NEW YORK (Top40 Charts) - Rapper Nelly, who has topped the U.S. pop singles charts for the last three weeks, now also has the No. 1 album in the country.
His second release, "Nellyville," ended Eminem's five-week reign by selling more than 714,000 copies in its first full week of release, Nelly's Universal Records label said Wednesday.
The album had been forecast by Billboard magazine as having a shot at exceeding 800,000 units. Still, it did better than Nelly's 2000 debut, " Country Grammar," which opened at No. 3 with sales of 252,000 copies and ultimately spent five weeks at No. 1.
The Nelly single "Hot in Herre" also topped the latest pop singles chart, which is based on a mixture of retail sales and radio airplay. Nelly's real name is Cornell Haynes, Jr. "The Eminem Show" from Eminem (a.k.a. Marshall Mathers) slipped to No. 2 on the album charts with nearly 308,000 units sold in the week ended June 30, taking his total to 3.6 million, said his Interscope Records label.
The top 10 contained two other new releases, "God's Favorite" (Def Jam Recordings) from rap artist N.O.R.E. (a.k.a. Victor Santiago) at No. 3; and "Truthfully Speaking" (Interscope), the debut release from female R&B singer Truth Hurts (a.k.a. Shari Watson) at No. 5, according to rankings from album sales tracker SoundScan.
However, it seems Will Smith's movie star power and the excitement for the next Men in Black film wasn't quite enough to make his new album, Born to Reign, crack the top 10. The album debuts at No. 13 instead (his last album, "Willennium," debuted at No. 5 in 1999). Ten notches behind him is the new one from SHeDAISY, Knock on the Sky.
Other notable debuts include: Soulfy, 3, No. 46; Nonpoint, Development, No. 52; Punk-O-Rama Vol. 7, featuring Pennywise, the Hives, Bad Religion, and others, No. 67; Ozzy Osbourne, Live at Budokan, No. 70; Steve Harvey, Sign of Things to Come: Steve's Picks of the Year's Hottest in R&B and Hip-Hop, No. 73; Los Temerarios, Una Lagrima No Basta, No. 79; Cormega, True Meaning, No. 95; Reel Big Fish, Cheer Up, No. 115; and Sonic Youth, Murray Street, No. 126.
Further down the charts, last week's death of Who bass player John Entwistle prompted a new hits collection to climb up the charts. "The Ultimate Collection," a 2-CD set spanning the veteran British rock group's three-decade recording career, jumped 15 places to No. 58 in its third week of release, MCA Records said.
