The national album chart this week tells a three-pronged tale: A hit single still packs a punch, hip-hop by anyone other than Lil Wayne continues to struggle and a sales drop isn't necessarily bad for an artist —- as long as everyone else slides more.
The inescapable Kid Rock demonstrates what a hit single can still do. As Rock's song "All Summer Long" climbs the Top 40, adult contemporary and country singles charts simultaneously, his album "Rock N Roll Jesus" has jumped from No. 12 to No. 7. Sales spiked 27 percent, to 45,000 last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Meanwhile, Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III"moved back into the No. 1 slot even though sales dropped 25 percent, thanks to an even greater slip for Coldplay's latest. Sales of "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" dipped 40 percent during its third week of release, to 149,000 just shy of the 156,000 copies Wayne sold.
Wayne also trumped G-Unit's new "T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight)," which debuted at No. 4 on sales of 102,000 copies. Despite the presence of rap heavyweights 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, G-Unit's first week was dramatically less than the 377,000 figure for the group's 2003 debut, "Beg for Mercy," and one-tenth of Lil Wayne's 1-million-selling first week in June.
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