Kelly, Jay-Z Take "Business" to Chart

11/03/2004 6:10 PM, E! Online
David Jenison

For Jay-Z and R. Kelly, their Unfinished Business is playing out on the album charts...and, unfortunately in court.

The feuding superstars should be celebrating as their new joint, Best of Both Worlds: Unfinished Business, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 215,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan data released Wednesday.

Instead, the worlds are colliding. The rapper and R&B singer are enmeshed in a bitter battle over the implosion of their Best of Both Worlds tour last weekend.

The two stars originally came together in 2002 with their original Best of Both Worlds album and a planned tour, but when Kelly got hit with kiddie porn charges, the disc sold poorly and the tour was scrapped. In the two years since, Kelly released two successful solo albums, 2003's The Chocolate Factory and 2004's Happy People/U Saved Me, which helped pave the way for the stars to try again.

Announcing new tour plans, the duo decided to assemble another album, Unfinished Business, which features 11 previously unreleased tracks. The album came out last Tuesday. Four days later, during a tour stop at Madison Square Garden, things went kablooey. Apparently a member of Jay-Z's entourage used pepper spray on Kelly after the singer left the stage mid-set, saying that audience members had guns. Kelly later admitted there were no guns.

The promoter subsequently booted Kelly from the rest of the tour, which led the singer to file a $90 million suit against Jay-Z, claiming the rapper orchestrated the whole thing.

On Wednesday, with their new album topping the charts, Jay-Z announced he wasn't going to scrap the tour, as many expected. Instead, he has agreed to finish the remaining 15 dates as a solo artist, with special appearances by pals like P. Diddy and Mary J. Blige. He is also changing the name: The Best of Both Worlds Tour is now Jay-Z and Friends. The newly rechristened tour kicks off this Friday in Miami and runs through Nov. 27 in Las Vegas.

Jay-Z, who is retiring from recording and will soon become president of Island Def Jam Records, is also releasing a swan-song film, Fade to Black, on Friday.

Though Jay-Z and R. Kelly led the news and the charts, they weren't the only new albums to make splashes. Rapper Trick Daddy scored a career best number two bow as his new disc, Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets, sold 145,000 copies.

Also opening strong, Canadian punks Simple Plan sold 139,000 copies of Still Not Getting Any for a number three finish.

Grammy winner Michael McDonald , who made a comeback last year with his self-titled disc, debuted at nine with Motown Two, his second collection of Motown covers. The disc sold nearly 70,000 copies and helped his self-titled reemerge on the charts at 158.

With the biopic Ray hitting theaters last weekend, Ray Charles' posthumous Genius Loves Company remained solid, selling 96,000 copies at eight, while the film's soundtrack, featuring a selection of classic Charles performances, jumped 13 spots to number 10.

In other chart action, christian pop singer Michael W. Smith just missed the Top 10 as Healing Rain sold 54,000 copies at 11.

Other noteworthy debuts included Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill at 20, Daryl Hall and John Oates' Our Kind of Soul at 69, the Legend of the Wu-Tang: Greatest Hits at 72, Willie Nelson's It Always Will Be at 75 and the Donnas' Gold Medal at 76.

Lastly, Ashlee Simpson faced her first full sales week following her Saturday Night Live meltdown. SNL stints usually boost sales, but, with Simpson's gaffe, Autobiography dropped five spots to 27 with 5,000 fewer copies sold.

Here's a rundown of the Top 10 albums for the week ended Sunday:

1. Best of Both Worlds: Unfinished Business, Jay-Z and R. Kelly
2. Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets, Trick Daddy
3. Still Not Getting Any, Simple Plan
4. Stardust...Great American Songbook Vol. III, Rod Stewart
5. Suit, Nelly
6. Confessions, Usher
7. 50 Number Ones, George Strait
8. Genius Loves Company, Ray Charles
9. Motown Two, Michael McDonald
10. Ray soundtrack, Ray Charles