NE-YO’S IN THE CHART MATRIX

It may not be the Year of the Gentleman, what with Sarah Palin and all, but it sure looks like it could be the week for one, as Def Jam/IDJ hit songwriter/performer Ne-Yo has a slight edge for next Tuesday’s #1 spot over Metallica, with estimates in the 240-250k range.

The Warner Bros. rockers are in their second week (and first full one) of release after the debut of Death Magnetic on top of the chart.

Derrty/Universal Motown St. Louis hip-hop star Nelly returns with Brass Knuckles, which is on target to sell in the 80k area, good enough for a fairly high debut, in all probability, Top 5.

Hootie and the Blowfish’s Darius Rucker becomes the first African-American in 20 years, since Charley Pride, to hit the Top 20 in the Country charts, with the single, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” from his new Capitol Nashville album, Learn to Live, which is slated for an impressive 50k in opening week sales.

New Orleans-born, Miami-based We the Best/Terror Squad/Koch Palesteinian-American producer/rapper DJ Khaled’s We Global looks to be just behind Rucker at 40-50k

Eleven Seven/Atlantic Sunset Strip Gods Buckcherry continue their comeback with Black Butterfly, the sequel to the platinum-plus 15, with a respectable first-week estimate of 40k.

Our old pal Dan Fitzgerald’s hard-rocking Prosthetic label, through Razor & Tie, has the new All That Remains album, Overcome, from the veteran Springfield, MA, metallers, in at around 25k.

Former Tony Toni Tone member Raphael Saadiq’s fourth solo album, The Way I See It, this one for Pookie/Columbia, is also headed for the 25k range.

The market was up a scant 1% vs last week, down 25% vs same week last year and still down 11% year-to-date.

Special note for Mets fans: You may now return to your death watch.