‘Discipline’ pays off for J. Jackson

Janet Jackson racks up another No. 1 album with her latest, “Discipline,” which leads the U.S. pop chart after selling 181,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Billboard notes that this is Jackson’s sixth chart-topper, but it controls the chart with a significantly smaller first-week sales figure than Jackson’s previous effort, “20 Y.O.” That album led the tally with 296,000 copies when it came out in 2006.

Jackson is one of three new entries in the Top 10, along with the latest from R&B; singer Erykah Badu, “New Amerykah Part One (4th World War),” entering at No. 2 with 124,000 copies. Southern rapper Webbie lands at No. 4 with his “Savage Life 2,” which sold 72,000 copies in its first week.

The Feb. 24 Oscars played a role on this week’s chart. The soundtrack to “Once,” which took the original song Academy Award for “Falling Slowly,” jumps into the Top 10, up 24 slots to No. 7 on a 143% sales increase. The album sold 47,000 more copies last week, bringing its total to 429,000 copies, and the song has logged 94,000 paid downloads, nearly half of those since the Oscar broadcast.

Other notable newcomers this week include Shawty Lo’s “Units in the City,” which enters at No. 13 after selling 31,000 copies, and Dolly Parton, whose “Backwoods Barbie” bows at No. 17 on the strength of 27,000 copies. The album is Parton’s first on her own label.

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