Thug Life Army

Tupac Shakur grabs his third posthumous Billboard 200 chart-topper as "Loyal to the Game" (Amaru/Interscope) enters the chart at No. 1. The set, which sold 330,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, becomes the late rapper's fifth No. 1 on the tally.

Since his 1996 murder, Tupac's album sales total more than 18 million units in the United States, with a career total is 24.4 million. His last posthumous album, "Better Dayz," debuted in 2002 at No. 5 with 366,000 copies; it has sold 1.6 million to date.

Despite rising fortunes for most titles as the gift-giving crunch hit full swing, last week's No. 1, Ludacris'' "Red Light District" (Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam South), suffered a 34% sales decline to 214,000 and plummets to No. 12 on the chart.

"Concrete Rose," Ashanti's third studio set for The Inc./Def Jam opens at No. 7 with sales of 245,000, becoming her first album of non-holiday material to not debut at No. 1. Last year's "Chapter II" entered at the top with sales of 326,000 copies and has sold 1.5 million to date.

Despite his popularity with the "Total Request Live" set, Xzibit's "Weapons of Mass Destruction" (Columbia) settles for a No. 43 debut on sales of 81,000 in its first week. In 2002, the rapper and host of MTV's "Pimp My Ride" saw "Man vs. Machine" start at No. 3 with 156,000 copies; it has sold 596,000 to date; as reported by Billboard.