Wu Massacre & E-40 Debut on the Charts

The Billboard 200 got a visit from rap vets from both coasts this week, as new releases from Raekwon, Method Man and Ghostface, and E-40 joined the ranks.

The Wu-Tang MCs made an impressive debut at No. 12, after selling 37,900 units in their first week on the charts of Wu Massacre. 40 Water didn’t have as much luck with his Revenue Retrievin’ double album. The Ambassador of the Bay’s Day Shift disc took the No. 47 spot with 12,000 CDs sold, while Night Shift landed at No. 49 after moving 11,900 units. The special double LP version made it to the No. 130 slot, selling 5,100 copies.

Meanwhile, at the top of the charts are the Black Eyed Peas, who managed to beat out Ludacris for the first time in four weeks. BEP’s The E.N.D. album held down the No. 10 position with 42,500 units sold this week. The group now has a 43-week tally of 2,386,800.

’Cris fell four spots from No. 7 last week to No. 11 this go-round. His seventh studio effort, Battle of the Sexes, took in 40,400 in sales this week, making his overall stats stand at 283,700.

Sliding one spot down from last week is Lil Wayne. The New Orleans-bred superstar’s experimental album Rebirth picked up 24,200 in additional sales this week, bringing Weezy’s total numbers to 489,700.

Wayne’s crew Young Money just made the Top 40 cutoff, securing the No. 39 spot. We Are Young Money added 13,800 units to their complete sales to-date, which now sits at 418,700. —Elan Mancini