Mariah Debuts At No. 1 After Monster First Week

Mariah Carey earns her sixth No. 1 on The Billboard 200 as her “E=MC2″ bows on top. The Island Def Jam set moved 463,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, making it the diva’s biggest sales week ever. It’s also the highest sales week of the year, surpassing the 375,000 start of Jack Johnson’s “Sleep Through the Static” in February.

Carey’s last album, “The Emancipation of Mimi,” also landed at No. 1 in its premiere week, moving 404,000. She is now tied with Madonna and Janet Jackson for the second most No. 1 albums among female artists. Only queen bee Barbra Streisand, with eight, is ahead of the pack. There’s a good chance Madonna will add another No. 1 to her tally though, as her “Hard Candy” album drops next Tuesday (April 29).

Leona Lewis’ Syco/J effort “Spirit” slips 1-2 with 95,000 units, a 54% sales decrease. Miley Cyrus’ “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert” Hollywood/Disney album vaults from No. 31 to a new peak of No. 3 with 47,000 — a 162% gain. The set became available to all music sellers last week after having spent its first five weeks of release as a Wal-Mart exclusive.

New country group Lady Antebellum charges in at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 with its self-titled Capitol Nashville debut, shifting 43,000. Sales were fueled by the single “Love Don’t Live Here,” which sits at its current peak at No. 11 on the Hot Country Songs tally this week.

The multi-label “NOW 27″ compilation slips 4-5 with 39,000 (-17%), as George Strait’s “Troubadour” (MCA Nashville) falls 2-6 with 38,000 (-35%). The Fox/Razor & Tie soundtrack to “Alvin and the Chipmunks” likewise descends 6-7 with a 20% sales hit to 32,000. Another soundtrack, “Juno” (Rhino), climbs back into the top tier 46-8 in conjunction with the film’s DVD release; the album moved 31,000 copies with a 162% sales increase.

With 30,000 and a 35% sales reduction, R.E.M.’s Warner Bros. set “Accelerate” falls 5-9. Taylor Swift’s self-titled Big Machine set rounds out the top 10, ascending 13-10 with a 13% sales boost to 29,000.

After Carey, rock troupe Thrice has the next biggest debut this week at No. 17 with “The Alchemy Index, Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth” (Vagrant), selling 21,000 units. With only a few hundred fewer, Rush’s double-disc Atlantic set “Snakes & Arrows: Live” starts right behind at No. 18, also with 21,000. Other debuts this week include metal outfit Children Of Bodom’s “Blooddrunk” (Fontana/Universal, No. 22, 19,000), Nickelodeon duo the Naked Brothers Band’s “I Don’t Want to Go to School” (No. 23, 19,000) and Tristan Prettyman’s “Hello” (Virgin, No. 27, 18,000).

Sales this week are up 1.9% from last week’s sales at 7.5 million units. Sales are down 8.1% compared to the same week last year.

T.I.: What Will A Year In Prison Mean For His Career?

As T.I. looks at serving up to a year in prison following his recent guilty plea on federal weapons charges, an obvious question is: What will it mean for his career? In addition to a string of platinum albums and hit singles, Tip was on the verge of seeing his acting career take off before his arrest in October, thanks to his role in “American Gangster.”

And while he wouldn’t be the first rapper to have his career put on hold by a prison sentence, the possible year-long stretch would come after T.I. has already served more than six months on house arrest. Though he’s been using his time at home to work on his next album, Paper Trail, the confinement has mostly taken him out of the public eye since the fall.

As part of his sentence, T.I. (born Clifford Harris Jr.) must complete at least 1,000 hours of community service talking to kids about the ills of guns, drugs and gangs. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, if the rapper abides by the conditions of his plea agreement, he will likely serve less than the one year and one day sentence that was imposed. That will be determined in March 2009, the paper reports. He was also sentenced to a year of home confinement, minus the time he’s already served locked down in his Atlanta-area home to date.

One of T.I.’s attorneys, Ed Garland, told the paper that his client is free to “perform, act in movies [and] carry on with his business until the end of the 12-month period,” though he will be shadowed by a private security officer at all times who will report on him if he strays from the court-appointed conditions. Even if he is able to promote Paper Trail later this year, the prison sentence will take T.I. off the scene for a long stretch for the second time in two years, an eternity in the here-today-gone-tomorrow-morning rap game.

There’s never a good time to go to prison. But, depending on the trajectory of their careers, some artists can survive, or even thrive, during their time away, according to Chaz Williams, CEO of Black Hand Entertainment and manager of incarcerated rapper Foxy Brown.

