If he really is retiring, then Eminem is going out with a bang.

The rapper's greatest hits collection, the possibly prophetically titled Curtain Call, bowed on top of the Billboard album charts, selling 441,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The 17-track release compiles all his radio hits and charting singles as well as three new tracks--"Shake That" (featuring Nate Dogg), "Fack" and the current Top 10 hit "When I'm Gone"--and his 2001 Grammy Awards performance of "Stan" with Elton John.

Em has refuted a Detroit Free Press story from this summer that said he would hang up the microphone this year, saying he wanted to take a break to focus on producing (he recently oversaw Redman's Red Gone Wild) and sorting out his personal life, including his battle with drug dependency and his attempted reconciliation with ex-wife Kim.

Still, he hasn't exactly convinced people that he plans on sticking around the music biz--especially by calling his last two CDs Encore and Curtain Call and his latest single "When I'm Gone." And in an interview with a Detroit radio station last week, he seemed unsure of his future.

"I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going," he said. "This is the reason that we called it Curtain Call, because this could be the final thing. We don't know."

Even if he calls it quits, he's firmly asserted himself as the best-selling rap artist ever. All his albums, including the 8 Mile soundtrack and both D12 releases, debuted at number one, except for his '99 debut, The Slim Shady LP, which opened at three and peaked at two. The Marshall Mathers LP currently holds the record for first-week sales by a solo artist, moving more than 1.76 million copies in its 2000 debut. Eminem has earned an Oscar, nine Grammys and sold over 65 million combined albums worldwide.

The icing on the cake? While Eminem was tallying yet another number one, longtime nemesis Ja Rule checked in way down at 107 with his best-of collection, Exodus.

Aside from Marshall Mathers III, two other artists checked in with Top 10 albums this week.

Cash Money rapper Lil Wayne landed at number two as Tha Carter, Vol. 2 sold over 238,000 copies. The New Orleans' rapper got his start as the youngest of the Hot Boys, a '90s group that also featured Juvenile, B.G. and Turk. All four members went solo in '99 with Lil Wayne enjoying the most solo success so far. The recent XXL magazine cover boy has already landed two hits from the new album, "Grown Man" and "Fireman."

Korn popped in at number three with See You on the Other Side selling nearly 221,000 copies. The band previously reached number one with 1998's Follow the Leader and 1999's Issues, but its last studio album, 2003's Take a Look in the Mirror, peaked at number nine (only the band's self-titled debut failed to climb higher in the album charts).

After six albums with Immortal/Sony, Korn signed a new contract over the summer with EMI/Virgin that gave the band a huge upfront advance in exchange for a share of other income sources like touring, merchandising and music publishing that labels don't normally touch. Other Side also marks the band's first album without guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, who "found Jesus" and quit the band last February.

Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan's sophomore slump appears to be in full effect. The tabloid fave's A Little More Personal (Raw) could only muster a number 20 opening with 82,000 in sales. By comparison, her 2004 debut, Speak, sold 261,000 first-week copies and reached number four on the charts.

Other noteworthy chart newbies included hip-hopster T-Pain's Rappa Ternt Sanga at 40, the remix disc Collectables by Ashanti at 59, Don Omar's Da Hit Man Presents Reggaeton Latino at 61, the Bee Gees' Love Songs at 166 and Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf at 173.

Thanks to holiday shopping, total sales for the Billboard 200 were up more than 2 million copies from the week previous, climbing from 5.4 to 7.45 million, yet overall sales are down 10 percent from the same week in '04.

Here's a rundown of the Top 10 albums:

1. Curtain Call, Eminem
2. Tha Carter, Vol. 2, Lil Wayne
3. See You on the Other Side, Korn
4. Now That's What I Call Music! 20, various
5. Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
6. The Road and the Radio, Kenny Chesney
7. All the Right Reasons, Nickelback
8. The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey
9. Monkey Business, Black Eyed Peas
10. Amarantine, Enya