Charts: For Love of the Game

11/22/2006 9:22 AM, E! Online
David Jenison

The charts got Game...and vice versa.

The erstwhile Dr. Dre and 50 Cent protégé scored big as his latest solo outing, Doctor's Advocate, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 pop chart, selling 358,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, per Nielsen SoundScan.

Over the summer, the Compton rapper previewed the album with the street single "It's Okay (One Blood)" and followed with the proper radio single "Let's Ride," which cracked the Top 20 rap chart. Doctor's Advocate features production by Kanye West, Scott Storch, Just Blaze and Will.I.Am, though former collaborators Dre and Fiddy are expectedly absent.

The Game was discovered by Dre and then joined 50 Cent's G-Unit camp. His first album The Documentary, released as a joint-effort between Dre's Aftermath and Fiddy's G-Unit Records, sold 587,000 first-week copies in early '05 and finished the year as the 10th best-selling release.

The Grammy-nominated rapper has since split from the Fiddy camp after a high-profile feud that, most recently, included the diss track "SoundScan" aimed at G-Unit rapper Lloyd Banks and his disappointing Rotten Apple album released last month. Ironically, the title Doctor's Advocate is a reference (presumably positive) to Dr. Dre, though Game officially left Aftermath/G-Unit for Geffen Records, all of which are under aegis of Universal Music Group.

With the Game on top, hip-hop singer Akon was sentenced to the number two slot with Konvicted. His new album, which sold 284,000 copies for the week, features the smash hit "Smack That" with Eminem and the follow-up single "I Wanna Love You" with Snoop Dogg. Akon recently quoted Em as having said he's ending his short-lived retirement and that a new album is in the works.

Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 23, which topped the charts last week on 337,000 copies, got bumped down to number three in its second week with 194,000, pushing its total sales past the half-million mark.

The comic-rock tandem of Tenacious D scored the week's next best bow at eight, selling 80,000 copies of The Pick of Destiny. Though officially the group's second album, it's also the soundtrack to the film of the same name, which opens in theaters today. The duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass released their self-titled debut in '01.

Call it the new math, but Blink-182 minus Tom DeLonge equals +44, whose debut disc, When Your Heart Stops Beating, sold 66,000 copies to open at number 10. This new group, featuring former Blinksters Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker, was preceded by DeLonge's own new band, Angels and Airwaves. That group's debut, We Don't Need to Whisper, opened at number four on 127,000 copies in May.

Just missing the Top 10, NYC rapper Fat Joe sold 60,000 copies of Me, Myself & I to land at number 14. Joe, who's also a member of the Terror Squad, is the first Latin rapper ever to go platinum and a mentor to the late Big Pun, the first Latin rapper ever to go multiplatinum.

Also making strong debuts, Damien Rice's 9 sold 45,000 copies at 22, while Kenny G blew himself all the way to 37 as I'm in the Mood for Love…The Most Romantic Melodies of All Time sold 32,000 copies.

Elsewhere, Staind's The Singles: 1996-2006 entered at 41; Luis Miguel's Navidades Luis Miguel checked in at 51; Yusuf (aka the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens) made his pop music comeback at 52 with An Other Cup; Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Live at the Fillmore East rocked home at 55, Army of One (featuring Filter singer Richard Patrick and STP alum Dean and Robert DeLeo) opened at 56 with its self-titled debut; Bianca Ryan's eponymous disc landed at 57; Tamia's Between Friends registered at 66; the Sublime box set Everything Under the Sun arose at 97; and the Best of Depeche Mode, Vol. I depressed enough fans to claim the 148th slot.

Here's a rundown of the week's Top 10:

1. Doctor's Advocate, the Game

2. Konvicted, Akon

3. Now That's What I Call Music! 23, various

4. Awake, Josh Groban

5. Hannah Montana soundtrack, various

6. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing, Keith Urban

7. Enjoy the Ride, Sugarland

8. The Pick of Destiny, Tenacious D

9. B-Day, Beyoncé

10. When Your Heart Stops Beating, +44