Billboard 200: 3/26/11: Lupe Fiasco No. 1- 204,000

#1 Lupe Fiasco - Lasers (204,000) (debut)
#2 Adele - 21 (133,000) (654,000 total)

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Lupe Fiasco's 'Lasers' Blasts Into Billboard 200 At No. 1
March 16, 2011
By Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles

As predicted, Lupe Fiasco's "Lasers" album arrives atop the Billboard 200, selling 204,000 in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

It marks his first No. 1 and best sales week yet. His second effort, "The Cool," launched at No. 15 with 143,000 at the tail end of 2007, while his "Food & Liquor" debut bowed at No. 8 with 81,000 in 2006.

Adele's "21" slides from the top slot down to No. 2 with 133,000, down a modest 21%. Right behind her at No. 3 is the debut of the fifth volume of the "Glee" TV soundtrack series, starting with 90,000. All nine of the "Glee"-related releases have debuted in the top 10: the five regular full-length albums along with three EPs and a Christmas effort.

Avril Lavigne's fourth studio album, "Goodbye Lullabye," debuts at No. 4 with an 87,000 start. Each of her three previous releases peaked in the top two slots: Her first, "Let Go," bowed at No. 8 but eventually reached the runner-up slot, while her second and third titles, "Under My Skin" and "The Best Damn Thing," both entered at No. 1. "Thing," released almost four years ago, launched with 286,000.

Veteran rock band R.E.M. lands its 10th top 10 album as "Collapse Into Now" starts at No. 5 with 57,000. It follows the act's last studio set, 2008's "Accelerate," which debuted and peaked at No. 2 with 115,000. Country singer Sara Evans comes in at No. 6 with "Stronger" (55,000), her third top 10. Over on the Country Albums tally, it's her second No. 1, following 2005's "Real Fine Place."

As for the rest of the top 10: Mumford & Sons' "Sigh No More" slips 3-7 (46,000; down 16%), Marsha Ambrosius' "Late Nights & Early Mornings" falls 2-8 (41,000; down 57%), Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never: The Remixes" descends 4-9 (40,000; down 25%), and the "Now 37" compilation moves 5-10 (33,000; down 26%).

Over on the Digital Songs chart, Katy Perry's "E.T." (featuring Kanye West) jumps 5-1 with 216,000 (up 30%). It's Perry's fourth topper on the Digital list and the third from her "Teenage Dream" album following "California Girls" and the title track. "E.T." edges out Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor," which holds at No. 2 with 215,000 (down 3%). Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" falls from the No. 1 position to No. 3 with 176,000 (down 24%).

Rihanna's "S&M" stands steady at No. 4 (168,000; down 5%), and Britney Spears' " 'Till the World Ends" flies 10-5 with 158,000 (up 36%) after its first full week in stores. Cee Lo Green's "F**k You (Forget You)" moves 3-6 (157,000; down 21%), Ke$ha's "Blow" slips 6-7 (140,000; down 15%), and P!nk's "F**kin' Perfect" holds at No. 8 (124,000; down 11%). Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor" drops 7-9 (124,000; down 16%), and Chris Brown's "Look at Me Now" returns to the top 10, climbing two runs to No. 10 with 117,000 (up 18%).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending March 13) totaled 6.2 million units, down 2% compared with the sum last week (6.3 million) and up 2% compared with the comparable sales week of 2010 (6.1 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 59.1 million, down 7% compared to the same total at this point last year (63.4 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 24.3 million downloads, down 5% compared to last week (25.5 million) and up 7% stacked next to the comparable week of 2010 (22.6 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 264.9 million, up 7% compared with the same total at this point last year (248.9 million).

Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2010 when: Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" returned to No. 1 with 93,000 (despite a 1% decline in sales) while Marvin Sapp's "Here I Am" bowed at No. 2 with 76,000. The previous week's topper, Ludacris' "Battle of the Sexes," fell to No. 3 with 61,000 (down 55%).

www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts-articles/chart-alert/lupe-fiasco-s-lasers-blasts-into-billboard-1005074952.story

That comparison doesn't make any sense -- Sheryl Crow was around 30 when she made it big, Avril was a teenager. Sheryl's audience didn't "grow up and move on" -- her audience has always been primarily adults, not teens.

Sheryl's audience was primarily female college age students. Many of these are now soccer moms and are more likely to listen to Michael Buble or Nickelback these days.

Will the following albums be certified by the RIAA on tomorrow's chart?

Numbers are from the 3/19/11 chart except where noted:

P!nk 525k
Eminem 3.694.866
Katy Perry 1.248.843
Justin Bieber 555k
Rascal Flatts 667k
Black Eyed Peas 553k
Arcade Fire 564k
Now 36 555k
Five Finger Death Punch 461k
Eric Church 415k
Avenged Sevenfold 487k
Disturbed 481k
Fantasia 424k

Albums only on the BB200 for 5+ weeks are listed and have sold over 400k.

