Kanye Registers on Top

09/07/2005 5:19 PM, E! Online
David Jenison

Kanye West might not be NBC or President Bush's favorite rapper, but they're the exceptions.

The Grammy-winning hip-hop star, who generated controversy last Friday when he appeared on NBC's Concert for Hurricane Relief telethon and stated that the President doesn't care about black people," saw his sophomore release, Late Registration, dominate the pop chart.

According to Nielsen SoundScan figures, the disc sold over 860,000 copies for the week ended Sunday to easily debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Only 50 Cent's The Massacre, which sold 1.14 million first-week copies in March, had a stronger opening this year.

Late Registration benefits from two radio singles, "Diamonds of Sierra Leone" and "Gold Digger," with the latter song currently topping the Billboard Hot 100. The chart-topping track features Oscar winner Jamie Foxx channeling Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman."

"This is a phenomenal moment for everyone who worked so hard to bring Kanye to the top of the charts," Def Jam boss Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter says in a statement. Carter, who helped launch West's career as a producer, served as one of the album's executive producers.

While his album rocketed up the chart, West was caught up in a whirlwind of controversy. Following his live-on-air Bush-basing comments, which were disavowed by NBC and edited out of the tape-delayed West Coast broadcast, several right-wingers, sports-radio hosts and football writers questioned whether the rapper should be allowed to participate in the NFL Opening Kickoff concert special Thursday. The NFL decided to keep West in the lineup, but won't air his performance live on ABC. West also made news in the courts, as his legal team moved to stop a Chicago deejay from selling an album that West recorded in his teens.

Late Registration was one of six new discs in the Top 10. G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo landed at number two, with Thoughts of a Predicate Felon selling nearly 214,000 units. The self-proclaimed "Talk of New York," whose jail stint forced him to sit out G-Unit's initial rise to fame, is the final member of the Fiddy-led crew to release an album. It is also the lowest selling debut by a G-Unit member, a distinction previously claimed by Young Buck.

Country music's most acclaimed duo, Brooks & Dunn, wrangled a number three bow, with Hillbilly Deluxe moving 111,000. In their illustrious career, the Nashville superstars have won countless country music awards, appeared on a Corn Flakes box, played a presidential inauguration concert and have sold more than 28 million albums.

Indie darlings Death Cab for Cutie followed at four with their major label debut, Plans. The Seattle group's fifth disc sold 90,000 copies in its opening week. The other two Top 10 debuts belonged to Christian band Casting Crowns, whose Lifesong sold 71,000 at nine, and Caribbean-born Rihanna's Music of the Sun selling 68,000 at 10.

Filling in the rest of the Top 10 slots were Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi at five, Black Eyed Peas' Monkey Business at six, Now That's What I Call Music! 19 at seven and Hilary Duff's Most Wanted at eight.

A pair of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers also scored strong debuts. Eric Clapton's Back Home opened at 13, while Bob Dylan's No Direction Home: The Soundtrack--The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 came in at 16. The latter disc is the soundtrack to a documentary by Martin Scorsese, which will debut later this month on PBS.

Other noteworthy debuts included Herbie Hancock's Possibilities at 22, Yolanda Adams' Day by Day at 23, Cold's Different Kind of Pain at 26, 30 Seconds to Mars' Beautiful Lie at 30 and Our Lady Peace's Healthy in Paranoid Times at 45.

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

1. Late Registration, Kanye West
2. Thoughts of a Predicate Felon, Tony Yayo
3. Hillbilly Deluxe, Brooks & Dunn
4. Plans, Death Cab for Cutie
5. The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey
6. Monkey Business, Black Eyed Peas
7. Now That's What I Call Music! 19, various
8. Most Wanted, Hilary Duff
9. Lifesong, Casting Crowns
10. Music of the Sun, Rihanna