Diddy has just made another band No. 1.
The hip-hop mastermind, who took over the Making the Band series when it moved to MTV, has now seen his two latest creations top the charts in back-to-back weeks. Last week, it was Danity Kane's sophomore release, Welcome to the Dollhouse; this week, the freshly minted Day26 responded in kind with its eponymous debut opening at No. 1.
Day266 sold 190,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, per Nielsen SoundScan. Welcome to the Dollhouse, meanwhile, tumbled three spots to No. 4, selling another 89,000 copies.
Coincidentally, Day26 is the first new group to debut at No. 1 since Danity Kane's chart-topping bow in 2006. Day26 is also the first male group to accomplish this feat since the Eminem-led D12 reigned with 2001's Devil's Night.
Day26 led four Top 10 bows.
Panic at the Disco, which recently dropped the exclamation point from its name, debuted at No. 2 as their second release, Pretty. Odd., moved 139,000 copies. On their new album, the Vegas rockers opted for more live instruments and tracking (and less Pro Tools) than their 2005 debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out.
With their first new album in six years, the Counting Crows sold 106,000 copies of Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings at No. 3, the band's highest open in a dozen years. The Crows' new disc splits the songs between Saturday's darker, edgier tracks and Sunday's lighter, folk-rock fare. Featuring the lead single, "You Can't Count on Me," the album has been No. 1 at iTunes for the past week.
The Raconteurs, fronted by the White Stripes' Jack Black, landed the fourth and final Top 10 bow with Consolers of the Lonely. The group's sophomore set, which sold 42,000 copies at No. 7, was announced on March 18, just one week ahead of its street date. Still, the album opened in the same spot as the band's more heavily promoted debut, 2006's Broken Boy Soldiers.
The B-52's, returning with their first studio album in 16 years, just missed, checking in at 11 selling 30,000 copies of Funplex. The new album also marks the return of band member Cindy Wilson, who bowed out from making the band's last album, 1992's Good Stuff.
Other noteworthy debuts this week included Enrique Iglesias' Spanish-hits collection 95/08 Exitos at 18, WWE: The Music, Vol. 8 at 24 and Simon & Garfunkel's concert disc Live 1969 at 33.
Overall, sales are down nearly 13 percent from last week and 16 percent compared to the same sales week in '07.
Here's a rundown of the Top 10:
1. Day26, Day26
2. Pretty. Odd., Panic at the Disco
3. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, Counting Crows
4. Welcome to the Dollhouse, Danity Kane
5. Now That's What I Call Music! 27, various
6. Trilla, Rick Ross
7. Consolers of the Lonely, the Raconteurs
8. Sleep Through the Static, Jack Johnson
9. Mail on Sunday, Flo Rida
10. Little Voice, Sara Bareilles