Kanye Defeats 50 Cent On U.K. Album Chart

Posted: September 17, 2007 in: Kanye West | By: Jason |

Kanye West won the U.K. battle in the worldwide war of the rap superstars as "Graduation" (Def Jam) entered at No. 1 on the album chart ahead of 50 Cent's "Curtis" (Interscope). Meanwhile, in an unchanged top four on the singles survey, Sean Kingston began a third week at the summit with "Beautiful Girls" (Beluga Heights/Epic).

An eventful album chart also included a new entry at No. 3 for K.T. Tunstall's sophomore set "Drastic Fantastic" (Relentless/EMI) and a No. 5 start for Natalie Imbruglia's "Glorious — The Singles 97-07" (Brightside/Sony BMG). Dance act Ultrabeat gave Northern dance independent All Around the World another success as "The Album" entered at No. 8.

There was a No. 14 start for London rapper Kano's "London Town" (679 Recordings), while a new "Greatest Hits" set released by UMTV to commemorate Sept. 16's 30th anniversary of the death of glam figurehead Marc Bolan and his group T.Rex entered at No. 15. Decca's "The Ultimate Collection" by Luciano Pavarotti entered at No.17 as the late and lamented tenor's signature piece "Nessun Dorma" rose 24-12 on the singles list.

On that chart, Kingston stayed ahead of "Hey There Delilah" (Hollywood/Angel) by Plain White T's at No. 2, West's "Stronger" at No. 3 and James Blunt's "1973" (Atlantic) at No. 4. "Ayo Technology" (Interscope) by 50 Cent featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland rose 8-5 while Timbaland's own "The Way I Are" (Interscope), featuring DOE and Keri Hilson, moved back 10-9. There was yet another No. 14 entry for an Elvis Presley reissue, the third in as many weeks, this time for "Party" (RCA/Sony BMG).

On Billboard's pan-European charts, French superstar Manu Chao entered at No. 1 on the European Top 100 Albums chart with "La Radiolina" (Because), while "The Way I Are" begins a fourth week atop Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.