Rapper sets digital record atop singles chart
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Rapper Flo Rida's "Low" led  Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for a second week Thursday,  setting a new record for digital sales.
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Rap star Snoop Dogg extends his run at the top of the US singles chart for a second week.
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Apple Computer Inc.  on Thursday said sales of songs bought from its market-leading iTunes online music store had topped 200 million, a figure that was about in line with what some analysts had been expecting.
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Kanye West sold almost a million copies of his latest album during its first week in U.S. stores, winning a much-hyped sales race with rival rapper 50 Cent and providing the ailing record industry with a rare piece of good news.
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LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Rapper Jay-Z is on course to achieve his 10th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, based on early sales estimates issued Wednesday.
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Eminem's new album debuted atop the charts, following a decision by the rapper's record label to move up the album's sale date amid piracy concerns.
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Arts & entertainment: Chart news: The Graduation artist beats 50 Cent in the singles charts, too, though Sean Kingston's Beautiful Girls still slays them all.
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Arts & entertainment: 50 Cent bumped down to number two by highest-selling album in two years.
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NEW YORK (Billboard) - After selling an astonishing 250,000   copies as a digital download, Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack"   surged 30 places to seize the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100   singles chart Thursday.
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LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Rapper Snoop Dogg scored his  first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday  with "Drop It Like It's Hot," which had spent four weeks in the  runner-up spot.
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LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Playing with his first  major-label release, West Coast rapper the Game won the top  slot on the U.S. pop albums chart Wednesday by a landslide.
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From clothes to kicks to the liquor they sip, rappers are label connoisseurs. With their attention to trends in both play and work, it's no surprise that they are record label conscious too.
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NEW YORK (Billboard) - Rapper Soulja Boy's "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" began a sixth non-consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday, while Kanye West's "Stronger" held at No. 2.
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Because of the way the calendar breaks, album sales are trailing 2004 in the early weeks of the new year, but a rapper named the Game could help even the score.
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Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous"  featuring Timbaland led the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for  a fourth week Thursday, while Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" held at  No. 2 but replaced Furtado atop the Hot Digital Songs chart.
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50 Cent may be getting hip-hop's equivalent of a gold watch next week. Early reports have Kanye West beating 50 in their much-hyped battle of album sales: West's "Graduation" is on pace to sell about 575,000 to 700,000 its first week out, while 50 Cent's "Curtis" is on track to do 550,000, according to Billboard magazine.
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Two popular rap acts occupied the  top two spots on the U.S. album charts Wednesday, with the  Game's "Doctor's Advocate" coming in at No. 1.