With a Bullet: Today's Charts

While nothing but nothing was going to budge the 800 lb. pink gorilla in a tutu that is 'High School Musical 2' from the top of the charts, let's give a hand to Talib Kweli for his very honorable No. 2 debut. Sure, the alternative rapper's third solo album, 'Eardrum,' with 61,000 in sales, moved less than one-sixth of what 'HSM2' did in the same week. But that's not for a lack of trying: Kweli's highest-charting record to date contained an all-star cast of its own, being chock-full of guest appearances by Kanye West, Norah Jones, Justin Timberlake, Will.i.am and fellow hip-hop Top Ten act UGK. Kweli's commercial breakthrough even bested the first-week sales of rapper-producer Swizz Beatz's first solo album in five years, 'One Man Band Man,' which came in at No. 7, selling 45,000 copies.

• M.I.A. -- or, as the Anglo-Sri Lankan experimental hip-hop artist is known to the meanies at U.S. immigration, Mathangi Arulpragasam -- has the last laugh for now, as the Tamil Tigress' globe-trotting second album, 'Kala,' debuted at No. 18, with 29,000 sold.
  


• Not since the 'Brady Bunch' kids won that unengraved silver platter for their parents has a group of child actors attained the level of success of Rilo Kiley. The Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett-led band's fourth album, the Fleetwood Mac-leaning 'Under the Blacklight,' came in at No. 22 in its first week, selling in the 27,000 range.


• It's really not fair to compare bands due to such random factors as national origin, but somebody needs to explain this: Pray tell, why does one of Canada's finest, the New Pornographers, score only a No. 34 placing with their fourth LP of perfectly realized power pop, 'Challengers,' selling 20,000 in its debut week, when fellow Canucks Nickelback's two-year-old album sold twice that this week alone? And don't blame it on the strong beer -- these are American sales figures!

The top five albums for the week ending August 26:

1. 'High School Musical 2,' Soundtrack (367,000 in 2nd week; 982,000 total)
   
2. 'Eardrum,' Talib Kweli (61,000 in 1st week)
3. 'Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus,' Soundtrack (58,000 in 9th week; 1,144,000 total)
4. 'Hairspray,' Soundtrack (53,000 in 7th week; 477,000 total)
5. 'Now 25,' Various Artists (52,000 in 5th week; 700,000 total)