The Game Seizes Top Spot on the Chart

West Coast rapper the Game shot out of the gate this past week, as his debut album, The Documentary, sold 587,000 copies. The much-hyped G-Unit member and Dr. Dre protege is a former gangbanger who turned rapper after a near-fatal shooting (sound familiar?), and the record features 50 Cent, Nate Dogg and ultra-hot producers Kanye West and Just Blaze. The only major new release in weeks, The Documentary moved a half-million more than Green Day, whose American Idiot was bumped down to Number Two (85,000). Eminem's Encore also dropped a spot to Three (75,000).

The third effort from self-proclaimed King of Crunk Lil Jon and the debut from R&B newcomer John Legend both held strong in the Top Five: Crunk Juice climbed one place to Four (63,000) after more than two months on the charts, while Get Lifted fell one to Five (62,000) in its fourth week. Destiny's Child's Destiny Fulfilled reversed momentum to gain one place and return to the Top Ten (Ten, 47,000), while Collision Course, Beyonce's boyfriend Jay-Z's mash-up with hard rockers Linkin Park, fell three spots to Number Eleven (44,000).

Breakout 2004 hipsters the Killers jumped from Twenty-Two to Fourteen, moving 42,000 more units of their debut, Hot Fuss. And on the slide this week was Shania Twain, whose long-running blockbuster Greatest Hits fell nine places to leave the Top Ten, landing at Number Twelve (44,000).

Next week, expect the Game to continue dominating the charts. And look to see if indie hero Bright Eyes can pull a Nelly, with the ambitious simultaneous release of Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning.

This week's Top Ten: The Game's The Documentary; Green Day's American Idiot; Eminem's Encore; Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz' Crunk Juice; John Legend's Get Lifted; Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway; Usher's Confessions; Ludacris' The Red Light District; Now That's What I Call Music! 17; Destiny's Child's Destiny Fulfilled.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter