Christmas is over, which means everyone's back at work, depressed about their holiday weight gain, and broke from presents and travel. It also means that Oprah-endorsed Josh Groban and his Noel album no longer have a place at the tippy top of the Billboard 200.

In her second week on the charts, Mary J. Blige takes her rightful spot at No. 1, and Alicia Keys holds strong at No. 2. Chris Brown also crept up the charts from 10th to 5th place. It's nice to see that this isn't negatively affecting his sales. [BB]

All the pain and suffering and joy and jubilation that Mary J. Blige no doubt put into her latest album, Growing Pains was enough to sell 629,000 albums in her first week, but not enough to beat out Josh Groban's Oprah-backed Noel, which was No. 1 for the fifth week in a row. Don't sleep on the O Factor, y'all.

Jaheim's album, The Makings of A Man," also debuted this week at No. 11. And Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool" sold 143,000 units to debut at No. 15. This is the price one pays for not "dumbing it down."

Last year, Bow Wow's solo album opened at No. 6 with 262,000 sold, and Omarion's solo venture opened at No. 1 with 119,000 sold. This year, the friends collaborated to make Face Off, which sold only 107,000 in it's first week and didn't even make it into the top 10 of the Billboard 200. This kind of reminds me of Ne-Yo's song "Make Me Better," but in reverse.

Check out who else had a less-than-stellar debut on the charts after the jump.

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Once on top of the world, Celine Dion now has to deal with the heavy weight of Alicia Keys' unstoppable awesomeness on her shoulders. The two singers went head to head with their album debuts last week, and Alicia crushed all competition by selling 742,000 albums, the second highest album debut for a female artist since Norah Jones sold a million in 2004. Jay-Z slid from #1 to a less-than-impressive #8. Nothing lasts forever. [BB]

The only artists with more #1 debuts than Jay-Z (and Elvis Presley) are the Beatles. So people can judge Jay for continuing to work when they feel like he should stick to the boardroom, and they can say his new music sucks, but the facts speak for themselves. Now that he's tied this Elvis record with ten #1 albums, well, he's probably never going to shut up. Or stay in the boardroom.

Chris Brown also debuted on the charts at #4, which I think is pretty low, along with Cassidy at #10. Check out the full chart after the jump.

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It's what all of the "mainstream" blogs have been waiting for — the end of Britney Spears' first week back on the album charts. It's probably not what her few remaining fans had hoped for — the comeback-that-wasn't ended with her in the No. 2 position behind The Eagles, with only 290,000 albums sold. Since I can't find the words to describe my feelings on this subject, I'll turn to the words of 50 Cent:

"Damn homie, in high school you was the man, homie
What the fuck happened to you?"

It sort of sums everything up.

And because the top of the Billboard 200 is completely devoid of either color or soul, I hit you with the Hip Hop/R&B album charts after the jump.

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Remember how 50 Cent and Kanye West's legendary battle was supposed to revive hip hop album sales? Well, it did for a couple of weeks. Now 50 Cent is nearing obsolescence at No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and Kanye is close to getting booted out of the top ten. Besides his, there's not a single album I would even take the time to download for free.

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Kid Rock seems to think he's a Rock & Roll genius, probably because all music, particularly rap, comes so easily to him. Some people — I don't know who the hell they are — agreed with him, because his album debuted at No. 1.

Meanwhile, Kanye West is the only one representing for brown folks in the top ten, holding strong(er) at No. 6. And this week's most disappointing and embarrassing debut? Jennifer Lopez' Brave at No. 12 with 53,000 sold. Oh well, at least her family life is going well.

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As Kanye West stays semi-strong at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200, Soulja Boy and J. Holiday enter the charts and the 4 and 5 spots, with Keyshia Cole falling four spots from her debut at No 2 last week. I wonder if Soulja Boy is going to supaman a ho this weekend in celebration? Check out the top ten after the jump.

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If there was any question that the huge opening week both Kanye and 50 Cent had was based almost entirely around their hyped battle, the fact that sales dropped by 76 percent for Kanye and 79 percent for 50 in the second week should answer it once and for all — although I'm sure Kanye would want me to mention that he still sold more records than his foe.

Their rapid decline was good news for Reba McEntire, who took the number one spot and probably pissed Kenny Chesney off big time.

Squeezing in at the bottom of the top 10 were Chamillionaire and Twista, who maybe should have made a bigger deal out of going head-to-head on their album debuts this week in order to get higher numbers. Check out the top 10 after the jump.

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As 50 Cent nurses his incredibly bruised ego, canceling shows all over Europe and grumbling to anyone who will listen about how Interscope dropped the ball, I can think of one thing that will make him feel better. There's this new-ish song called "Stronger," and I've heard it has helped some people through hard times. It's by this rapper named Kanye West? Oh, you've heard of him? Of course…

Kanye West's "Graduation" (Def Jam) easily leads the star-studded class of Sept. 11 releases, posting The Billboard 200's largest sales total in more than two years. Nielsen SoundScan will show West's album moved 957,000 during its first six days when the tracking service refreshes its charts tomorrow morning (Sept. 19).

Also pumping album volume are 50 Cent's "Curtis" (G-Unit/Interscope), which will lock down the No. 2 slot with 691,000 sold. Kenny Chesney's "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" (BNA/Sony BMG Nashville) will bow at No. 3 with 387,000 copies.

Damn Kenny Chesney! It was a great week for hip hop, but not so much for country. Pick a better week next time, KC.

I'm full of advice this morning.
[BB]

Somewhere out there, Miley Cyrus and Korn are sitting around wondering who the hell UGK and Plies are, and why they sold sold so many damn albums last week? UGK's first album in 5 years sold 160,000 (more than Common last week) and Plies sold 96,000. What can I say? Texas and Florida are really big states.

On the Hip Hop & R&B charts, Amy Winehouse slipped back into the top 10. I credit rehab.

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Oh, Common. So adorable. So talented. So like LL Cool J in that he looks kind of funny when he takes off his hat. I'm sure he's off somewhere celebrating his first number 1 album, which sold 155,000 copies in its first week.

Sean Kingston's eponymous album also had a big debut, coming in at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.

More-to-love American Idol diva Mandisa's new album came in at No. 43 and Keith Murray's interestinly named Rap-Murr-Phobia sold just 13,000, but ended up near the top of the Hip Hop & R&B charts. More after the jump.

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Prince has still got it. A little bit, at least. As rumors of extreme ridiculousness on his part float through the blogosphere — he demands an all black hotel room with a black M&M dispenser — he rolled into the Billboard 200 at No. 3. That whole "world-renowned music legend" thing was no match for movie soundtracks and cheesy pop music compilations. He pulled in at No. 1 on the Hip Hop/R&B charts, knocking T.I. off of the top spot and Kelly Rowland out of the top 10 completely. More after the jump.

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If nothing else, this week should prove that the buying power of tweens and teens should not be underestimated. It was surely their CD purchases that put the NOW 25 pop music medley and Miley Cyrus, aka Disney's Hannah Montana, in the one and two spots, bumping T.I. to No. 3. Bumped by the daughter of the guy who sang "Achy Breaky Heart?" It's enough to bring T.I.P. out. At least "king" still tops the Hip Hop/R&B chart.

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