R. Kelly finds himself in a familiar spot atop The Billboard 200 with “Double Up,” his sixth No. 1 on the tally. The Jive set moved 386,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, aided by the popularity of his new single “I’m a Flirt,” which peaked at No. 2 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Each of Kelly’s 10 studio albums have reached either No. 1 or No. 2 on the big chart.
After debuting at No. 1 last week, Maroon 5’s A&M/Octone effort “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” slips to No. 2 with 172,000, a 60% sales hit. Another former chart-topper, Linkin Park’s “Minutes to Midnight” (Machine Shop/Warner Bros.), falls 2-3 with 126,000 (-36%).
Country singer Jason Aldean’s sophomore set “Relentless” (Broken Bow) earns him his best charting and sales week yet, entering at No. 4 with 98,000. The album also debuts at No. 1 on Top Country Albums, a career first. The artist’s 2005 self-titled debut peaked at No. 6 on the country tally and at No. 37 on The Billboard 200.
Daughtry’s self-titled RCA debut climbs 6-5 in its 28th week on The Billboard 200 with a 7% sales decrease to 69,000.
Three albums sold roughly 50,000 copies this week, with only a difference of a few dozen between them. Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” rockets up 11-6 (+28%) with help from a $7.99 sales sticker at Best Buy this week. “Cold Summer” by hip-hop trio U.S.D.A., Young Jeezy’s collaboration with Slick Pulla and Blood Raw, descends 4-7, a -48% change. Avril Lavigne’s “The Best Damn Thing” (RCA) climbs 9-8 on a 3% increase.
Michael Buble‘s “Call Me Irresponsible” (143/Reprise) dips 7-9 with 48,000 (-23%) while Ozzy Osbourne’s “Black Rain” (Epic) takes a 69% sales hit to 47,000 and falls 3-10.
Only two other albums bow inside the top 100 slots on The Billboard 200: Equal Vision act Circa Survive’s “On Letting Go” sold 24,000 and debuts at No. 24, while Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party’s “Ultra Payloaded” (Columbia) joins the festivities at No. 91 with 8,000.
Album sales are down less than 1% from last week’s total at 8.31 million units and down 10.6% compared to the same week last year.