Pork here with this week's Chart Attack.

T.I. bounces up and down, Beyoncé just goes down.

T.I. is continuing to carve out one of the strangest paths to chart history ever as two of his songs refuse to stop switching spots at the top of the chart. This week it’s “Live Your Life” (feat. Rihanna) that bounces back from No. 2 and sends “Whatever You Like” underneath it. It looks like this flip-flop lock T.I.’s had on the top two spots might be just about over as “Whatever You Like” loses its bullet. No sweat off his back since with these two singles alone, he should be able to have ‘whatever he likes’ for the rest of his life. The boy did somethin’ right. (P.S. Don’t count out P!nk’s “So What” as her chance to reclaim the No. 1 since it’s regained strength and climbed back up to No. 3. Go, P!nk!)

The fate of the first single from I Am Sasha Fierce ain’t so fierce. After an impressive 68-3 leap last week, “If I Were A Boy” loses its steam and falls to No. 5 in only its third week on the chart. Uh-oh, B. I can’t say I’ve felt the aura of success anywhere around this project. It’s time to take a break. How about you don’t give us anything new for a year or two and let us appreciate you a bit more, eh? You’re drowning in a sea of hip-hop mediocrity. Fact is, Sasha Fierce sounds just like Beyoncé. Without any sort of reinvention, you won’t achieve your emancipation.

P!nk couldn’t move AC/DC, but she does possess the Hot Shot Debut on this week’s Top 200 Albums chart with a stunning No. 2 entry. Two spots below, John Legend jumps in with Evolver, which tops this week’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in its first week.

Off-The-Chart: Thank you to my friend Scott for designing Chart Attack’s new eye-catching logo! It’s one step closer to the kind of fun I want us all to have here. :] Thanks, Scott!

That’s just about all for now, but take a little time and enjoy . . . .

A View From The Top:
After the jump, a look at what’s sitting atop this week’s Billboard charts.

November 15th, 2008 (week ending)

Singles:
-Hot 100: T.I. feat. Rihanna: “Live Your Life”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Ne-Yo “Miss Independent”
-Pop 100: P!nk “So What”
-Mainstream Top 40: P!nk “So What”
-Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop: Ne-Yo “Miss Independent”
-Hot Modern Rock Tracks: The Offspring “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”
-Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks: Metallica “The Day That Never Comes”
-Triple A: Snow Patrol “Take Back The City”
-Hot Rap Tracks: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
-Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks: Jason Mraz “I’m Yours”
-Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks: David Cook “The Time Of My Life”
-Hot Digital Songs: T.I. feat. Rihanna “Live Your Life”
-Hot Digital Tracks: Taylor Swift “You’re Not Sorry”
-Rhythmic Top 40: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
-Hot Dance Club Play: Mary Mary “Get Up”
-Hot Dance Airplay: Ercola & Daniella “Every Word”
-Hot Dance Single Sales: M.I.A. “Paper Planes”
-Pop 100 Airplay: P!nk “So What
-Hot 100 Airplay: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
-Hot Singles Sales: Artists Stand Up To Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales: Artists Stand Up To Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay: Ne-Yo “Miss Independent”
-Hot Adult R&B Airplay: Jennifer Hudson “Spotlight”
-Hot Singles Recurrents: Michael Jackson “Thriller”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrents: Keyshia Cole “I Remember”
-Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay: Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful Of Sunshine”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay: Keyshia Cole “I Remember”
-Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles: Zac Efron & Corbin Bleu “The Boys Are Back”
-Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: E-40 feat. Shawty Lo “Break Ya Ankles”
-Hot Ringtones: Grupo Montez De Durango “Adios Amore Te Vas”
-Hot Country Songs: Carrie Underwood “Just A Dream”

Albums:
-The Billboard 200 Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice
-Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: John Legend - Evolver
-Top Digital Albums: Pink - Funhouse
-Top Rock Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice
-Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums: Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns
-Top Hard Rock Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice
-Top Internet Albums: Bloc Party – Intimacy
-Top Independent Albums: Kottonmouth Kings – The Green Album
-Top Electronic Albums: Lady GaGa – The Fame
-Top Rap Albums: T.I. – Paper Trail
-Top Soundtracks: High School Musical 3: Senior Year
-Top Cast Albums: Original Broadway Cast Recording – Wicked
-Top Country Albums: Toby Keith – That Don’t Make Me A Bad Guy
-Top Heatseekers: Deerhunter - Microcastle

…on the international front:
-European Hot 100 Singles: Guru Josh Project “Infinity 2008”
-European Top 100 Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice

…and…just where it should be:
-Hot Holdiay Songs: Bing Crosby “White Christmas”

Pork here with this week's Chart Attack. Here is a look at this week’s Billboard charts, week ending November 8th, 2008.

