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Rarely does an album's second-week sales total approach that of its debut week. The normal depreciation of 50 percent, however, doesn't apply to 50 Cent.
Get Rich or Die Tryin' will top the Billboard 200 albums chart again after selling more than 822,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (February 19). That 50's first full-length album remained at #1 is not as surprising as how many copies it sold, a scant 50,000 fewer copies than the week prior.
50 Cent's two-week total exceeds that of any Limp Bizkit album, the last three Jay-Z albums and even Snoop Dogg's 1993 album, Doggystyle, the debut LP that comes closest to matching the record set by Get Rich or Die Tryin' in its first week. Not even Eminem, who along with Dr. Dre signed 50 to a Shady/Aftermath record deal, could exceed Get Rich or Die Tryin' with the two-week draw from his latest, The Eminem Show.
The Dixie Chicks' Home trails behind Get Rich by more than 650,000 copies, followed by Norah Jones' Come Away With Me at #3 with more than 140,000 copies sold. Both Grammy nominated artists enjoyed significant sales increases Home by nearly 60,000 copies, and Come Away With Me by more than 40,000.
Five-time nominee Avril Lavigne also received a spike in sales leading up to the 45th annual Grammy Awards. Her Let Go drops a spot to #6 despite a sales increase of more than 20,000 copies.
Country singer George Strait corrals a #7 debut with his latest concert album, For the Last Time: Live From the Astrodome, which sold more than 100,000 copies. The rest of the top 10: Kid Rock's Cocky down one to #4 (129,000); the soundtrack to "Chicago" up one to #5 (117,000); Jennifer Lopez's This Is Me ... Then down one to #8; Shania Twain's Up! taking its own advice three spots to #9 (87,000); and at #10 (70,000), It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook by Rod Stewart, who's been basking in good press surrounding his covers album as well as his first Grammy nomination in 13 years.
All of the top 20 albums, with the exception of 50 Cent's, enjoyed sales increases, but none were as great as Josh Groban's, whose chart history reads like a roller coaster, peaking each time media opportunities or in this case, holidays come around. People apparently wanted to smooch their sweethearts to the smooth sounds of the 21-year-old crooner on Valentine's Day, since sales of his self-titled debut jumped by nearly 30,000 copies while moving from #30 to #11.
The Grammy Nominees 2003 collection, featuring tracks from top contenders such as Avril Lavigne, Nelly, Norah Jones and others, debuts at #17 with more than 65,000 copies sold. With a live rendition of the hit "Your Body Is a Wonderland," along with 14 other tracks, John Mayer's live Any Given Thursday sold more than 63,000 copies to make it's debut at #17. And after many delays and an insurmountable level of advance hype, the Ramones tribute album We're a Happy Family, featuring Rob Zombie, Eddie Vedder, Metallica and others, comes in at #43.
Other notable chart debuts include Vince Gill's Next Big Thing at #14; Yanni's Ethnicity at #27; Kenny Lattimore and Chante Moore's Things That Lovers Do at #31; DJ Envy's The Desert Storm Mixtape: Blok Party Vol. 1 at #57; Rush's Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits at #62; Massive Attack's 100th Window at #69; the hits package Essential Ozzy Osbourne at #81; How to Start a Fire by Further Seems Forever, the former band of Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba, at #133; Socialburn's Where You Are at #178; Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Nocturama at #182; and Supergrass' Life on Other Planets at #195.
For more on 50 Cent, check out "50 Cent: Money To Burn."
Joe D'Angelo
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