LUDACRIS IN THE GREEN WITH RED
That’s right, after one day on sale, Ludacris’ Red Light District (Def Jam South/IDJ) is on track to sell upwards of 300k for the week, according to early reports from national accounts. That means Luda should spend next week riding high in the #1 album chart slot, barring an extraordinary second-week performance by Jay-Z/Linkin Park’s Collision Course (Warner Bros.), which bumped U2 out of the top spot this week with sales just shy of 364k.
Meanwhile, the long-awaited singing debut from Lindsay Lohan, Speak (Casablanca/Universal) is no slouch either, posting first-day numbers that project out to better than 200k for the week and more than meeting expectations. That number puts her solidly in next week’s increasingly volume-heavy Top 10, and could possibly get her into the Top 5, depending on how Kelly Clarkson and Nas hold up.
Also set to make his chart debut next week is Mario, whose Turning Point (J/RMG) appears headed for a first week of about 140k, with a shot at 150k. And Cam’ron’s Purple Haze (Rock-A-Fella/Def Jam) looks like it will do 125k-130k.
Also look for sales spikes for 10-time Grammy nominee Kanye West’s The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) and other top nomination-getters Usher, Alicia Keys, Ray Charles, Green Day and Norah Jones.
