Jadakiss Plants 'Kiss' Atop U.S. Albums Chart

Rapper Jadakiss has topped the U.S. pop albums chart with his sophomore solo effort, "Kiss of Death," one of four new releases in the top 10, according to Nielsen SoundScan sales data issued Wednesday. His Ruff Ryder/Interscope set sold almost 246,000 copies in the week ended June 27. Jadakiss' debut "Kiss tha Game Goodbye" has sold 877,000 copies to date after bowing at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 204,000 copies in 2001. Also a member of the Lox, Jadakiss first gained national attention with the group's 1997 multi-platinum tribute to the Notorious B.I.G., "We'll Always Love Big Poppa." Usher's "Confessions" (LaFace/Zomba) held steady at No. 2 for a third week with sales of almost 149,500 units, taking its tally to 4.5 million. Last week's champ, the Beastie Boys' "To the 5 Boroughs" (Capitol) fell to No. 3 with 143,000 copies, for a two-week haul of 503,500 copies. R&B newcomer JoJo opened at No. 4 with her self-titled Da Family/Blackground debut. Fueled by first single "Leave (Get Out)" -- which is climbing into the top 20 on Billboard's Hot 100 -- the album saw first week sales of 95,000 copies. In time for Wednesday's theatrical opening of "Spider-Man 2," the superhero sequel's Columbia soundtrack debuted at No. 7 on sales of 82,000 copies. Aided by the hit single "Hero" by Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and Saliva's Josey Scott, 2002's "Spider-Man" fared better in its opening week with 112,000 copies and a No. 4 entry. Wilco scored its first top 10 Billboard 200 debut with its latest Nonesuch effort, "A Ghost Is Born." The Jeff Tweedy-led band's fifth studio effort opened at No. 8 with 81,000 copies. The group's last album, 2002's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," marked its Nonesuch debut after a split with Warner Bros and opened at No. 13 with 56,000 copies; it has sold 454,000 to date. With the exception of Prince's "Musicology" (NPG/Columbia), which moved up one to No. 5 on a 13% sales increase to 92,000 copies, the chart's remaining top 10 titles were pushed down the rankings. Gretchen Wilson's "Here for the Party" (Epic) fell two places to No. 6, Velvet Revolver's "Contraband" (RCA) slid six places to No. 9 and Avril Lavigne's "Under My Skin" (Arista) dropped five places to No. 10. "The Beautiful Letdown" by Christian rock quartet Switchfoot was the Billboard 200's greatest gainer, shooting 44-16 on a 60% sales increase to 45,000 copies. Fueling the boost is the release of a limited edition version of the Columbia album with a DVD and other bonus features, as well as the debut of a Rock the Vote public service spot that will air throughout the summer. "Letdown" also marks its 13th week atop Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. Wilson Phillips' first album in 12 years got a boost from the trio's June 24 appearance on ABC's "Primetime Thursday." The Columbia set "California" moved 119-58 on a 74% sales increase to 20,000 copies. Overall U.S. album sales were down about 11% from the prior week to 11.2 million, about 6& ahead of the same week last year. Sales for the year are beating those of 2003 by about 7%.