With “Late Registration,” Kanye West rules the school as his sophomore Roc-A-Fella/Def
Jam album makes a chart-topping bow on The Billboard 200 this week. After a
few weeks of relatively low-key activity on the album chart, West’s latest leads
a slew of high-profile debuts by G-Unit’s Tony Yayo and Rihanna.

The highly-anticipated “Registration” sold 860,000 copies in the United States,
according to Nielsen SoundScan, besting the nearest competition by more than
600,000. The total is nearly double the outspoken producer/rapper’s previous
high water mark, achieved when his 2004 debut, “The College Dropout,” opened
at No. 2 with 441,000 units. That set has sold 2.7 million to date. Along with
being embroiled in a lawsuit with a Chicago DJ over an alleged forged recording
agreement, West has been in the news following his highly-charged comments against
President George W. Bush during last week’s NBC Universal Hurricane Katrina
telethon. He is slated to take part in another such event, MTV/VH1/CMT’s “ReACT
Now” benefit, on Saturday (Sept. 10).

Yayo’s “Thoughts of a Predicate Felon” (G-Unit/Interscope) takes the No. 2
slot on The Billboard 200 with a 214,000-copy start. The rapper’s solo debut
is led by the single “So Seductive,” featuring fellow G-Unit star 50 Cent, which
reached No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list.

After storming the charts with “Pon De Replay” — which peaked at No. 2 on
The Billboard Hot 100 — hip-hop newcomer Rihanna debuts at No. 10 on the album
chart with “Music of the Sun” (SRP/Def Jam/IDJMG) with first-week sales of 69,000.