LOOKIN' MIGHTY GOOD...
It’s been a long time since a Wall was at #1—26 years, in fact, since Pink Floyd took The Wall to the top of the charts. This Wall, however, is yet another powerhouse rapper out of Houston—and Asylum/Warner Bros.’ Paul Wall is officially The People’s Choice this week, with 173k. Roc-a-Fella/IDJ’s Kanye West drops to the #2 spot in the wake of Wall, with 169k, despite a just announced opening slot on the U2 tour. We’re just wondering which rapper the Bush twins like best...
Columbia/CRG’s Switchfoot (no relation to Stinkfoot) come on like gangbusters, hitting #3 with their sophomore major label release at 130k. Trisha Yearwood (MCA Nashville) represents this week’s country contingency, hitting #4, with 110k, while A&M/Interscope’s hubba-inducing Pussycat Dolls represent the um, um feline contingency, hitting the #5 midpoint spot, with 97k.
Those “Paul is dead” rumors were debunked eons ago—and Capitol’s Paul McCartney hasn’t sounded more alive (or more Beatlesque) than he does on his latest release, which takes him to #6, with 91k. Another rock legend is represented at #7 via offspring from the loins of late reggae god Bob Marley, as his son Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley (Tuff Gong/Universal) scores $7, with 85k.
The next two slots are held by summer holdovers—A&M/Interscope’s Black Eyed Peas at #8, with a 4% oncrease at 84k, and Ms. Mariah Carey (Island/IDJ) at #9, with 72k. The Top 10 is rounded out by yet another debut—old-school R&Ber Charlie Wilson (Jive/ZLG), who grabs #10, with 72k.
“This was another great week of releases, as September continues to act as if it’s part of the fourth quarter,” says Hastings’ George Deahl. “Paul Wall was easily our biggest record of the week by a wide margin. But there were also strong debuts from McCartney, Trisha, Switchfoot, Charlie Wilson and newcomers Damian Marley and the Pussycat Dolls. And next week should be every bit as big.”
Other notable debuts include Warner Bros’ Trapt at #12, with 60k; ATO/RCA’s David Gray at #19, with 48k; BNA’s Lone Star debuting at #28, with 32k; Mad Science’s DJ Quik at #29, with 31k; Geffen’s Sigur Ros (repping the Icelandic contingency) at #32, with 30k; young newcomer B.B. King (Geffen) at #48, with 21k, and Epic’s CeCe Winans (repping the Winans contingency) at #49, with 21k.
Watch next week for debuts from Coheed & Cambria, David Banner, Bon Jovi, Barbra Streisand, Disturbed and various artists paying tribute to the late Luther Vandross.
