USHER GETS OVER UNDER

Arista/RMG teenpop star Avril Lavigne's Under My Skin dips to #2, while Epic/Sony Nashville’s redneck woman Gretchen Wilson lands at #3. The three are the only artists to top 100k this week.

The rest of the Top 10 includes RoadRunner/IDJ’s Slipknot (#4), Island/IDJ’s Hoobastank (#5), DreamWorks’ Shrek 2 soundtrack (#6), Shady/Interscope’s D12 (#7), Def Jam/IDJ’s Method Man (#8), Roc-A-Fella/IDJ’s Kanye West (#9, +16%) and Wind-up’s Evanescence (#10).

In all, Antonio "L.A." Reid’s Island Def Jam boasted four of the Top 10.

The overall market is down 5-7% from last week, up 4-5% from the same week last year and up a total of 8% for the year-to-date.

Aside from Kanye West, currently climbing with the hit "All Falls Down," other double-digit gainers include Geffen’s Guns N’ Roses (#24-14, +16%) and A&M/Interscope’s Black Eyed Peas (#31-19, +15%), finding traction with a series of high-visibility NBA TV promos.

The highest chart debut is registered by none other than Dean Martin, whose Capitol retrospective, Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, bows at #25. We’ll drink to that.

Other newcomers include Walt Disney Records’ That’s So Raven soundtrack (#47).

Among those who return to the chart are Cash Money/Universal’s Juvenile (#43), RoadRunner/IDJ’s Nickelback (#46), Columbia/CRG’s Beyonce (#49) and Epic’s Franz Ferdinand (#50).

Next week, it’s time for RCA’s rockin’ Velvet Revolver, which sets up an interesting battle between the ex-Guns N’ Roses and their own greatest hits album.