OutKast's new double set tops the album chart

Christmas shopping must have started early this year. Eclectic-minded record buyers sent nine new releases into the top 20 of the Billboard chart this week, seven of them in the top 10. When the dust settled, the victor was OutKast, whose feat was all the more impressive because the rap duo’s latest is a two-CD set consisting of one solo disc from each member. Fans were undaunted, and ”Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” sold an impressive 509,600 copies in its first week, according to SoundScan.

OutKast edged out another solo disc, Dave Matthews’ ”Some Devil.” The rocker’s first solo CD entered the chart in second place, selling 469,000 units. Limp Bizkit, like OutKast, released its first new album in three years, selling 325,000 copies of ”Results May Vary,” for a third-place debut. Back in February, R. Kelly’s ”Chocolate Factory” debuted at No. 1, but this week, he had to settle for a fourth-place start for his hits anthology, ”The R. in R&B Collection, Vol. 1,” which moved 250,000 units. Eminem protégé Obie Trice sold 226,000 copies of his debut CD, ”Cheers,” to chart at No. 5.

Nickelback’s third album, ”The Long Road,” entered the chart at No. 6, and rapper Murphy Lee saw debut disc ”Murphy’s Law” enter the chart at No. 8. Among earlier releases, DMX’s ”Grand Champ,” last week’s chart grand champ, dropped six spots this week to No. 7. Slipping five slots each were John Mayer’s ”Heavier Things” (No. 9) and Hilary Duff’s ”Metamorphosis” (No. 10).