SEALED WITH A KISS!
Interscope rapper Jadakiss’ first week at retail was anything but the Kiss of Death as his album of the same name debuts at #1 this week with an impressive total just south of 260k.
Blackground/Universal 13-year-old diva JoJo rode her red-hot hit crossover smash, "Leave (Get Out)," to a #4 debut, while Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax’s Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, in advance of tomorrow’s expected huge film bow, landed at #6.
Launch Head of Label Relations Jay Frank "Lee My Dear I Don't Give A Damn" said the action on his site allowed him to predict JoJo’s impressive first-week performance: "We’ve been tracking her for months, and her success is no surprise as she had the biggest response in the history of our ‘Emerging Artist’ program. I haven’t been this excited since Lindsay Lohan got her breast implants."
The year’s best-selling album to date, Usher’s LaFace/ZLG effort Confessions, remained at #2, while last week’s champ, Capitol’s Beastie Boys, landed at #3.
Epic/Sony Nashville’s Gretchen Wilson (#5), RCA/RMG’s Velvet Revolver (#7), Arista/RMG’s Avril Lavigne (#8), Shady/Interscope’s D12 (#9) and Island/IDJ’s Hoobastank (#10) rounded out the Top 10.
Nonesuch/Atlantic’s alt-country standard-bearers Wilco led the other newcomers with a #11 bow. Columbia/CRG’s Switchfoot (re-release with bonus DVD) (#21) and Universal rap veteran Erick Sermon (#41) had the other chart debuts.
Tower Records’ Kevin Hawkins, who set his TiVo for tonight’s BET awards with Janet Jackson "just in case," was happy with the performance of this week’s new releases: "We saw some very big sales on Jadakiss this week, but with us, the Wilco was just as in demand. Fans for both were out in force. Also, the first week on JoJo was really impressive. She definitely showed that the huge radio story she has built is no fluke."
Cash Money/Universal rapper Juvenile showed the only upward mobility on the week with a jump from #30-17 and a 9% rise in sales, fuled by huge multi-format play on "Slow Motion."
Look for Interscope to hold onto the top slot on next week’s chart after G-Unit member Lloyd Banks hits the streets today with the highly anticipated (and aptly titled) The Hunger for More.
