KING COLE RULES

Check out his latest discovery, Roc Nation/Columbia’s German-born, North Carolina-raised hip-hop sensation J Cole, whose Cole World: The Sideline Story surpasses all expectations with a chart-topping debut, selling 217k in the process.

Interscope Orange County punk-rock vets Blink-182 return with Neighborhoods, their first album in eight years, which debuts with an impressive 155k, good for #2.

XL/Columbia’s U.K. pop diva Adele remains strong at #3, as 21 logs another 117k for a total that is now approaching 3.8 million.

Labelmate Tony Bennett’s Duets II, last week’s chart-topper, moves down to #4, while dBpm/Anti- indie rock stalwarts Wilco’s The Whole Love debuts at #5 with 82k.

Other new Top 10 entries include Atlantic’s Switchfoot (#8), eOne’s Chickenfoot (#9) and Reprise metal maestros Mastodon (#10).

Capitol Nashville/EMI’s Lady Antebellum (#6) and Cash Money/Universal Republic’s Lil Wayne (#7) are the other holdovers.

Capitol/EMI’s remastered Pink Floyd classic, Dark Side of the Moon, returns at #12, while Geffen’s legendary Nirvana album, Nevermind, on the 20th anniversary of its first release, re-enters at #17. Pink Floyd’s The Wall comes back onto the chart at #35.

Other Top 50 newcomers include Verve’s Gloria Estefan (#28), Atlantic’s Jason Derulo (#29) and Curb’s LeAnn Rimes (#46). Music World’s gospel newcomer Le’Andria Johnson returns at #37.

Big Machine’s Taylor Swift (#50-40, +15%) and Def Jam/IDJ’s Rihanna (#49-41, +11%), with a new album due in Q4 from both, lead the double-digit gainers.

Hitting retail on Tuesday are Mercury Nashville/19/Interscope American Idol winner Scotty McCreery, Interscope’s Feist, Warner Bros.’ Jack’s Mannequin, Curb’s Rodney Atkins, WB’s Mutemath, Epitaph’s New Found Glory and Verve’s DJ Shadow.

The following Tuesday (10/11), look for Wind-up’s Evanescence to top a release schedule that also includes Capitol/EMI’s Ryan Adams and Jane’s Addiction, Universal Republic’s Martina McBride and James Morrison, Hollywood’s Joe Jonas, Mercury Nashville/19/Interscope’s Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina and Prospect Park’s Five Finger Death Punch.