Jay-Z holds down top three spots on the chart

The unstoppable Jay-Z performed what may be the unprecedented feat of appearing on the top three albums on the Billboard chart this week. His ”Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse” became his fifth release to debut at No. 1 and sold 545,174 copies, according to SoundScan. It ended the two-week reign of Eminem’s ”8 Mile” soundtrack, on which Jigga also performs; that disc was pushed to No. 2 on sales of 400,000. The ubiquitous rapper also guests on Missy Elliott’s ”Under Construction,” which debuted at No. 3 and moved 258,800 units. Justin Timberlake’s ”Justified” dropped two notches to No. 4 in its second week and endured a 57 percent drop in sales, to 188,602 copies. Debuting at No. 5 was Pearl Jam’s first studio release in more than two years, ”Riot Act,” which sold 165,991 copies. Jay-Z was nowhere to be found on Timberlake’s or Pearl Jam’s CDs.

Competition was so fierce this week that ”3D,” TLC’s much-anticipated valedictory release and tribute to Lisa Lopes, couldn’t muster a higher debut than No. 6. Christina Aguilera’s ”Stripped” dropped three places to No. 7. The week’s fifth top-10 debut was 3 Doors Down’s ”Away From the Sun,” coming in at No. 8. Eminem’s ”The Eminem Show” slipped two slots to No. 9, and Santana’s ”Shaman” fell five spots to No. 10.