Mariah Carey News

The Houston rapper helped push Kanye West's latest to number one by guesting on the Late Registration track "Drive Slow," but with the release of Wall's own album, it's every emcee for himself. Wall's The Peoples Champ knocked West's Late Registration from its two-week run at number one, with the former selling 176,000 to debut at number one for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Wall first gained national attention appearing on the Mike Jones hit "Still Tippin'," and he's currently making his own radio run with "Sittin' Sidewayz." Wall got his start with the Houston-based Swishahouse Records and joins a host of other local artists to break big this past year, including Jones and Slim Thug.

West's Late Registration fell to number two, selling another 165,000 discs. It was one of only three Top 10 holdovers, along with Black Eyed Peas' Monkey Business (number eight with 83,000) and Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi (number nine with 75,000), in a week that saw seven new albums open in the upper reaches of the Billboard 200.

San Diego surf-rockers Switchfoot scored the week's second-best bow as Nothing Is Sound sold 131,000 copies at number three--the band's best ever sales week and highest chart position. The band's new single, "Stars," has been in heavy radio rotation.

With fiance Garth Brooks on hiatus, it was up to Trisha Yearwood to be the family breadwinner. Jasper County, her first new studio album in four years, debuted at number four with 117,000. The happy news was tempered by the death of her father Tuesday, which forced her to cancel a scheduled Tonight Show appearance and Los Angeles tour stop this week.

The Pussy Cat Dolls, a cabaret troupe turned pop group, opened at five, moving nearly 99,000 copies of their debut, PCD. A Hollywood institution, the Dolls' stage act has included turns by the like of Carmen Electra, Gwen Stefani, Pamela Anderson, Charlize Theron, Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton and Brittany Murphy. The group's first single, "Don't Cha," featuring Busta Rhymes, has had a long run atop the Billboard Hot 100.

Proving that his fans still need him when he's almost 64, Paul McCartney followed at six with his latest solo offering, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, selling nearly 92,000 copies. That's a big improvement over his previous disc, 2001's Driving Rain, which peaked at 26 and sold fewer than 400,000 copies. The 63-old former Beatle just kicked off his latest North American tour last week in Miami.

Rising reggae star Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, the son of legend Bob Marley, jumped into the Top 10 at seven with Welcome to Jamrock selling a career-best 86,000 copies.

Rounding out the Top 10 was former Gap Band singer Charlie Wilson. His Charlie, Last Name Wilson, featuring guest appearances by Twista, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg and will.i.am, opened in the 10 spot with 71,000.

Several other albums made big splashes. Trapt's Someone in Control sold 61,000 at 14, David Gray's Life in Slow Motion moved 57,000 at 16, and Bonnie Raitt's first self-produced album, Souls Alike, opened with 50,000 in sales at 19.

Other noteworthy debuts included Lonestar's Coming Home at 26, Iceland's Sigur Ros' Takk at 27 , CeCe Winans' Purified at 41, DJ Quik's Trauma at 43, B.B. King's 80 at 45 and Tracy Chapman's Where You Live at 49.

Two high-profile projects made low-profile debuts. Institute, the new rock band featuring Bush singer Gavin Rossdale and ex-members of Civ and Orange 9mm, opened at 81 with Distort Yourself. Meanwhile, a retooled Queen--featuring Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers taking over vocals for the late Freddie Mercury--opened at 84 with the double-disc live album Return of the Champions, recorded last May in Sheffield, England.

The last of the week's major debuts, the Dandy Warhols' Odditorium or Warlords of Mars, landed at 89.

Here's a recap of last week's Top 10, according to Nielsen SoundScan:

1. The Peoples Champ, Paul Wall
2. Late Registration, Kanye West
3. Nothing Is Sound, Switchfoot
4. Jasper County, Trisha Yearwood
5. PCD, The Pussy Cat Dolls
6. Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Paul McCartney
7. Welcome to Jamrock, Damian Marley
8. Monkey Business, Black Eyed Peas
9. The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey
10. Charlie, Last Name Wilson, Charlie Wilson