Hot 100: Soulja Boy Fends Off Chris Brown

Soulja Boy's "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" makes it a lucky seventh week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but new competition comes from Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss," which soars 22-2 after selling 159,000 downloads in its first week of digital release. Brown's sophomore album, "Exclusive," is due Nov. 6 via Jive.

Kingston Has 'Beautiful' View Atop Revamped Hot 100

R&B newcomer Sean Kingston moves to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 this week with his first charting single, as "Beautiful Girls" rockets 23-1. In the first week of the new Hot 100 formula, the influence of digital sales remains strong, as "Girls" debuts at No. 1 on Hot Digital Songs with 260,000 sold. That marks the second-highest sum for a new entry on that chart, trailing Rihanna's "Umbrella," which opened with 277,000 downloads in June."Beautiful Girls" knocks Plain White T's' "Hey There Delilah" down to No. 2 after two weeks atop the Hot 100. Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" slides 2-3, while "Umbrella" is down 3-4 and Timbaland's "The Way I Are" featuring Keri Hilson slips 4-5. T-Pain's "Bartender" featuring Akon jumps 10-6 and is the Hot 100's fastest growing track at radio.Shop Boyz' "Party Like a Rockstar" falls 5-7, while T-Pain's former No. 1, "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" inches up 9-8. Fabolous' "Make Me Better" featuring Ne-Yo rebounds 11-9, and Hurricane Chris' "A Bay Bay" rounds out the top tier after descending 8-10.Yung Berg's "Sexy Lady" featuring Junior shifts 35,000 downloads and results in a 30-18 increase on the Hot 100. The artist's debut EP, "Almost Famous (The Sexy Lady EP)," was released July 24.The Hot 100's top debut is Kanye West's "Stronger" at No. 47. The cut, which samples Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," will be found on West's Sept. 11 Def Jam release, "Graduation."

Also new to the chart this week are Baby Bash's "Cyclone" featuring T-Pain at No. 65, Toby Keith's "Love Me if You Can" at No. 83, Rascal Flatts' "Take Me There" at No. 84 and Brooks & Dunn's "Proud of the House We Built" at No. 89.Fantasia's "When I See U" is No. 1 for a sixth straight week on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, on which Keyshia Cole garners her fifth top 10 hit with "Let It Go' featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim.Kenny Chesney's "Never Wanted Nothing More" is No. 1 for a second week on Hot Country Songs, while Enrique Iglesias' "Dimelo" moves into a 10th frame atop Hot Latin Songs.On Billboard's rock charts, the White Stripes' "Icky Thump" is No. 1 for a second week on Modern Rock, while Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" unseats Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Wanna Stop" from the top of Mainstream Rock. Florida rock outfit Against Me! scores its first singles chart ink as "Thrash Unreal" opens at No. 37 on Modern Rock.

Rihanna's 'Umbrella' Reigns Again On Hot 100

July 12, 2007, 10:50 AM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Rihanna's "Umbrella" begins a seventh week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, having successfully fended off Shop Boyz' "Party Like a Rockstar," which drops 2-4. Its newest competitor is Plain White T's' "Hey There Delilah," which inches up 3-2. Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" is also climbing on the Hot 100 4-3, and with a 2-1 advance on the Pop 100, earns her the distinction of the first lead artist to notch four No. 1s on that tally.

Back on the Hot 100, T-Pain's "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" holds at No. 5, while another song, "Bartender" featuring Akon, jumps 14-10. T-Pain thus becomes the first lead artist with two simultaneous Hot 100 top 10 hits since Akon in late January.

Timbaland's "The Way I Are" featuring Keri Hilson holds at No. 6, as does Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" at No. 7. Hurricane Chris' "A Bay Bay" continues to rise with a 13-8 move, and T.I.'s "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" jumps 11-9 in tandem with yesterday's No. 1 Billboard 200 debut for his latest Grand Hustle/Atlantic album, "T.I. vs. T.I.P."

After previously peaking at No. 7, Linkin Park's "What I've Done" rebounds 24-14 as the chart's greatest digital gainer. It also remains No. 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart for an astonishing 14th consecutive week.

T.I. has the Hot 100's top debut with the Wyclef Jean collaboration "You Know What It Is" at No. 68. Also new is Justin Timberlake's "Lovestoned" at No. 85 and the Goo Goo Dolls' "Before It's Too Late (Sam and Mikaela's Theme) at No. 86.

Fantasia's "When I See U" is No. 1 for a third week on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart but will face a challenge from Fabolous' "Make Me Better" featuring Ne-Yo, which is the chart's fastest growing track at radio and climbs 8-4.

On Hot Country Songs, Big & Rich claims its first No. 1 with "Lost in This Moment" after 22 weeks on the chart. The duo had never previously been higher than No. 11 on Hot Country Songs before the release of this single. Rascal Flatts' "Take Me There" is the chart's top debut at No. 24; the Kenny Chesney co-write is the first single from the group's Sept. 25 Lyric Street release.

Marco Antonio Solis' "Ojala" is No. 1 on Hot latin Songs for a third week, while Ozzy Osbourne leads Mainstream Rock for a third with "I Don't Wanna Stop."

