Rap icon Jay-Z has tied Elvis Presley on the U.S. album charts after claiming his 10th number one. The rapper's new release, American Gangster, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 countdown with opening week sales of 425,000.

The feat ties Presley in second place for the most number one albums on the chart; only The Beatles have had more, with 19.

The thrilled rapper says, "I've got this Elvis thing going on right here, but what's great about that is that I've never had a number one single on any of my albums. People buy them for the body of work."

After rocketing to number one last week, The Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden slips to two with another impressive sales week - 359,000 copies sold, while Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits debuts at number three with opening week sales of 352,000 units.

Teenage R&B hunk Chris Brown enters the new chart at four with Exclusive, and Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride rounds out the top five after falling from three to five.

Meanwhile, Britney Spears' comeback album Blackout slides two to seven, while country sensation Taylor Swift's self-titled debut jumps to eight from last week's number 26.

And rapper Cassidy returns to the top 10 with B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story - his first album release since completing jail time and surviving a near-fatal car accident in 2006.

I thought that fool retired. :rolleyes:


And I will say it again. With all the technology and the day and age we live in, to be compared to Elvis with sales and accomplishments, means so little to me. Elvis didn't have the internet, he didn't have the kind of advertising that is readily available now with free radio, satellite radio, music television, etc. Elvis did it with TALENT.

well, the album charts changed in 1991 when Soundscan took over, who knows how many #1 albums Elvis and Elton John and the sort would've had if Soundscan was in practice 20, 30, 40 years ago.

Jay-Z is one of those artists who'll debut at #1 and the album will be off the album chart in less than six months anyways. Hard Knock Life was a really big album, almost ten years ago, but every album since has basically followed the same trajectory.