‘Confessions’ ushers singer to top spot

We’re still a week shy of the six-month mark this year, but it looks like the pop world already has a winner for album sales in 2004: Usher’s “Confessions.”

The Arista release, which has been No. 1 on the pop charts nine of the past 11 weeks, has sold 4.1 million copies since its release in late March, Nielsen SoundScan reports.

That gives the R&B-pop; star what most industry experts believe is an insurmountable lead, especially considering that the CD is still selling 150,000 to 200,000 copies a week.

Only three other 2004 releases have topped the 1.5-million mark, and all three have seen sales momentum slip sharply in recent weeks. Those albums are Norah Jones’ “Feels Like Home,” which has sold 3.1 million copies but only 39,000 last week; Kenny Chesney’s “When the Sun Goes Down,” which has sold 2 million copies but only 38,000 last week; and Kanye West’s “The College Dropout,” with 1.8 million copies but only 45,000 last week.

Though a newcomer could suddenly catch fire (as 50 Cent did last year), the only artist believed to have a chance to generate enough sales power in the second half of the year to overtake Usher is Eminem.

Interscope Records said Friday that Eminem is working on a new album in Detroit, but there is not even a tentative release date at this point. Eminem’s last formal album, “The Eminem Show,” was the biggest seller of 2002: 7.6 million copies, including almost 5 million in the first three months.

Asked about Usher’s success this year, Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard magazine, said, “Right record, right time.”

Usher, he added, “is a really talented artist whose music has the ability to connect with more than one radio format. In that way, he’s a reminder of what Motown used to do. You know R&B; stations are going to play him, but if he makes the right record, he’s also got a big shot at Top 40 pop radio, and when that happens, you get enough exposure to make sales like this possible.”

-- Robert Hilburn