Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
The Top 10 singles chart is different from the past several weeks, but not really. There are a handful of artists who are hot right now, and the only question from week to week is which of their songs will chart and how many?
Miley Cyrus has been knocked off her high horse on the singles chart, replaced by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind" and "Forever," featuring Drake, L'il Wayne, Eminem, and Kanye West. Lady GaGa is back in the Top 10 singles with "Paparazzi" and Jay-Z has a second Top 5 song, "Run This Town."
After scoring a fair number of pre-orders, Pearl Jam's Backspacer makes it's post-release chart debut. Actually, some of that is going to be pre-release. Pearl Jam's record was released on Sunday, Sept. 20 and sales leading up to that day and through Monday the 21st put them in the Top 5. Don't be surprised if they have another strong sales week next week with a full week of actual, immediate availability.
Muse's latest record The Resistance debuts at #2, unable to topple the third installment of Jay-Z's The Blueprint but that's still a nice showing for a band that continues to build a devoted following. The other notable in the albums chart is a new name for me: Kid Cudi. I'd never heard of the artist so I went and sampled a few iTunes tracks. I think I'll be able to resist this one.
iTunes' top 10 selling singles of the week ending Sept. 21, 2009:
1. "Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)" – Jay-Z
2. "Forever" – Drake, L'il Wayne, Eminem, Kanye West
3. "Party In the U.S.A." – Miley Cyrus
4. "Paparazzi" – Lady GaGa
5. "Run This Town (feat. Rihanna & Kanye West)" – Jay-Z
6. "I Gotta Feeling" – Black Eyed Peas
7. "Whatcha Say" – Jason DeRulo
8. "Down" – Jay Sean
9. "You Belong With Me" – Taylor Swift
10. "Use Somebody" – Kings of Leon
iTunes' top 10 selling albums of the week ending Sept. 21, 2009:
1. The Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z
2. The Resistance – Muse
3. Man on the Moon – The End of Day – Kid Cudi
4. I Look to You – Whitney Houston
5. Backspacer – Pearl Jam
6. So Far Gone – Drake
7. The Fame – Lady GaGa
8. Only By the Night – Kings of Leon
9. Fearless – Taylor Swift
10. The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) – Black Eyed Peas
