Pretty Ricky, The Shins Top Billboard Chart

LOS ANGELES (February 2, 2007) — Finally, the post-holiday sales slump is alleviated this week with two new albums breaking the 100,000 sales mark on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. Rap group Pretty Ricky debuts at #1 with their second album, “Late Night Special,” which sold 132,374 copies — more than twice what their first album “Bluestars” sold in its first week of release in 2005.Hot buzz-band The Shins also outdid themselves this week with the debut of their third album, “Wincing the Night Away,” landing at #2 with 117,991 copies sold. Until now, the Shins had never placed higher than #86 on the Billboard chart.Two other albums make their debuts this week, crowding the Top 5 with new releases. The first is a sampling of artists nominated for Grammy awards in at #4, while John Mellencamp enjoys the highest-charting debut of his career with “Freedom’s Road” at #5. Robin Thicke breaks the Top 10 this week with “The Evolution of Robin Thicke,” coming in at #8. This is Robin’s third album, and he gets a little help from some friends: Lil Wayne, Faith Evans and Pharrell all contribute to tracks.The rest of the Top 10 features the same players as last week, albeit in different positions. Chris Daughtry falls to third place after being on top last week, but it’s not really a “fall” at all — he actually sold about 15,000 more. Akon, Justin Timberlake, and the soundtracks to “Dreamgirls” and “Jump In!” can’t say the same, unfortunately.New additions to the Top 10 Hot Downloaded Singles chart include Gwen Stefani’s “The Great Escape,” HelloGoodbye’s “Here (In Your Arms),” and KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See.” Fall Out Boy continues to reign supreme at the top of the Download chart with “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race.” “Infinity On High,” The album that spawned the hit single, arrives in stores next week.Below are Billboard’s Top 10 Album and Top 10 Downloaded Singles charts for the week.TOP 10 AlbumsARTIST- TITLE -UNITS SOLD1. PRETTY RICKY – Late Night Special – 132,3742. THE SHINS – Wincing The Night Away – 117,9913. DAUGHTRY – Daughtry – 80,1474. VARIOUS ARTISTS – 2007 Grammy Nominees – 77,4645. JOHN MELLENCAMP – Freedom’s Road – 55,9386. SOUNDTRACK – Dreamgirls – 55,7307. AKON – Konvicted – 50,4198. ROBIN THICKE – The Evolution of Robin Thicke – 44,8949. SOUNDTRACK – Jump In! – 44,01210. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE – FutureSex/LoveSounds – 39,089TOP 10 Downloaded Singles1. FALL OUT BOY – This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race – 162,3562. DAUGHTRY – It’s Not Over – 90,3053. NELLY FURTADO – Say It Right – 88,9084. GWEN STEFANI FEATURING AKON – The Sweet Escape – 82,1175. BEYONCE – Irreplaceable – 67,1176. JIM JONES – We Fly High – 58,1657. HELLOGOODBYE – Here (In Your Arms) – 57,7118. FERGIE – Fergalicious – 55,9509. KT TUNSTALL – Suddenly I See – 55,11010. AKON feat. SNOOP DOGG – I Wanna Love You – 55,088