Don’t let anyone tell you that the music industry is dead. This week AC/DC decided to experiment with the ailing warhorses that are current-day record stores and allowed their newest release, Black Ice, (their first in 8 years) to only be sold at Wal-mart, Sam’s Club and their own website and they managed to move more than 3/4 of a million units. Their tally of 784,000 copies gives them the second largest opening of the year on the Billboard 200. (Chances are Lil Wayne will take the honor of biggest first-week sales right up until the end of the year since Tha Carter III exploded with 1.005 million units in June). I wonder if AC/DC could’ve possibly bested Lil Wayne if they had made their album available at all retail locations including iTunes, but another part of me thinks that the buzz created by their limited-access release is what helped draw a lot of the attention to the release. Either way, the people have shown that they still love music and they will still pay for it.

Beyoncé and/or Sasha Fierce couldn’t pull off quite the stunt that Britney did a couple weeks back with “Womanizer”, but the first single from I Am Sasha Fierce, “If I Were A Boy” does take an eye-opening leap from 68-3 on the Hot 100. As predicted, not even the mighty B could disturb T.I.’s reign over the top 2 spots as “Whatever You Like” and “Live Your Life” secure the top two spots on the big chart respectively.

“If I Were A Boy” does manage to knock “Womanizer” off of the top of Hot Digital Songs. Let’s see what Sasha Fierce can do.

Ne-Yo slinks into the No. 1 position on no less than 3 different charts with “Miss Independent.” It’s comforting to see this kind of success from an artist of such substance in this scary age of vocoding and circus tricks in music. I strongly urge you to get your hands (and ears) on a copy of his latest full-length, Year of the Gentleman.

A final congratulations to Danny Tenaglia who lands the No. 1 Hot Dance Club Play track this week with “The Space Dance.” Ten years after “Elements” topped the charts, D.T. proves that if you ‘be yourself,’ you can do whatever you want . . . even in space. :]

And make sure to go over and check out this week's Listen Up (New Music Tuesday). What's sitting atop all of this week's Billboard charts, plus Bing Crosby continues his reign, after the jump.

A View From The Top:
Here is a look at what’s sitting atop this week’s Billboard charts:
November 8th, 2008 (week ending)

Singles:
Hot 100: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Ne-Yo “Miss Independent”
Pop 100: P!nk “So What”
Mainstream Top 40: P!nk “So What”
Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop: Ne-Yo “Miss Independent”
Hot Modern Rock Tracks: The Offspring “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks: Metallica “The Day That Never Comes”
Triple A: O.A.R. “Shattered (Turn The Car Around)
Hot Rap Tracks: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks: Jason Mraz “I’m Yours”
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks: David Cook “The Time Of My Life”
Hot Digital Songs: Beyoncé – If I Were A Boy
Rhythmic Top 40: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
Hot Dance Club Play: Danny Tenaglia “The Space Dance”
Hot Dance Airplay: Ercola & Daniella “Every Word”
Hot Dance Single Sales: M.I.A. “Paper Planes”
Pop 100 Airplay: P!nk “So What
Hot 100 Airplay: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
Hot Singles Sales: Artists Stand Up To Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales: Artists Stand Up To Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay: Ne-Yo “Miss Independent”
Hot Adult R&B Airplay: Jennifer Hudson “Spotlight”
Hot Singles Recurrents: Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful Of Sunshine”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrents: Noel Gourdin “The River”
Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay: Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful Of Sunshine”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay: Noel Gourdin “The River”
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles: Chairlift “Bruises”
Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: Deborah (Who?) Cox “Did You Ever Love Me”
Hot Ringtones: Grupo Montez De Durango “Adios Amore Te Vas”
Hot Country Songs: Carrie Underwood “Just A Dream”

Albums:
The Billboard 200 Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: T.I. – Paper Trail
Top Digital Albums: Soundtrack – High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Top Rock Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice
Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums: Metallica – Death Magnetic
Top Hard Rock Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice
Top Independent Albums: Ray LaMontagne – Gossip In The Grain
Top Electronic Albums: M.I.A. – Kala
Top Rap Albums: T.I. – Paper Trail
Top Soundtracks: Mamma Mia!
Top Cast Albums: Original Broadway Cast Recording – Wicked
Top Country Albums: Kenny Chesney – Lucky Old Sun
Top Heatseekers: Five Finger Death Punch – The Way Of The Fist

. . . on the international front:
European Hot 100 Singles: P!nk “So What” (go P!nk!)
European Top 100 Albums: Metallica – Death Magnetic

. . . and . . . keeping his top spot like a true P.I.M.P.:
Hot Holdiay Songs: Bing Crosby “White Christmas”

Pork here with this week's Chart Attack.

