Omarion Leads Active Post-Christmas Album Chart

[Damien J.]

Omarion leads the post-Christmas Billboard 200 with his new Epic album "21," which landed at No. 1 on U.S. sales of 119,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set matches the entry of his 2005 solo debut, "O," although that album sold 182,000 copies in its first week. "21" also opens at No. 1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The Billboard 200 hosts a number of major gains fueled by holiday sales, inspired by deep discount pricing by large retailers. Akon's "Konvicted" (SRC/Universal) climbs 10-2 even though sales decline more than 50% to 112,000, while Sony's "Dreamgirls" soundtrack rockets 31-3 despite a 16.6% sales drop to 104,000. Last week's No. 1, Nas's "Hip-Hop Is Dead" (Def Jam), slides to No. 4 on a 71% decline to 101,000.

Rounding out the top 10, fellow Def Jam star Young Jeezy's "The Inspiration" rebounds 18-5 despite a 50.3% sales slide to 92,000, while the compilation "NOW 23" falls 3-6 on a 71.5% dropoff to 89,000. The Eminem-led collection "Eminem Presents: The Re-Up" zooms 24-7 (-44.9%, 84,000), Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds" (Jive) inches up 9-8 (-64%, 83,000), Ciara's "Ciara: The Evolution" (LaFace) climbs 11-9 (-64%, 79,000) and Disney's "Hannah Montana" soundtrack plummets 2-10 (-77.7%, 78,000).

Other titles making significant jumps despite sales declines this week include My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade" (Warner Bros.), up 42-16, the Game's "Doctor's Advocate" (Interscope), up 66-35, 30 Seconds To Mars' "A Beautiful Lie" (Virgin), up 80-39, and labelmate the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus' "Don't You Fake It," up 101-47.

The chart's other top debut is Switchfoot's "Oh! Gravity" (Columbia) at No. 18 with 63,000. The San Diego rock act's prior album, "Nothing Is Sound," debuted at No. 3 in September 2005 with a career-best sales week of 131,000.

Also new this week are the compilations "15 Years on Death Row" (Death Row, No. 100) and "Family Values Tour 2006" (Firm Music, No. 102) and EMI's "Rocky Balboa: The Best Of" at No. 109.

Overall, album sales are down 55% from last week's total and 15.5% compared to the same week a year ago at 14.17 million units. Final sales totals for 2006 were down just shy of 5% compared to 2005 at 588 million units.

This report is provided by Billboard.com