‘Idol’ crowd can’t catch rapper’s ‘Inspiration’
YOUNG JEEZY, the Atlanta rapper with the seasonally appropriate second nickname of Snowman, has a new home for the holidays: the top of the pop chart.
The rapper’s sophomore album, “The Inspiration,” sold a robust 352,000 copies its first week in stores to give the Georgia rhymer his first No. 1 album, according to Nielsen SoundScan. As for the Snowman moniker: Sorry, Frosty, it’s a drug reference, as the album’s celebrations of crime, profit and cocaine make clear.
At No. 2: the debut album from Taylor Hicks, the Alabama-born singer who won Season 5 of “American Idol.” “Taylor Hicks” sold 298,000 copies in its first week. The album features songwriting contributions from Diane Warren and Rob Thomas and was produced by Grammy winner Matt Serletic.
A second “Idol” alumnus, Fantasia, hits the chart this week with “Fantasia,” a follow-up to her 2004 debut, “Free Yourself.” The new CD sold 133,000 copies to hit the No. 19 spot.
A third “Idol,” country singer Carrie Underwood, benefited from her appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s show, which helped push her album “Some Hearts” from No. 10 to No. 6 this week with sales of 199,000 copies, bringing its total to 4.3 million copies sold in the U.S. And right behind Underwood on the chart: “Idol” competitor Chris Daughtry and his band at No. 7. The new season of “Idol” begins Jan. 16.
The holiday gift rush pushed 26 albums over the 100,000-copy sales mark this week, a pleasant tiding for the beleaguered recording industry.
Other notable debuts this week: “Reflections (A Retrospective)” from Mary J. Blige, at No. 9 (171,000 copies sold); “Alter Ego,” the double album (one is rap, the other R&B;) from Tyrese at No. 23 (116,000); and “More Fish” from Ghostface Killah, at No. 71 (36,000).
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