Rihanna, Shop Boyz Still Not Budging On Hot 100

July 05, 2007, 10:20 AM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

For a fifth straight week, Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Shop Boyz' "Party Like a Rockstar" are locked in at the top two spots of the Billboard Hot 100. "Umbrella" scores a sixth week at No. 1, and also inches up to the top of the Hot 100 Airplay chart, her first such achievement on that list.Plain White T's' "Hey There Delilah" rises 4-3 on the Hot 100 and moves to No. 1 on Hot Digital Songs thanks to sales of 146,000 downloads. The track thus becomes Hollywood Records' best Hot 100 showing since Jennifer Paige's "Crush" peaked at No. 3 there in 1998.Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" is down 3-4, while T-Pain's "Buy a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" holds at No. 5. Timbaland's "The Way I Are" featuring Keri Hilson continues its fast rise, soaring 18-6 a week after jumping from No. 40. The cut is also the chart's fastest digital gainer.Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" is down 6-7, while Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" drops 7-8, Justin Timberlake's "Summer Love" slides 8-9 and Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" falls 9-10 to round out the top 10.Kenny Chesney's "Never Wanted Nothing More" rockets 65-22 on the Hot 100 in just its second week, tying his prior peak on this chart with "The Good Stuff" in 2002. The first single from his Sept. 11 BNA release "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" also climbs 9-5 on Hot Country Songs, where Montgomery Gentry is No. 1 for a second week with "Lucky Man."

The Hot 100's top debut is Hannah Montana's "Life's What You Make It" at No. 25. As reported yesterday, the title character of the Disney show, Miley Cyrus, debuted at No. 1 yesterday on The Billboard 200 with "Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus." The Montana character is also at No. 27 on the Hot 100 with "Nobody's Perfect."Also new this week is Reba McEntire's cover of Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You" at No. 52, which features Clarkson herself, and Aly & AJ's "Potential Breakup Song" at No. 92.On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Fantasia's "When I See U" is No. 1 for a second week. Linkin Park dominates the Modern Rock tally for a 13th week with "What I've Done," while Ozzy Osbourne begins a second week atop Mainstream Rock with "I Don't Wanna Stop."

Bon Jovi Scores First No. 1 Album Since 1988

June 27, 2007, 10:45 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.

For the first time since 1988, Bon Jovi tops The Billboard 200. "Lost Highway" sold 292,000 in United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the rock troupe's biggest one-week sum since Nielsen began tracking sales data in 1991. The Island/Mercury Nashville set is Bon Jovi's third No. 1 album, joining 1988's "New Jersey" and 1987's "Slippery When Wet." Sales were fueled in part by the group's new country fanbase, wrangled in with the 2006 No. 1 Hot Country Songs hit "Who Says You Can't Go Home" featuring Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles.Rock duo the White Stripes have their best charting and sales week as "Icky Thump" (Third Man/Warner Bros.) enters at No. 2 with 223,000; the set's title track is No. 3 on Modern Rock Tracks for a second week. Jack and Meg White have enjoyed increasing success with each new album: 2005's "Get Behind Me Satan," started at No. 3 with 189,000, 2003's "Elephant" peaked at No. 6 while 2002's "White Blood Cells" topped out at No. 61.Brad Paisley's fifth studio album, "5th Gear," bows at No. 3 and becomes his third No. 1 on Top Country Albums. The Arista Nashville effort begins with 197,000 units, the singer's best sales week ever. Sales were led by the single "Ticks," which currently crowns the Hot Country Songs chart. After debuting at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 last week, Toby Keith's Show Dog Nashville set "Big Dog Daddy" slips to No. 4 with 73,000, a 64% sales hit. Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full" (Hear Music) falls 3-5 with 64,000 (-40%), while Linkin Park's "Minutes to Midnight" (Machine Shop/Warner Bros.) sits tight at No. 6 for a second week, moving 63,000 (-23%). Amy Winehouse's Universal Republic album "Back to Black" ascends 10-7, despite a 15% sales decrease to 62,000. Maroon 5's "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" (A&M/Octone) descends 4-8 also with 62,000 and a 29% sales dip. Fabolous' "From Nothin' to Somthin'" (Desert Storm/Def Jam) slips to No. 9 after a No. 2 start last week with 59,000 (-63%). Rounding out the top tier, T-Pain's Konvict/Nappy Boy/Jive album "Epiphany" moves 5-10 with 56,000 and a 31% sales decrease.

Powered by its hit single "Party Like a Rockstar," Shop Boyz' debut album "Rockstar Mentality" (OnDeck/Universal Republic) bows at No. 11 with 52,000. Other big debuts this week include Lifehouse's fourth album "Who We Are" (Geffen) at No. 14 with 49,000, rapper Huey's "Notebook Paper" (HiTz Committee/Jive) at No. 26 with 29,000, Chrisette Michele's "I Am" (Def Jam) at No. 29 with 26,000 and Mandy Moore's "Wild Hope" (Firm Music) at No. 30 with 25,000.Album sales are down 7.1% from last week's total at 8.90 million units and down 5.2% compared to the same week last year. Overall album sales for the year are down 15% compared to last year at 221 million units.