‘Late’ debut hits No. 1 early

KANYE WEST’S “Late Registration” entered the nation’s pop album chart at No. 1 on Wednesday after registering the second-biggest opening sales week of the year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The CD sold 860,000 copies, the most first-week sales since fellow rapper 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” sold 1.1 million copies in early March.

West’s debut album, the Grammy-winning “The College Dropout,” leaped from No. 111 to No. 57 on the new chart, probably because of all the critical praise last week for the new album. “College,” released early last year, sold 16,000 more copies last week to bring its total to 2.7 million.

The rapper-producer, best known for the hit single “Jesus Walks,” caused an uproar Friday when he declared that “George Bush doesn’t care about blacks,” during an appearance on an NBC telethon to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina victims.

The remark was broadcast on the East Coast but edited out of the later West Coast feed. Network officials said the decision was made to avoid politicizing the program and possibly dissuading viewers from donating.

Five other releases also debuted in the national Top 10 this week. They are by rapper Tony Yayo (No. 2 with sales of 214,000 copies), the country duo Brooks & Dunn (No. 3, sales of 111,000), Death Cab for Cutie (No. 4, sales of 90,000), Casting Crowns (No. 9, sales of 71,000) and Rihanna (No. 10, sales of 69,000).