MID-WEEK SALES UPDATE:
NUMBERS TRENDING UP

That’s right: The Bad Boys II soundtrack (Bad Boy/Universal), Chingy’s Jackpot (DTP/Capitol) and Brooks & Dunn’s Red Dirt Road (RCA Nashville) have each trended up significantly since our first stab at projecting their first-week sales.

With the movie hitting theaters today, Bad Boys II now looks likely to move between 270k-280k before the week’s out. That’s about 20k above Wednesday’s projection.

Chingy now appears headed for at least a 150k first week—an outstanding debut for this new artist, who has a major smash on his hands. Put ’er thurr, buddy.

Brooks & Dunn, meanwhile, look like they’ll have 125k or so under their big, shiny belt buckles by the end of the week. The veteran duo’s strong outing would appear to be the start of a hot streak for RCA Nashville, which has Brad Paisley’s Mud on the Tires coming next week, to be followed up by a new Alan Jackson set due August 8. Wheeee-dogggggies! Tip yer hat and yer hourse, Butch Waugh!!

And speaking of dogggggies, there’s a big ol’ story brewing deep in the heart of Texas: Seems a fella by the name of Pat Green, who some have characterized as the Lone Star Springsteen, is causing quite a stir with his new disc, Wave on Wave (Universal). The album is seeing major regional sales that could put it over 50k for the week. Notably, Green’s producers this time out are Tony Brown and a good ole cowpoke by the name of Doug Morris. Keep an eye on this one.