JAY-Z IS BOSS

Following an avalanche of publicity and marketing tie-ins with the likes of Budweiser, Hewlett Packard, the NBA, NASCAR and Clear Channel, Jay-Z’s Roc-a-Fella/IDJ Kingdom Come-back is this week’s #1 album, scoring the year’s third-highest sales debut with 708k, behind only Rascal Flatts (714k) and Justin Timberlake (711k).

RCA’s rockin’ American Idol alum Daughtry scores the #2 slot with 301k in sales, just ahead of Sony Label Group’s Now 23 at #3, with 298k.

Apple/Capitol’s Beatles Love set lands at #4 with 280k, followed by Snoop Dogg’s Geffen album, The Blue Carpet Treatment, at #5, with 274k.

Disney’s Hannah Montana soundtrack (#6), Jive/ZLG’s Timberlake (#7, and up a whopping 180%, thanks to various retail promotions), Capitol Nashville’s Keith Urban (#8), Columbia’s Beyonce (#9, +169%) and 2Pac’s debut with his latest posthumous Amaru/Interscope collection (#10) round out the Top 10.

Other chart newcomers include Interscope rockers U2’s U218 Singles (#12), Columbia’s Il Divo (#16), EMI Latin sensations RBD (#17), Interscope Long Island emo stalwarts Brand New (#26), Roadrunner/IDJ’s metallurgists Killswitch Engage (#32), Lava/Atl. Group’s Trans-Siberian Orchestra (#48), one of two albums from the group in the Top 50, and Atlantic’s soundtrack to Happy Feet, the nation’s #1 film at the box office (#50).

Black Friday (as the onset of the holiday shopping season has been dubbed) and various in-store discounts led to a number of triple-digit bumps in sales. Aside from Timberlake and Beyonce, that included RPM/Columbia’s venerable 80-year-old crooner Tony Bennett, whose NBC prime-time special helped fuel a rise from #25-15 and a 162% jump.

Other gain leaders are Island’s The Killers (#33-27, +101%), Disney’s Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack (#35-29, +109%),Virgin's Janet Jackson (#35, +285%) and Disney's High School Musical (#43-31, +123%). Roadrunner’s Nickelback (#19, +97%) and Sony Label Group’s Now Christmas Vol. 3 (#23, +95%) just missed the century mark.

Hitting the street this week are Epic’s Incubus, TVT’s Ying Yang Twins and Star Trak/Jive/ZLG’s Clipse.