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50 Cent's The Massacre Still Billboard Champ

Album sells close to 771,000 copies during its second week.

For a second straight week, 50 Cent's musical Massacre will continue to wound artists like Jack Johnson and Jennifer Lopez where oftentimes it hurts them most -- album sales.

The Massacre, the follow-up to 50's smash debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', sold just under 771,000 copies in its second -- and first full -- week on the market, according to next week's Billboard albums chart. SoundScan numbers put Jack Johnson's latest, In Between Dreams, at a distant second, with just over 117,000 units flying off store shelves in what is also that album's second week in release.

The Game, a former member of 50's Cent's G-Unit clique, saw a slight jump in his debut album's sales in the wake of his highly publicized truce with 50 Cent, but again, with little more than 86,000 copies of The Documentary sold, the Compton, California-bred MC couldn't hold a candle to 50's sales figures.

Jennifer Lopez's latest offering, Rebirth, has suffered the most from 50's retail rampage. Clocking in at #4 this week, Jenny's album sold nearly 200 fewer copies than the Game's entry, a drop in sales of nearly 180,000 units.

Last week's shocking fourth-place finisher, the Mars Volta's Frances the Mute, fell to the #13 position, with sales that barely surpassed the 45,000 mark. Omarion's O finished at #12, besting the Volta by just 30 records.

Some chart regulars finished out the top 10: Green Day's American Idiot is at #5, with close to 77,000 scans; Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway comes in at #6, with close to 60,000 in sales; Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company clings to #7, with 56,000 plus units moved; the Killers' Hot Fuss claims the #8 slot with 54,000; and John Legend's Get Lifted finishes at #9, with under 53,000, just in front of Eminem's Encore, which sold close to 52,000 copies.

Country: The Teflon Genre?

Sales slumped last week all across the musical map, but for some reason, country artists were immune. Releases from Kenny Chesney, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, and Gretchen Wilson all saw a decent -- or in Chesney's case, a huge 30 percent -- sales jump. The only other comparable boost went to Young Buck's million-plus-selling Straight Outta Cashville, which roared up 53 spots to #110 on sales of more than 9,000 -- quite possibly thanks to his supporting role in the 50/ Game beef.

A Lack of Fresh Meat = Slow Sales?

Last week's sales slip could be attributed to a lack of blockbuster new releases: Only Mafia from Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society managed to break into the top 20; the metal band's "Mafia" sold more than 41,000 copies to land at #15. The next best debut? Country singer (go figure) Craig Morgan, whose My Kind of Livin' came in at #40. Much farther down, Kasabian's self-titled debut bows at #94 on just over 10,000 records sold.

Next week, 50 probably doesn't have much to fear from promising hip-hop-soul newcomer Brooke Valentine, but the silver bullet just might come from the powerhouse that is Now That's What I Call Music! The franchise's 18th volume, featuring tracks from Gwen Stefani, Ashanti, Lindsay Lohan and Snoop Dogg, could very well knock the Teflon don from his perch.

This story was originally published on 03.16.05 at 07:43 a.m. ET.

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