 49% slide to 186,000.
Although it looks like a quick stint in the top 10 for “Mash-Ups,” Ludacris may be in for a longer stay. Last year’s “Chicken-N-Beer,” which bowed atop The Billboard 200 with 430,000 copies, remained in the top tier for five weeks. While that set has sold 2.5 million copies to date, the Atlanta rapper’s best seller remains 2001’s “Word of Mouf,” which entered at No. 3 with 282,000 units and has sold 3.4 million.
Remaining steadfast at No. 2 for a second week, U2’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” (Interscope) experiences a slight 3% decrease from last week to 280,000 copies.
Moving 4-3 on a 10% boost to 273,000 copies, Eminem’s “Encore” (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) staves off Lindsay Lohan’s “Speak” (Casablanca/Universal), which debuts at No. 4 with 261,000 units.
The remaining top-10 albums experience a resurgence after last week’s sales slump.
The 17th installment of “NOW That’s What I Call Music!” (Sony BMG/Universal/EMI/Zomba/Capitol) is the leader, rising 8-5 on a 44% boost to 243,000 copies. Shania Twain’s Mercury Nashville hits set stays at No. 6 for a second week, on a 22% increase to 237,000. Destiny’s Child’s “Destiny Fulfilled” (Sony Urban Music/Columbia) jumps 9-7 on a 30% rise to 214,000. Toby Keith’s “Greatest Hits 2” (DreamWorks Nashville/Interscope) gains 10-8, with sales up 35% to 191,000.
Clay Aiken’s “Merry Christmas With Love” (RCA) jumps back to No. 10 after falling to No. 13 last week. The set gains 35% from last week to 181,000 units.
Although the No. 13 position of Mario’s “Turning Point” (J) isn’t his highest chart debut, he scores his best sales week with 161,000 units. The R&B artist’s 2002 self-titled debut entered at No. 9 with 91,000 and has sold 587,000 to date.
New York rapper Cam’ron bows at No. 20 with his second Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam album, “Purple Haze,” which moves 123,000. 2002’s “Come Home With Me” started at No. 2 with 226,000 copies and has sold 1.1 million to date.
“American Idol” alum Diana DeGarmo bows at No. 52 with her RCA debut, “Blue Skies.” The season-three finalist sells 47,000.
Overall U.S. album sales are significantly better than last week, up 22% to 21.8 million units. However, this is still 11% lower than the comparable week last year. Sales for the year to date are beating those of 2003 by about 2%, at 605 million units.