See that Disturbed is crawling up there. Shocked Avenged Sevenfold has sold more than Disturbed. That album did come out before though i believe. Nice to see FFDP crawling up as well.

Yet another (albeit small) year-to-year increase? What is going on. :)

new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/74341/week-ending-march-13-2011-not-a-fiasco/

Week Ending March 13, 2011: Not A Fiasco
Posted Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:43pm PDT by Paul Grein in Chart

Lupe Fiasco isn't yet a household name, but his third album sold more copies this week than the next two highest-debuting albums combined: the latest Glee album and a new studio set by Avril Lavigne. His Lasers sold 204K in its first week, which is the second fattest one-week tally so far this year. Only Adele's 21 has sold more copies in one week (352K).

Lasers is the third album by the hip-hopper, whose real name is Wasalu Jaco. His first two albums were Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor and Lupe Fiasco's The Cool. The former album spawned the Grammy-winning track "Daydreamin'" (featuring Jill Scott). The latter album spawned the top 10 hit "Superstar" (featuring Matthew Santos).

"Lasers" sold most of its copies (114K) in the digital realm, which makes it the week's #1 Digital Album.

Adele's 21 dips to #2 after two weeks on top. It has sold 653K copies in just three weeks, which is about two-thirds of the amount that Adele's 2008 debut album, 19, has sold in its entire run. (That album has sold 973K to date. It sold 11K copies this week, which gave it a fourth week at #1 on Top Catalog Albums.)
21 holds at #1 in the U.K. for the seventh straight week. It's the first album to top the U.K. chart for seven weeks since Eminem scored with Recovery last summer. It's the first album to have seven consecutive weeks at #1 on the British chart since Michael Jackson achieved the feat with The Essential Michael Jackson two summers ago.

Glee, The Music: Season Two, Volume 5 debuts at #3. It's the ninth Glee project to make the top 10, counting five regular albums, a Christmas album and three EPs. The new album feature Glee versions of such smashes as Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" and Katy Perry's "Firework," as well as two new songs, "Loser Like Me" and "Get It Right." If Glee succeeds at breaking big hits, instead of just recycling past hits, it would be a major breakthrough for the show. It would, for one thing, enhance its credibility in the industry.

Gwyneth Paltrow sings three songs on the new Glee album: Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," Joan Jett & the Blackheart's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," and Prince and the Revolution's "Kiss."

Avril Lavigne's fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, debuts at #4. All four of Lavigne's albums have debuted in the top 10, though the new one failed to match the #1 debuts of her last two sets, 2004's Under My Skin and 2007's The Best Damn Thing. The first-week sales tally (87K) is also far off those of Skin (381K) and Damn (286K). It's enough to make Lavigne cry out "What The Hell."

R.E.M.'s Collapse Into Now, which is reportedly the band's last studio album for Warner Bros. under a mega-bucks contract that it signed in 1988, debuts at #5. The band first cracked the top 10 in November 1987 with R.E.M. No. 5: Document.

If R.E.M. does wind up leaving the Warner fold, they'll become the second big act to leave the label in the past few years. Madonna released her last studio album (Hard Candy) through the company in 2008. So who's left at Warner Bros.? At this point, the artists who have been signed to the label the longest include Neil Young (since 1968, except for a brief stint on Geffen), Fleetwood Mac (since the early '70s), Mark Knopfler (since 1979), Eric Clapton (since 1982) and Randy Travis (since 1985, except for a brief stint with DreamWorks.

Sara Evans' "Stronger" debuts at #6. It enters Top Country Albums at #1. It's Evans' second #1 country album, following 2005's Real Fine Place. The title of Evans' current album is a play on her hit, "A Little Bit Stronger," which has sold 518,000 digital copies.

Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More drops from #3 to #7. The album has sold 1,119,000 copies, more than any other in this week's top 10. Sigh No More logs its 10th week in the top 10. Of this year's crop of Grammy nominees for Best New Artist, only Justin Bieber has had a longer run in the top 10. His first full-length album has logged 31 weeks in the top 10. Drake's first full-length had eight weeks. Florence + the Machine and Esperanza Spalding have yet to crack the top 10.

Katy Perry's "E.T." (featuring Kanye West) edges out J.Lo's "On The Floor" (featuring Pitbull) for the top spot on Hot Digital Songs. But it was close. "E.T." sold 216K copies, just 1,000 copies more than "On The Floor." Female artists hold down seven of the top eight spots. Cee Lo Green's unstoppable "F**k You (Forget You)" is the only hit by a male artist in the top eight. What will all this mean on the Hot 100? You'll find out later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Lupe Fiasco, Lasers, 204,000. This new entry is the hip-hopper's first #1 album; his second to make the top 10. Seven songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "The Show Goes On," which dips from #25 to #29.

