The Terror Squad's Big Punisher made an impressively big splash this week, as his first solo album, "Capital Punishment," debuted in the Top Five of "Billboard" magazine's Pop Album charts.

Big Pun, who took the name Punisher after seeing a mural of the Marvel Comics character while walking in Harlem, is known for his combative, hardcore rap-style, although for the first single, "I'm Not a Player," the Pun was talked into sending one out to the ladies.

"[The label] was like," Punisher said, "'You're the battle rapper, fine, you're super lyrical and everything, but you gotta come up with something for the girls, too, to like.' And I was like, nah, I gotta keep it hardcore. They went, 'You gotta do this, you gotta be commercial.'"

"So," the rapper continued, "I was like, all right, this is what I'm gonna do. I took a commercial type beat, but it was hardcore. So I got a song on the radio about having sex. It may sound commercial, but if you analyze it, it's all about having sex. So, that made me happy."

"Capital Punishment" also features appearances by Wyclef Jean, Busta Rhymes, Noreaga and Fat Joe, and Big Punisher has a warning for all those perusing the album at record stores.

"Buy my album," Big Pun warned, "or I'll kill you." [500k QuickTime]