Lil Wayne maintains crown on U.S. singles chart

By Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - With his new album, "Tha Carter III," poised to debut at No. 1 on next week's Billboard 200, rapper Lil Wayne begins a fifth week atop the Hot 100 singles chart with "Lollipop" featuring Static Major.

Five songs from "Tha Carter III" are on the tally for the week, and Wayne also appears as a guest on charting tracks from Usher and Lloyd.

Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" inches up from No. 3 to No. 2, another high-water mark for the U.K. band. Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" drops one rung to No. 3, while Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and Rihanna's "Take a Bow" trade places at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.

The songs at positions 6 through 8 -- Usher's "Love in This Club" featuring Young Jeezy, Jordin Sparks' "No Air" featuring Chris Brown and Ray J & Yung Berg's "Sexy Can I" -- all stand pat. Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" jumps from No. 11 to No. 9, and Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake holds at No. 10.

Young Jeezy has the top debut with "Put On" featuring Kanye West, which opens at No. 36. The rapper's next album, "The Recession," is due in August.

Reuters/Billboard