Editor: Keith Caulfield; Contributors: Wade Jessen, Gary Trust; Editorial Director: Silvio Pietroluongo
Rascal Flatts logs its fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the most of any group this decade, as the trio’s sixth set of new songs, “Unstoppable,” bows with 351,000 copies. Also starting in the top 10 this week are Jadakiss and Jason Aldean. In other news we’ve got updates on Lady GaGa’s latest feat, a new top 10 for Seal and Eminem’s best Rhythmic debut in nearly five years.
FLASH POINTS
• Rascal Flatts logs its fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the most of any group this decade, as the trio’s sixth set of new songs, “Unstoppable,” bows with 351,000 copies. That’s the band’s third-fattest opening week and its biggest one-week sum since “Still Feels Good” scanned 547,000 copies during its debut week on the Oct. 13, 2007, chart. The trio’s biggest Nielsen SoundScan week happened when “Me and My Gang” blew in with 722,000 copies in the April 22, 2006, issue. “Unstoppable” removes the trio from a six-way tie, as Dave Matthews Band, Disturbed, Linkin
Park, Staind and System of a Down have also scored three pole-sitters. “Unstoppable,” which marks the group’s fifth No. 1 on Top Country Albums, yields Rascal Flatts’ 10th No. 1 on Hot Country Songs as “Here Comes Goodbye” leaps 6-1.
• Jadakiss posts his third straight Billboard 200 top five start as “Last Kiss” opens at No. 3, moving 135,000 units. The Yonkers, N.Y., native opened at No. 1 in the July 10, 2004, frame as “Kiss of Death” shifted a career-best 246,000 copies. The rapper also sold north of 200,000 units with “Kiss Tha Game Goodbye,” which landed on the Aug. 25, 2001, chart with 204,000 units. Jason Aldean matches his previous best Billboard 200 rank with his biggest one-week sum to date, as “Wide Open” pops on at No. 4 with 109,000 copies. Aldean’s third set of new material starts at No. 2 on Top Country Albums, where his prior set, “Relentless,” logged his previous best Nielsen SoundScan week when it bowed atop the June 16, 2007, chart with 98,000 units and opened at No. 4 on the big chart.
• Rebounding 5-2 is “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” which tallies 196,000 units, more than doubling its sum from last week. The title also sailed past its No. 2 debut-week number (136,000) as the movie took home last week’s box office title with a $34 million showing in its first week in theaters. Rounding out the top five is “Now 30,” which slips 4-5 but posts a 12% gain (99,000). Next up is Taylor Swift’s “Fearless,” which nearly doubles to 82,000 while moving 10-6. Last week’s chart-topper, Keith Urban’s “Defying Gravity,” tumbles to No. 7 at 72,000 (down 58%). The “Twilight” soundtrack drops one rung to No. 8 after a 68,000-unit week. Rounding out the top 10 is Prince/Bria Valente’s “Lotus Flow3r/MPLSound/Elix3r,” which slides 2-9 (66,000, down 60%), and Lady GaGa’s “The Fame,” which posts a 56,000 in sales (up 9%) as it dips 9-10.
• A combination of the April 5 Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast on CBS and Easter week fuels this week’s sales. Among those posting large increases over last week are Carrie Underwood’s “Carnival Ride,” which leaps 34-16 (32,000, up 99%); Taylor Swift’s “Taylor Swift,” which speeds 38-21 (26,000, up 80%); Sugarland’s “Love on the Inside,” which vaults 50-22 (25,000, up 112%); Kidz Bop Kids’ “Kidz Bop 15,” which jumps 83-29 (20,000, up 148%); and the various-artists compilation “Walt Disney Records Presents: Radio Disney Jams 11,” which soars 111-47 (13,000, up 128%).
MARKET WATCH
• Album units, current chart week: 7.8 million units
• UP 10% from last week’s charts: 7.1 million units
• UP 6% from same week, 2008: 7.4 million units
• This week: The top four albums each sell more than 100,000 copies.
• This week last year on the Billboard 200: Leona Lewis’ debut album, “Spirit,” flew in at No. 1 with 205,000. The previous week’s topper, George Strait’s “Troubadour,” slipped to No. 2 with 59,000 (down 65%). Three more albums bowed in the top 10, led by James Otto’s “Sunset Man” at No. 3 with 58,000.
PROGRESS REPORTS
• Lady GaGa is the first artist in more than six years to send her first two Mainstream Top 40 entries to the summit, as “Poker Face” shuffles 2-1. (Her debut hit, “Just Dance,” led for two weeks in January.) Avril Lavigne last launched with a pair of No. 1s—”Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi”—in 2002. She added a third leader out of the gate with “I’m With You” in 2003. Ace of Base is the only other act to arrive with a trio of toppers: “All That She Wants,” “The Sign” and “Don’t Turn Around” in 1993-94. Four other acts reached No. 1 with their first two CHR/Top 40 titles, dating back to the Nielsen BDS-based chart’s 1992 inception: Mariah Carey (1993), Sugar Ray (1997-99), Christina Aguilera (1999-2000) and Bounty Killer, billed as a featured act on Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly” in 1996 and No Doubt’s “Hey Baby” in 2002.
• “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” lifts 12-10 at AC, granting Seal his first top 10 at the format since the No. 4 “Love’s Divine” in 2004. The singer also reached the top bracket with “Kiss From a Rose” (No. 1, 1995), “Don’t Cry” (No. 4, 1996) and “Fly Like an Eagle” (No. 9, 1997). His current hit is just the fifth non-holiday title that was previously performed by two other artists to reach the top 10 in the past 20 years.
• Eminem scores his highest Rhythmic debut in five years, as his celebrity spoof “We Made You” blasts in at No. 27. The song, featuring an uncredited vocal at the chorus from soul singer Charmagne Tripp, marks the rapper’s best bow since “Encore” arrived at No. 23 in November 2004. His new single, the second from “Relapse,” due May 19, concurrently begins at Mainstream Top 40 at No. 38.
A LOOK AHEAD
• Among the titles released this week, due on next week’s charts: Day26’s “Forever in a Day,” Death Cab for Cutie’s “The Open Door (EP)” and Pastor Troy’s “Feel Me or Kill Me.”
• Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2008 when: George Strait’s “Troubadour” topped the list in its first week with 166,000. R.E.M. debuted in the runner-up slot with “Accelerate” (115,000) while Trina started at No. 6 with “Still Da Baddest” (47,000). The previous week’s No. 1, Day26’s self-titled set, slipped to No. 4 with 51,000 (down 73%).
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