2. Adele, 21, 133,000. The former #1 album dips to #2 after two weeks in the lead. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Rolling In The Deep," which drops from #9 to #15.

3. Glee Cast, Glee, The Music: Season Two: Volume 5, 90,000. This new entry is the ninth Glee album or EP to make the top 10. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," which debuts at #12.

4. Avril Lavigne, Goodbye Lullaby, 87,000. This new entry is Lavigne's fourth album in a row to make the top five. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "What The Hell" jumps from #15 to #13. "Wish You Were Here" debuts at #81.

5. R.E.M., Collapse Into Now, 57,000. This new entry is the band's 10th top 10 album; its seventh to make the top five.

6. Sara Evans, Stronger, 55,000. This new entry is Evans' second studio album in a row to make the top five. Real Fine Place hit #3 in 2005. A subsequent Greatest Hits also went top 10. "A Little Bit Stronger" rebounds from #76 to #40 on Hot Digital Songs.

7. Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More, 46,000. The album drops from #3 to #7 in its 51st week. This is its 10th week in the top 10. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "The Cave" drops from #42 to #51. "Little Lion Man" drops from #53 to #64.

8. Marsha Ambrosius, Late Nights & Early Mornings, 41,000. The album drops from #2 to #8 in its second week. The album has sold 137K copies.

9. Justin Bieber, Never Say Never-The Remixes, 40,000. The former #1 album drops from #4 to #9 in its fourth week. Three songs from the EP are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Never Say Never" (featuring Jaden Smith), which drops from #17 to #28.

10. Various Artists, Now 37, 33,000. The former #1 album drops from #5 to #10 in its fifth week. The album has sold 380K copies to date.

Five albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Dropkick Murphys' Going Out In Style dives from #6 to #26, Aaron Lewis' Town Line drops from #7 to #22, Justin Bieber's My World 2.0 drops from #8 to #13, Bruno Mars' Doo-Wops & Hooligans drops from #9 to #14 and P!nk's Greatest Hits...So Far!!! drops from #10 to # 17.

Passion Band's Passion: Here For You debuts at #11. Kenny Rogers' Love Of God bows at #31. These are the top two albums on the Top Christian/Gospel Albums chart. Rogers first hit The Billboard 200 in January 1968 when he was the lead singer of The First Edition.

Raekwon's Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang debuts at #12. Raekwon has had five top 10 albums-two with Wu-Tang Clan and three on his own... Burlesque is the #1 movie soundtrack for the fourth week. The album slips from #18 to #27 on the big chart.

Daniel Tosh's Happy Thoughts debuts at #28. It also bows at #1 on Top Comedy Albums. Tosh is the host of the Comedy Central clip show Tosh.O. His Happy Thoughts special premiered on the channel on March 6.

Billy Joel's Live At Shea Stadium bows at #35. It's Joel's fifth live album to make the top 40. His first to do so was 1981's Songs In The Attic. Joel's DVD of the same name enters Top Music Videos at #1. It features guest stars Garth Brooks, Tony Bennett, John Mayer and Paul McCartney. The Beatles were the first music act to play Shea Stadium (in August 1965). Joel was the last (in July 2008). Joel's shows were tagged "Last Play At Shea," but Joel and his record company opted for this more conventional album title.

Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water re-enters the chart at #167. The album logged 10 weeks at #1 in 1970, longer than any other album that year. In March 1971, it made Paul Simon the first person ever to win Grammys for Album, Record and Song of the Year in a single night...Elvis Presley's 1960 album Elvis Is Back!, which was recorded within weeks of his discharge from the army, re-enters at #199.

Battle: Los Angeles was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. Brian Tyler composed the score. The album sold about 1,000 copies this week, too few to make the big chart.
Coming Attractions: Rise Against's Endgame will be next week's top new entry, with sales of about 85K. It will vie with Adele's 21 for the #1 spot. Also due: Travis Barker's Give The Drummer Some and Miranda Cosgrove's High Maintenance. Barker is the drummer for Blink-182. Cosgrove is the star of iCarly. (It would be kind of fun if they switched jobs for a week.)

That's what happens when a group has a weak choice to use as a single; otherwise it would have been great promotion.

R.E.M. probably don't care about how big their albums will be at this point.

No new RIAA certifications this week.

20 24 Taylor Swift Speak Now 16,431 3,256,525

Still good sales for Taylor.Hopefully Taylor gets back in the Top 20 after the ACMs.First Week out of the top 20 for Speak Now althrough. Well still 3.2 Million sold is awesome.

^Me too :(

Me too! Uh, oh!

GaGa's "The Fame (Monster)" spends its 100TH WEEK at #1 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Album charts this week.