WEEK IN PREVIEW:
DOES WAR MAKE CENTS?

As more than 300,000 troops prepare to begin their effort to liberate Iraq…and as the global community looks at our blessed country with a mix of admiration and shame…and as the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds—who inhabit a country once awkwardly carved out of a post-World War I global order—await their new life as free citizens, we at HITS have one thing to say: How about those 50 Cent sales?

Yes, you nutty little capitalist liberators, Shady/Aftermath/Interscope’s wunderkind is on track to conquer the charts once again, marching all over the competition, despite some fierce resistance from the always-combative Norah Jones. Let’s see the French try to top that.

Meanwhile, Jive’s R. Kelly, Columbia’s Dixie Chicks and Epic’s Chicago soundtrack are all making serious runs at the Top Five.

Big debuts this week belong to Columbia’s Killer Mike and DreamWorks’ A.F.I. both looking like they could land in or near the Top 10.

And speaking of invasions, what about Eminem’s 8 Mile DVD, which is dropping like a cluster bomb this week? With 5 million shipped, those wacky home video/DVD people think this one could do between 1.5 and 2 million in its first week. Talk about firepower!

We expect the most added at radio this week to be: "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" and, as in all times of war, anything by Benny Mardones. God bless everyone.