The Popblerd Chart Report 10/6/11: Rihanna Makes History, J.Cole Tops the Chart

With the ascension of “We Found Love” to #9 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100, Rihanna earns her 20th Top 10 hit, rewriting chart history. In just over six years, Rihanna has scored 20 Top 10 hits in less time than any other solo artist in history. The record was previously held by Madonna. Adding groups into the equation, Rihanna trails only The Beatles, who scored their 20th Top 20 hit barely two years after their first. Of course, The Beatles were THE BEATLES. Nevertheless, this is a pretty impressive feat by Rihanna.

It would seem that she’s on her way to scoring yet another #1 hit, but right now that crown has been re-taken by Adele. “Someone Likes You” reclaims the top spot after ceding it to “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera for several weeks. A bittersweet victory for Adele, as she recently had to cancel her American tour (again) due to throat issues (again). Speedy recovery to her.

Another notable entering the chart this week: B.o.B. The first single from his upcoming sophomore album, “Strange Clouds”, blasts onto the Hot 100 at #7. Featuring Lil Wayne, it follows up three huge Top 10 hits from B.o.B.’s debut.

Switching gears over to the album chart, it’s a humongously busy week for new releases. J. Cole’s debut Cole World: The Sideline Story is the week’s top seller, moving 217,000 units. It’s a solid start for Jay-Z’s new Roc Nation label and Cole becomes the first hip-hop artist to debut at the top with his first (commercially released) album since…B.o.B., whose Adventures of Bobby Ray started at the top in the spring of 2010.

Cole’s debut is one of six new entries in the Top Ten. blink-182 score a solid entry in second place with Neighborhoods, their latest album. It’s a respectable entry for a band that hasn’t released a new album in eight years. They are joined in the Top 10 by Wilco (#5), the somewhat hilarious combination of Switchfoot and Chickenfoot (#8 and #9), and metal band Mastodon at #10.

If the chart has a bit of a classic rock hue this week, it might be because of all the re-releases that surfaced on the September 26 release date. The most noteworthy, of course, was Nirvana’s Nevermind reissue. The 20th anniversary edition of the former #1 album (which has scanned nearly 9 million copies in it’s lifetime) gets lifted up to #13, selling almost 650X it’s previous week’s total. Meanwhile, a Pink Floyd reissue campaign sends five albums by the seminal prog-rock band back onto the Top 200, led by the immortal Dark Side of the Moon at #12. A box set containing all of their albums also makes an appearance, checking in at #175.

Of course, where there are successes, there will also be failures…or at least disappointments. Jason Derulo may be a huge singles artist, but ain’t a damn soul buying his albums. He makes a so-so debut at #29 with his latest, scanning just 13,000 units. Closely behind Derulo is Leann Rimes. Was a time when you’d have expected a new Rimes album to debut at the top of the charts, but her new one, Lady & Gentlemen, stalls at #32. Even the star power of the legendary Vince Gill as producer couldn’t help this one.

People might still be tuning in to Seth Macfarlane’s trio of Fox cartoons, but they’re not exactly looking for him at the record store. Despite being heavily promoted on Fox’s Animation Domination block last week, his debut album (as a pop/jazz vocalist) Music is Better Than Words, enters at a somewhat lowly #111. Ouch.

Next week, the chart will anoint Scotty McCreery king, as 2011’s “American Idol” is scheduled to start with about 150,000 units. His is the only major debut of the week. Check out the top 20 below.

Of course, with successes, there will also


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The Popblerd Chart Report 10/6/11: Rihanna Makes History, J.Cole Tops the Chart

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