“It’s bad for an artist to be taken away from their career for any amount of time, whether it’s through sickness or any other unfortunate circumstance,” said Williams. “The difference is that some artists are ‘padded’ better than others, depending on what level of their career they’re at.”

In contrast to Remy Ma — who appeared unprepared for her recent 20-plus year sentence in connection with the shooting of an acquaintance — Williams pointed out that T.I., thanks to his plea deal, may have up to a year to get his business affairs in order before entering prison.

“If I was in T.I.’s shoes, I would probably record an album and put it out in the fourth quarter [of 2008],” Williams said. “Do some remixes and get an EP and several videos done, so I have enough stuff to fuel my career at a certain level until I get out.”

Unlike Foxy — whose career had hit a plateau before her incarceration last year, and, who, like Remy Ma, did not have as much time to prepare for her prison time — Williams said T.I.’s career won’t likely be derailed by the prison time. The rapper did time in 2003, after being found guilty of violating his probation from an earlier drug conviction. Williams said Tip’s image as someone familiar with the street drug trade and the violence that brings, for good or ill, is inseparable from his rap persona.

“I don’t want to say it happened at a good time in his career, because there’s never a good time to go to prison, but he has established himself with that mystique of his problems in the past, and it’s part of who he is.”

Noted hip-hop lawyer Stacey Richman — who has defended Lil Wayne, DMX, Busta Rhymes and Ja Rule on criminal charges involving guns and drugs — also said rappers can blunt the impact of a prison sentence by organizing their affairs before going away, noting that for some, for better or worse, it can almost confer hero status among fans who perceive them as “taking it like a man.” The same could be said for other entertainers too.

“Look at Martha Stewart; [going to prison] was the greatest thing that ever happened to her,” said Richman of the domestic diva, who launched a successful talk show after she did a five-month prison bid in 2004 for lying to investigators about a stock sale; some feel the sentence helped to humanize Stewart. “It opened her up to markets that she would never have reached before. As much as the government wants to appear to be cracking down, they take the risk of glorifying someone who they’re trying to make an example of.”

T.I.’s label and the producers and casting directors for the two movies T.I. has appeared in so far, “ATL” and “Gangster,” declined to comment for this story. But according to director/screenwriter David Ayer, there are many headaches associated with casting a rapper with legal issues. He cast Compton MC the Game in his upcoming movie, “Street Kings,” and the production had to work around Game’s court schedule when the rapper became entangled in a gun case while the film was being made.

“We had an all-night shoot, and the next morning he had to go to court on gun charges,” said Ayer, the writer of “Training Day.” “And I thought, ‘Thank God the court date didn’t come up when we were scheduled to shoot!”

Ayer said he cast Game and Common in his movie because he’s found that many rappers are “natural actors who really understand showbiz and film.” The issue when choosing a rapper who might not be completely divorced from their street life, he said, really comes down to how comfortable you are with working around the legal issues. “It’s about scheduling. If all of a sudden you have to work around the justice system, and it’s competing for their time, or if they get locked up and their bond is revoked and they’re not available?”

Asked if he would cast T.I. in a movie, Ayer said he would. If there were a conflict, he would have someone waiting in the wings should the rapper not be available because of his legal problems.

“No one can cast the guy right now, but I guarantee when he gets out, he will get some offers,” Ayer said. “If you show up and do your job and you’re a hard worker and you add something to the movie, whether it’s street cred or a following or you’re just a good, natural actor, you will be back.”

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for troubled actors, whether it’s Lindsay Lohan or T.I., is getting insured for a movie, but Ayer said if T.I. keeps working on studio films, he should have no problem getting covered. “I’m sure he’s bondable, because all they care about is, ‘Are they alive? Will they drop dead?’ ”

The other side, however, is that the movie business is all about momentum, Ayer said, and building off your last job, so when T.I. goes away, he will have a bit of starting over to do.

While incarceration can give artists a whole new universe of experience to tap into with their art, Richmond said the prospect of prison time is destructive to performers’ psyche, as well as that of their family.

“So much of the art that is in this realm of music are the tales of the people that many aspects of society don’t want to believe exist,” she said. “It’s speaking of the truth of it, and they can bring a whole new level of reality to a genre that is the folklore of society today. On the other hand, they are distracted from their career and can’t focus on their art. It can be financially and emotionally devastating, and no matter who you are, when you’re facing charges, the impact is overwhelming.”

