DRAKE TAKES THE CHART CAKE

The half-Jewish Toronto hip-hop star, who got his start in the teen TV cult hit Degrassi: The Next Generation, goes to the head of the class this week on his Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Motown debut, Thank Me Later, with first-week sales in the 450-475k range, making it a lock for #1.

Based on one-day sales reports from those retailers still blowing their own vuvezelas, that would be the third highest-total this year following Sade (501k) and Lady Antebellum (481k).

The postponed album comes to retail fresh off a pair of Drake hits in “Over” and “Find Your Love" and a series of underground mixtapes.

Next up, Reprise’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album, Mojo, his first with the band since 2002, is off to a solid start, on target for between 100-110k, good for #2.

Capitol/EMI’s Now 34 is the next highest debut, with estimates in the 80-90k range, while Arista/RMG Lilith Tour headliner Sarah McLachlan’s Laws of Illusion will rack up 75-85k.

Side One Dummy’s Americana rockers The Gaslight Anthem look to be in the 20-25k range.

Next Monday, Shady/Aftermath/Interscope's Eminem and Hollywood's Miley Cyrus albums hit the streets, while Epic's Ozzy Osbourne may well follow suit.

The market was up 6% vs. last week, down 14% vs. same week last year and still down 11% year to date. And you thought that English soccer goalie had it rough.