It seems Diddy's learned to speak softly and carry a big Kane.
Danity Kane, a product of the Diddy-powered MTV series Making the Band, is now two-for-two when it comes to debuting at No. 1. The group's Welcome to the Dollhouse topped the charts for the week ended Easter Sunday, selling more than 236,000 copies, per Nielsen SoundScan numbers.
In a time of declining album sales, Dollhouse actually sold 2,000 more first-week copies than Danity Kane's self-titled debut two years ago. Furthermore, Dollhouse trails only Jack Johnson's Sleep Through the Static for the biggest bow of the year. (Currently at No. 5, Static sold 375,000 first-week copies in its February debut.)
Back in '06, Danity Kane scored an upset victory on the charts when the band's rookie release dethroned Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics and beat OutKast's Idlewild for the week's top debut. While Danity's latest didn't face such tough competition, Dollhouse did send last week's chart-topper, Rick Ross' Trilla, down to No. 3 and held Now That's What I Call Music! 27 in the two spot despite a slight uptick in sales.
Danity Kane also topped red-hot rapper Flo Rida, whose Mail on Sunday delivered a No. 4 bow on 86,000 copies. Late last year, the Sunshine State MC scored a major hit with "Low," setting new digital sales records and topping the Hot 100 for several weeks. Possibly hampering Sunday sales, the song already made its CD debut last month as part of the Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack.
Overall, the Easter holiday provided a good week for young female stars. In addition to Danity, the Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus soundtrack jumped 10 spots to No. 6, while Cyrus' The Best of Both Worlds Concert held at No. 10. The week also saw Taylor Swift return to the Top 10 with her self-titled debut surging four spots to No. 8.
(Though not making the Top 10, several other youth-friendly albums enjoyed significant gains: the Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack up four to 11 in advance of the film's April 1 release on DVD; the Jonas Brothers' self-titled up five to 12 following the announcement of their new reality show; and Disney's Enchanted soundtrack up 110 spots to 39, with nearly threefold sales in conjunction with the DVD hitting stores.)
Snoop Dogg's Ego Trippin' and Sara Bareilles' Little Voice rounded out the Top 10 at Nos. 7 and 9, respectively.
Gnarls Barkley's The Odd Couple made an impressive chart appearance after its release date was unexpectedly bumped up three weeks to combat an online leak. On primarily digital sales, the Cee-Lo/Danger Mouse duo sold 31,000 copies of The Odd Couple for a No. 18 bow (and No. 1 at iTunes).
Other notable debuts included Rocko entering the ring at 21 with Self-Made, Sheek Louch's Silverback Gorilla swinging in at 41 and Black Tide's Light from Above washing ashore at 73.
Next week, Diddy's latest Making the Band act, Day26, will see if it can repeat Danity Kane's success next week, as its eponymous debut's first-week sales will be reflected on the album chart.
Overall, sales are up over 11 percent compared to last week and down just a percentage point against the same sales week in '07.
Here's a recap of the Top 10:
- Welcome to the Dollhouse, Danity Kane
- Now That's What I Call Music! 27, various
- Trilla, Rick Ross
- Mail on Sunday, Flo Rida
- Sleep Through the Static, Jack Johnson
- Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus
- Ego Trippin', Snoop Dogg
- Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift
- Little Voice, Sara Bareilles
- The Best of Both Worlds Concert, Hannah Montana