- MTV News

Janet Jackson Debuts At #1 On Billboard

Dislodging Jack Johnson from the top after a three-week reign, Janet Jackson’s “Discipline” bows at No. 1 on The Billboard 200. The Island Def Jam set moved 181,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Soundscan, becoming the artist’s sixth chart-topper.

Her last two Virgin albums, 2004’s “Damita Jo” and 2006’s “20 Y.O.,” both debuted and peaked at No. 2, though “Damita” started with 381,000 while “20 Y.O.” began with 296,000. Johnson’s “Sleep Through the Static” (Brushfire) falls 1-3 with 92,000, a 12% sales decline.

“4th World War,” the first half of Erykah Badu’s double album series “New Amerykah,” debuts at No. 2, selling 124,000 copies. It’s the R&B singer’s first studio effort since 2003’s “Worldwide Underground,” an EP that began at No. 3 with 144,000. The second, as-yet-untitled portion “New Amerykah” is due some time this summer via Universal Motown.

Rapper Webbie’s “Savage Life 2″ (Asylum/Trill Entertainment) starts at No. 4 after selling 72,000. Sales were helped in part by the track “Independent,” performed with Lil’ Phat and Boosie, which is steadily rising on the Hot 100. Webbie’s last solo effort, “Savage Life,” debuted at No. 8 in 2005 with 68,000.

Despite an 8% sales increase, Alicia Keys’ “As I Am” (J) slips 2-5 with 57,000. Miley Cyrus’ Disney double-disc “Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus” experiences an 86% sales boost, propelling the effort 14-6 with 54,000. The young singer was recently featured on Barbara Walters’ Oscar night interview special on ABC.

Speaking of Oscars, two Academy Award-winning titles are also featured in the top 10. With music from the Frames’ Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the Canvasback/Sony Music Soundtrax soundtrack to “Once” climbs 31-7 with 47,000 (+142%), after the duo won the best original song Oscar. The Rhino soundtrack to “Juno” falls 6-8 with 42,000, a 10% increase.

Sara Bareilles’ Epic album “Little Voice” is down 7-9 with 37,000 (+1%), while Amy Winehouse’s Universal Republic set “Back to Black” slips 3-10, also with 37,000 (-27%).

Debuting at No. 13, D4L member Shawty Lo’s solo debut, “Units in the City” (Asylum), shifts 31,000. Dolly Parton’s “Backwoods Barbie” starts at No. 17, the country legend’s highest debut ever. Released through her own Dolly Records label, the new project shifted 27,000 units in its first week.

Other debuts this week include the original Broadway cast recording of “Disney’s The Little Mermaid” at No. 26 with 20,000, the Afters’ “Never Going Back to OK” (INO/Columbia) at No. 41 with 16,000 and Goldfrapp’s Mute set “Seventh Tree” at No. 48 with 15,000.

Sales this week are down less than 1% from last week at 7.95 million units and down 6.4% from the same week last year.

Alicia Keys & Jordin Sparks Hit The Road This Spring

Alicia Keys will embark on a two-month North American tour April 19 in Hampton, Va., with support from 2007 “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks. The run comes in support of Keys’ latest J album, “As I Am,” which has spawned two big hits.

First single “No One” logged time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” was a long-running chart-topper on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

As for Sparks, debut single “Tattoo” peaked at No. 8 on the Hot 100 and is No. 16 there this week. Second single “No Air” featuring Chris Brown jumps 25-19 this week on the Pop 100; a Chris Robinson-directed video for the track will arrive in late February.

Here are Alicia Keys/Jordin Sparks’ tour dates:

April 19: Hampton, Va. (Hampton Coliseum)
April 20: Philadelphia (Liacouras Center)
April 22: Pittsburgh (Petersen Events Center)
April 24: Chicago (Allstate Arena)
April 26: Columbus, Ohio (Value City Arena)
April 27: St. Louis (Scottrade Center)
April 30: Minneapolis (Target Center)
May 1: Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
May 5: Los Angeles (TBA)
May 9: Las Vegas (MGM Grand Garden)
May 10: San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion)
May 12: Phoenix (Jobing.com Arena)
May 14: Dallas (Nokia Theatre)
May 18: Houston (Toyota Center)
May 22: New Orleans (New Orleans Arena)
May 24: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)
May 25: Miami (American Airlines Arena)
May 28: Atlanta (Philips Arena)
May 30: Greensboro, N.C. (Coliseum)
May 31: Cincinnati (U.S. Bank Arena)
June 3: Detroit (Joe Louis Arena)
June 5: Cleveland (Wolstein Center)
June 6: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
June 8: Montreal (Bell Centre)
June 11: Boston (TD Bank North Garden)
June 13: Washington, D.C. (Verizon Center)
June 15: Baltimore (1st Mariner Arena)
June 17: Newark, N.J. (Prudential Center)
June 18: New York (Madison Square Garden)

Rihanna To Perform At Grammys

Beyonce, Foo Fighters, Carrie Underwood, Mary J. Blige and Rihanna are among the performers confirmed for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, to be held Feb. 10 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.

