OutKast's love might be below, but their album is back on top.
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In their 14th week on the charts, the rap duo OutKast is ringing out 2003 with their Grammy-nominated double-disc Speakerboxxx/The Love Below reclaiming the number one spot on the final chart of the year. OutKast jumped three spots to finish the week ended Sunday at number one with 374,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures out today.
OutKast's new disc opened at number one in October, selling a massive 510,000 copies.
With OutKast surging upward, Alicia Keys (news) dropped back to number two as Diary of Alicia Keys sold 371,000 copies. She's followed by Toby Keith (news)'s Shock'n Y'All at three, Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 14 at four and The Very Best of Sheryl Crow (news) at five.
The rest of the Top 10, all holiday holdovers, were Josh Groban (news)'s Closer at six, Hilary Duff (news)'s Metamorphosis at seven, No Doubt's The Singles: 1992-2003 at eight, Ruben Studdard's Soulful at nine and Britney Spears (news)' In the Zone reentering the Top 10 at 10.
Rapper Juvenile scored the week's top debut, with Juve the Great check in at 32 with 103,000 copies. The Big Easy native, best known for his multiplatinum hit "Back That Azz Up," remained low-key the past few years as he disputed business agreements with his label, Cash Money Records and battled legal problems. After squeezing some additional "cash money" from his label, Juvenile okayed the release of his latest disc.
The urban hip-pop group B2K landed the next best bow at 34 with the soundtrack to their upcoming film, You Got Served, moving just north of 102,000 copies. The film itself, which hits theaters on January 30, costars the B2K boys, Marques Houston and about a zillion cameos from the likes of Lil' Kim and Jagged Edge. The album's lead single, "Bada Boom," features Fabolous.
Keeping the holiday week hip-hop, Dirty South rapper David Banner landed his latest, MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water, at 77 with nearly 54,000 copies sold. This is the prolific emcee's third album in only nine months: He made his major label debut last spring with Mississippi: The Album and followed up with the remix disc Mississippi: The Chopped & Screwed Album.
Wrapping up the rap debuts, Nas' protgs the Bravehearts saw their Bravehearted open at 82 with 50,000 copies sold. The Bravehearts duo, Jungle and Wiz, have been Nas' live support since back in the day and made their own mark with tracks on the "Belly" soundtrack and the QB's Finest compilation.
In general it was a good week for urban artists. Aside from the debuts, some chart mainstays enjoyed gains. G-Unit's Beg for Mercy jumped four spots to 11, Jay-Z's The Black Album was up six to 12, 2Pac's Resurrection was up six to 19, Ludacris' Chicken & Beer moved up eight to 20, Chingy's Jackpot was up seven to 22, Nelly's Da Derrty Versions climbed 12 to 28, and Lil Jon's Kings of Crunk finished its 61th week on the charts catapulting 29 spots to 50.
Here's a recap of last week's Top 10 albums:
1. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, OutKast
2. The Diary of Alicia Keys, Alicia Keys
3. Shock'n Y'All, Toby Keith
4. Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 14, various artists
5. The Very Best of Sheryl Crow, Sheryl Crow
6. Closer, Josh Groban
7. Metamorphosis, Hilary Duff
8. The Singles 1992-2003, No Doubt
9. Soulful, Ruben Studdard
10. In the Zone, Britney Spears
