Banks Still Hungers for No. 1

Wed., Jul. 14, 2004 1:35 PM PDT by David Jenison

Looks like 50 Cent isn't the only G-Unit soldier who can fly solo on the charts.

Facing no real contenders, G-Unit rapper Lloyd Banks easily repeated at number one with his solo debut, Hunger for More. The disc sold 164,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers released Wednesday.

Banks, who's currently pushing his new single, "I'm So Fly," becomes only the fourth artist this year to hold the top spot for consecutive weeks, joining OutKast, Norah Jones and Usher.

The hip-hopster has emerged from the shadow of G-Unit partner 50 Cent to stand on his own as a solo artist. Besides his back-to-back chart rule, the rapper's first-week sales were the fifth highest so far this year, besting opening sales figures by the Beastie Boys, Avril Lavigne, Velvet Revolver, Twista and Jadakiss.

Ironically, with so few chart-toppers repeating, this week's Top 10 is stacked with former number ones: Usher's Confessions at two, Jadakiss' Kiss of Death at four, Avril Lavigne's Under My Skin at five, Velvet Revolver's Contraband at eight, and the Beastie Boys' To the 5 Boroughs at nine.

Though no new albums cracked the Top 10, Big & Rich's Horse of a Different Color galloped to the number six spot with 75,000 copies. The country duo's disc originally opened at 89 back in mid-May.

Meanwhile, the Tex-Mex country trio Los Lonely Boys cracked the Top 10 at 10, selling 65,000 copies of their self-titled debut. The group previously made a cameo in the Top 10 last month, selling 61,000 copies at nine but dropping out the following week.

Wrapping up the Top 10 were a couple of holdovers: Gretchen Wilson's Here for the Party, which jumped five spots to number three, and the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, up two to number seven.

Soul revivalist Angie Stone landed the week's top bow with Stone Love. The disc moved 52,000 copies to open at a career-best number 14. The singer previously peaked at 22 with 2001's Mahogany Soul.

Country singer Brad Cotter's Patient Man opened strong at 27 with 34,000 copies, while redneck comedian Jeff Foxworthy's Have Your Loved Ones Spayed or Neutered closed out the new debuts at 47 with sales of 22,000. Foxworthy's new disc anticipates his return to television this month with a new WB show, Blue Collar TV, featuring his Blue Collar Comedy Tour cohorts Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy.

Meanwhile, the singles chart continues to play like an American Idol rerun. Fantasia's "I Believe"/"Chain of Fools" single held at number one with 52,000 copies, while Diana DeGarmo's "Dreams"/"Don't Cry Out Loud" remained at two with 35,000 copies.

Here's a recap of the Top 10 albums for the week ended Sunday:

1. Hunger for More, Lloyd Banks
2. Confessions, Usher
3. Here for the Party, Gretchen Wilson
4. Kiss of Death, Jadakiss
5. Under My Skin, Avril Lavigne
6. Horse of a Different Color, Big & Rich
7. Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, various
8. Contraband, Velvet Revolver
9. To the 5 Boroughs, Beastie Boys
10. Los Lonely Boys, Los Lonely Boys