The Foo Fighters will perform as part of this year’s “My Grammy Moment,” produced in partnership with YouTube and CBS.com. The segment gives up to 20 unsigned musicians the opportunity to play with the rock group as part of an orchestra that will be arranged by special guest conductor John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame.

Aretha Franklin, who is the 2008 MusicCares Person of the Year, will share the stage with Blige, the Clark Sisters, Israel And New Breed, the Madison Bumblebees and Trin-I-Tee 5:7 for a gospel segment. And in a special 50th anniversary moment, Rihanna will perform with the Time, which is reuniting for the occasion. The show will be broadcast by CBS in HDTV, on XM Satellite Radio via Westwood One Worldwide and online on Grammy.com.

Kanye Touring With Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D.

Kanye West has drafted some of the top names in urban music for his Glow in the Dark tour, dates for which are still coming together. The outing will feature support from Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D., according to a post on West’s blog.

West told Billboard last summer he was collaborating on the Glow in the Dark tour with Madonna choreographer Jamie King. Dates have yet to be announced. Contrary to the poor touring track record for major hip-hop stars, West has been a consistent box-office draw: His 2005 tour with Fantasia and Keyshia Cole grossed $8.4 million and drew more than 210,000 people to 46 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore.

“A lot of people want to be too cool onstage,” he said when asked why hip-hop tours don’t sell tickets. “I do an hour-and-a-half with no hype man, running around onstage. The touring can only get better because the longer a song’s out, the more people get into it.”

And with West, Fiasco and N.E.R.D.’s Pharrell Williams in the same venue, it would be reasonable to expect a performance from the trio’s side project, Child Rebel Soldie (CRS). The group’s lone song, the Thom Yorke-sampling “US Placers,” was an online hit last summer.

N.E.R.D. is expected to release its next album, “N.3.R.D.,” in the first half of the year. One new song, “Everyone Nose,” hit the Web last week. N.E.R.D. is also on the bill for the Isle of Wight Festival, set for June 13-15.

Lil Wayne: New Album Will Stick With You Forever

Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” has been delayed numerous times in the past six months, but in his first interview since his recent arrest on felony drugs and weapons charges in Arizona, the rapper promises the new album will be worth the wait.

“It’s one of those albums people are really waiting on, so I made it so that whatever is on it will stick with you forever,” he tells Billboard of the project, which has been plagued with leaks. “I’m taking my time with it. And I’m giving artists I respect and people I want to do songs with — not songs the label fixed — an opportunity to collaborate.”

“I think this album is going to be one of my best albums,” he continues. “I’m a true perfectionist. I might have to work out a deal with Universal to shoot a video to for all these songs, that’s how crazy they all are. Every one of them is a movie.”

Although Wayne was happy to discuss “Tha Carter III,” which is expected in March or April via Cash Money/Universal, he didn’t want to talk about what went down in Arizona, where he’s been ordered to return for a Feb. 12 hearing. “I’ve got nothing to say about that,” he replied when asked about the arrest.

The new album’s official single, the Deezle-produced “Lollipop,” features Static and will be serviced to radio shortly. A video for it was recently shot in Las Vegas. Other guests on the set include Hurricane Chris, Corey Gunz, Tyga, Jibbs, Shanell, Kidd Kidd, Mack Maine and Lil Mama. Jim Jonsin, the Alchemist and Cool and Dre contributed production.

Wayne has released six albums and made more than 40 guest appearances since 1999 — 17 of those collaborations in the last two years — not to mention the massive amount of mixtapes and leaked tracks that routinely appear online.

“I’ve found out that I love doing music for others,” he says. “You’re making history when you’re making music with somebody else, for somebody else. Plus, I find that when I do that, it doesn’t get leaked. And when it does, it doesn’t do what it does when it’s one of my songs. I get a real joy. And it’s another reason why I was able to wait so long to put another album out — because these features keep me eating and making money.”