Ka-Ching! 50 Cent Rings Up Records

It would appear breaking sales records comes cheap these days.

Queens rapper 50 Cent rolled over several sales landmarks to become 2003's newest superstar. The former crack-peddling rapper, known as Curtis Jackson on his extensive criminal rap sheet, debuted at number one with Get Rich or Die Tryin', which sold 872,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to SoundScan data.

50 Cent's monster bow gives him the best single week sales of 2003, the best single week sales of any rapper besides Eminem, and the best first week ever for a major label debut. Even more impressive, extensive bootlegging forced the album's release date up five days to last Thursday, meaning all those milestones were notched in a shortened four-day sales week.

50 Cent first got signed to a major label, Columbia, back in 1999, but his album was shelved after the rapper was shot nine times in a drive-by. Never one to hold his tongue, 50 Cent has often been the target of street violence, but he's survived every time (he now rarely goes anywhere without a bulletproof vest and coterie of bodyguards), as did his early tunes in underground mixtapes. Last year, street buzz around 50 Cent reached a fever pitch, which helped lead to a reported seven-figure record contract. He's signed jointly to Dr. Dre's Aftermath and Eminem's Shady Records.

Also making a Top 10 debut, country crooner Blake Shelton checked in at number eight with his sophomore release, The Dreamer, selling 77,000 copies.

The Top 10 also included two major comebacks this week. Kid Rock's Cocky, released back in 2001, reached a new peak position at number three with 104,000 copies sold. Rock's album's powered by his new multi-format, multi-version smash hit "Picture."

Likewise, LL Cool J's 10 jumped 75 spots to number nine with 66,000 sold, a six-fold increase from last week. The veteran rapper benefited from a new Dr Pepper commercial with Run-D.M.C., a starring role in the film Deliver Us from Eva (which opened at number six at the box office last weekend) and for his part in Jennifer Lopez' new mega-hit single/video, "All I Have."

The rest of the Top 10 consisted of the Dixie Chicks' Home at two, Norah Jones' Come Away with Me at four, Avril Lavigne's Let Go at five, the soundtrackto the 13-times Oscar-nominated Chicago at six, Jennifer Lopez's This Is Me...Then at seven and Missy Elliott's Under Construction at 10.

Other solid debuts on the chart this week included the Daredevil soundtrack at 11, Alabama's In the Mood--Love Songs at 15, Lionel Richie's The Definitive Collection at 21, and All-American Rejects' self-titled at 25.

The week was also kind to Christian music. The WOW Gospel 2003 led the way, debuting at number 29 debut. Jars of Clay opened at 64 with their double-disc live album Furthermore, Houston's Caedmon's Call landed at 66 with Back Home, and Juliana Theory, an alum of Christian rock label Tooth and Nail (MxPx, P.O.D.), debuted at 71 with the Epic release Emotion Is Dead.

Finally, several of Michael Jackson's albums reentered the charts in Britain following the broadcast there of Living with Michael Jackson. But the King of Pop didn't enjoy the same bump on the U.S. charts after ABC aired the less-than-flattering documentary last Thursday--though the jury's still out on whether it had an impact on purchases of new noses.

To recap, the Top 10 albums lined up like this:

1. Get Rich or Die Tryin', 50 Cent
2. Home, Dixie Chicks
3. Cocky, Kid Rock
4. Come Away with Me, Norah Jones
5. Let Go, Avril Lavigne
6. Chicago soundtrack, various
7. This Is Me...Then, Jennifer Lopez
8. The Dreamer, Blake Shelton
9. 10, LL Cool J
10. Under Construction, Missy Elliott