T.I. fends off Beyonce

By Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Rapper T.I. started a fifth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Live Your Life" featuring Rihanna. But Beyonce was nipping at his heels with two songs.

The R&B chanteuse's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" rocketed from No. 28 to No. 2 after selling 204,000 digital downloads, while "If I Were a Boy" held at No. 3. In the week ended November 23, Beyonce scored her third-straight No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 album chart with "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," which sold 482,000 copies.

T.I.'s other recent No. 1, "Whatever You Like," slipped from No. 2 to No. 4. Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" was down one rung to No. 5, Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" rebounded from No. 9 to No. 6, and Lady GaGa's "Just Dance" featuring Colby O'Donis soared from No. 16 to No. 7 on a 60 percent digital-sales uptick to 113,000.

Pop singer Pink's "So What" dropped from No. 5 to No. 8, as Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent" moved up two notches to No. 9 and Akon's "Right Now (Na Na Na)" fell from No. 8 to No. 10 to round out the top tier of the singles chart.

The Fray's "You Found Me" was the week's top debut at No. 28 after selling 62,000 downloads. The track premiered last week during a promo clip for the hit ABC show "Lost"; it's from the Denver band's self-titled sophomore album for Epic, due February 3.

Reuters/Billboard