clairejaygreen: Lil Wayne Holds On To Top Billboard Spot

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Lil Wayne Holds On To Top Billboard Spot

Tha Carter IV is still #1 despite sharp drop-off in sales.
By Gil Kaufman

Lil Wayne
Photo: C. Flanigan/ WireImage

Lil Wayne will make it an easy two in a row at the top of the Billboard 200 chart with Tha Carter IV next week, when the album holds on to the #1 spot thanks to sales of 219,000. After just missing out on moving 1 million copies in its debut, the disc easily passed the mark, approaching 1.2 million even as sales dove 77 percent in the second go-round.

Suffering an equally big drop was the Red Hot Chili Peppers' I'm With You, which lost 75 percent of its first-week business, moving down three spots to #5 as sales reached nearly 288,000.

Among the new faces in the top 10 are country giant George Strait, whose Here for a Good Time debuts at #3 on sales of 91,000, and the Beatles' 1, which shoots back into the #4 position thanks to a remastered physical and first-time digital release that helped it move 60,000 units. But the week's biggest gainer is Maroon 5's year-old Hands All Over, which has gotten a major boost thanks to a re-released version with the new top 10 hit "Moves Like Jagger." The disc climbs another 16 slots to #7 as sales picked up by 97 percent to 29,000.

The rest of the top 10: Adele, 21 (#2, 121,000), Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne (#6, 49,000), NOW 39 (#8, 27,000), Beyoncé, 4 (#9, 25,000) and Foster the People, Torches (#10, 25,000).

Further down the line, "House" actor Hugh Laurie's blues album, Let Them Talk — featuring collaborations with Dr. John, Tom Jones and Irma Thomas and arrangements by New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint — enters the charts at #16 (20,000), while popular electro star David Guetta's star-packed Nothing but the Beat slips 13 spots from its top-five debut to #18 as sales trailed off by 66 percent to 19,000.

On the iTunes albums chart, it's still about Weezy as well, as Carter IV keeps the crown, followed by the Beatles, Adele, Maroon 5, the Chili Peppers, Kanye and Jay, Guetta, Strait, Katy Perry's Teenage Dream and Foster the People. The singles tally is topped by Maroon 5's smash collabo with Christina Aguilera, "Moves Like Jagger," then Adele's latest, "Someone Like You," Foster's "Pumped Up Kicks," LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," Gym Class Heroes' "Stereo Hearts" and Lady Gaga's "Yoü and I."

Rounding out the list at #7 is Rihanna with "Cheers (Drink to That)," then Cobra Starship's "You Make Me Feel," Kelly Clarkson's "Mr. Know It All" and Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass."

Expect some shake-ups next week, when Grammy winners Lady Antebellum return with Own the Night and new albums drop from Staind, Anthrax and Primus.

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