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50 Cent Massacres J.Lo
03/09/2005 4:15 PM, E! Online
David Jenison
Leave it to 50 Cent to ruin Jennifer Lopez 's rebirth.
With leaks and bootleggers forcing Fiddy's label to move up the
release of The Massacre, J.Lo suddenly had no chance of giving
Rebirth a chart-topping entry into the world. Officially hitting
the retail racks last Thursday, The Massacre didn't even need a
full sales week to give the rapper his second million-copy chart
opening.
For the week ended Sunday, The Massacre
topped the Billboard 200, selling an astonishing 1.14 million
copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. If not for The Massacre's
bumped-up release date, Lopez would have been tops, with Rebirth
moving 261,000 copies.
Fiddy, who also broke the
million-copy first-week mark with 2003's Get Rich or Die Tryin'
in 2003, made history last week as the first solo to land three singles
simultaneously in the Top 5 since SoundScan began tracking sales data in
1991. His "Candy Shop" was number one and "Disco Inferno" was number
five, while his collaboration with the Game on "Ho We Do" sat in number
four.
The Game and Fiddy's cozy relationship seemed to
implode last week, when 50 Cent ousted his Compton-born protg from
G-Unit, calling the Game treasonous for not backing Fiddy's beefs with
other rappers. Moments after 50 Cent made the announcement onair at New
York's Hot 97, one of the Game's associates was shot outside the radio
station. After a week of posturing, the two emcees decided to make
amends at a joint press conference Wednesday in New York.
"Game and I need to set an example in the community," Fiddy said in a
statement Wednesday, which also marks the eighth anniversary of
Notorious B.I.G.'s murder. Added the Game, "It's going to be a positive
thing for both sides."
At the press conference, Fiddy also
announced the launch of a new charity organization, the G-Unity
Foundation. Both artists will make charitable donations to benefit the
Boys Choir of Harlem and the Compton Unified School District Music
Program. The new charity will serve as a counterpoint to the rapper's
just-announced videogame, 50 Cent: Bulletproof, which, per a press
release, allows gamers to embark "on a bloody path through New York's
drug underworld."
As for the Game, his debut disc, The
Documentary, currently sits at number five, having sold just under
100,000. Previous to Fiddy's monster first week, the rookie rapper held
the best sales week of 2004 when his debut sold 587,000 copies back in
January.
Aside from 50 Cent outgunning J.Lo, there were
two other newcomers impacting the charts. Jack Johnson opened in the
three spot, with In Between Dreams, selling 229,000, a personal
best. The L.A. duo Mars Volta followed at four, moving 123,000 of
Frances the Mute, featuring the alt-rock hit "The Widow."
The rest of the Top 10 were all holdovers: Green Day's
American Idiot at six, Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company
at seven, last week's number one, Omarion's O, at eight, Kelly Clarkson 's Breakaway at nine and Eminem 's Encore and 10.
Judas Priest just missed the Top 10 but still made a
triumphant return as Angel of Retribution sold more than 57,000
copies at 13. Jamie O'Neal's Brave charted at 40, and Pimp C's
Sweet James Jones Stories came in at 50.
Further
down the charts, the Doves' Some City opened at 111, outselling
Pastor Troy's Face Off Part II by just eight copies. Both discs
sold just north of 10,000 copies.
Here's a recap of last
week's Top 10 albums:
1. The Massacre, 50 Cent
2. Rebirth, Jennifer Lopez
3. In Between Dreams,
Jack Johnson
4. Frances the Mute, Mars Volta
5.
The Documentary, The Game
6. American Idiot, Green
Day
7. Genius Loves Company, Ray Charles
8.
O, Omarion
9. Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson
10.
Encore, Enimem
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