Spears slips as T.I. climbs. Hudson ain’t going.

If you read last week’s Chart Attack, you’d understand exactly why Britney wasn’t able to keep T.I. down as “Whatever You Like” rebounds to the top spot for the third time on the Hot 100 and “Womanizer” drops to No. 4. T.I. (with a little help from Rihanna) also solidified the No. 2 position with “Live Your Life.” It’s all good with me! “Whatever You Like” has a certain swagger and is as infectious as “Womanizer” is annoying. Britney’s short-lived stay at the summit (after a record-setting jump from 96-1) was most likely due to a sales surge upon the first week of digital availability and has now leveled off. Otherwise, it is just not the time to be battling with T.I. as he is in the midst of some chart dominance. Chart Attack indeed. (Warning: Here comes some chart trivia that possibly only my hardcore chart-ians will appreciate.) Keep reading here, Chart-ians. As covered last week, T.I.’s “Live Your Life” replaced his own song “Whatever You Like” on the top of the Hot 100, making him the 9th artist in the “rock era” to achieve such a feat. Well, this week T.I. has a first. Here’s how it goes. T.I. is the first artist to have a former No. 1 return to the peak position after that same artists follow-up spent time at the top. It’s like an amusement park ride. :]

Look out for “Fearless (Big Machine)” by Taylor Swift as the track moves swiftly (I had to) into the Top 10 at No. 9 this week. Ms. Swift is on the move. Can the tweeners take on the hip-hoppers? Stay tuned.


Meanwhile, Jennifer Hudson doesn’t give it up as easily as Britney does and secures the “Spotlight” for another week as her song of the same name stays solidly at the top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. There is an easy explanation for this streak atop the charts: stellar songcraft, brilliant production by StarGate and Ne-Yo and…that voice. Viva la Jhud!

What's currently sitting atop all of this week's Billboard charts, plus Bing Crosby better than ever, after the jump.


A View From The Top:
Here is a look at what’s currently sitting atop this week’s Billboard charts:

November 1st, 2008 (week ending)

Singles:
-Hot 100: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Jennifer Hudson “Spotlight”
-Pop 100: P!nk “So What”
-Mainstream Top 40: P!nk “So What”
-Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop: T-Pain feat. Lil Wayne “Can’t Believe It”
-Hot Modern Rock Tracks: The Offspring “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”
-Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks: Metallica “The Day That Never Comes”
-Triple A: O.A.R. “Shattered (Turn The Car Around)
-Hot Rap Tracks: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
-Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks: Jason Mraz “I’m Yours”
-Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks: David Cook “The Time Of My Life”
-Hot Digital Songs: Britney Spears “Womanizer”
-Rhythmic Top 40: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
-Hot Dance Club Play: Georgie Porgie “Can You Feel That Sound”
-Hot Dance Airplay: Kaskade & Deadmau5 “Move For Me”
-Hot Dance Single Sales: Jealous Sound “Got Friends”
-Pop 100 Airplay: P!nk “So What
-Hot 100 Airplay: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
-Hot Singles Sales: Artists Stand Up To Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales: Artists Stand Up To Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay: Jennifer Hudson “Spotlight”
-Hot Adult R&B Airplay: Jennifer Hudson “Spotlight”
-Hot Singles Recurrents: Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful Of Sunshine”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrents: Noel Gourdin “The River”
-Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay: Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful Of Sunshine”
-Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay: Noel Gourdin “The River”
-Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles: Billy Currington “Don’t”
-Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: Soulja Boy Tell’em – “Birdwalk”
-Hot Ringtones: Grupo Montez De Durango “Adios Amore Te Vas”
-Hot Country Songs: Toby Keith “She Never Cried In Front Of Me”

Albums:
-The Billboard 200 Albums: Kenny Chesney – Lucky Old Sun
-Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: T.I. – Paper Trail
-Top Rock Albums: Ray LaMontagne – Gossip In The Grain
-Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums: Metallica – Death Magnetic
-Top Hard Rock Albums: Metallica – Death Magnetic
-Top Independent Albums: Ray LaMontagne – Gossip In The Grain
-Top Electronic Albums: M.I.A. – Kala
-Top Rap Albums: T.I. – Paper Trail
-Top Soundtracks: Mamma Mia!
-Top Cast Albums: Original Broadway Cast Recording – Wicked
-Top Country Albums: Kenny Chesney – Lucky Old Sun
-Top Heatseekers: Gojira – The Way Of All Flesh

. . . and on the international front:-European Hot 100 Singles: P!nk “So What” (go P!nk!)
-European Top 100 Albums: Metallica – Death Magnetic

. . . and . . . why not?
-Hot Holdiay Songs: Bing Crosby “White Christmas” (after all these years . . . .)