R. Kelly's 'Factory' hits No. 1
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
A singer accused of child pornography shoves a former crack dealer out of the No. 1 spot. It's not the FBI's most wanted list. It's the Billboard album chart, where misdeeds and rap sheets seem to have little bearing on an artist's commercial clout. 
R. Kelly, who faces child-pornography charges in two states, lands atop the chart after Chocolate Factory sold 532,000 copies its first week, only 11,000 fewer than his pre-scandal peak of 543,000 for opening sales of TP-2.Com in late 2000. The Best of Both Worlds, Kelly's collaboration with Jay-Z, sold a comparatively meager 223,000 its first week last March, six weeks after reports tied him to a widely bootlegged sex tape. (Related item: Hear audio.)
Kelly's arrival nudges 50 Cent to second place with 520,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The rapper, an ex-pusher with nine bullet wounds, held the No. 1 post for two weeks with major-label debut Get Rich or Die Tryin', which has sold 2.2 million copies in 18 days.
The Both Worlds dud fed a theory that porn charges had repelled fans. Kelly attacked his accusers in last summer's Heaven, I Need a Hug, which flopped. But the R&B crooner's career was re-ignited by libidinous hit single Ignition. And consumers clearly weren't put off by Factory's carnal themes.
Kelly, who was arrested last June, faces 21 counts of child porn in Chicago. A discovery hearing is scheduled for March 7. He was arrested Jan. 22 in Miami on similar allegations based on 12 images found in a rented home near Orlando after his arrest on the Illinois warrant.
"We don't know what the (opening) number might have been if Kelly hadn't been getting the negative attention," says Geoff Mayfield, Billboard's director of charts. "Adverse publicity might have more impact on someone like him than on a rapper. It almost seems to help a rapper to have a notorious background."
Some radio stations initially were hesitant to broadcast Kelly's music after charges were filed, but Ignition is enjoying wide airplay.
A guilty verdict won't necessarily ruin Kelly's standing, Mayfield says, noting that the late Tupac Shakur earned notoriety as the first artist to enter the chart at No. 1 while in jail.
Grammy magnet Norah Jones, at No. 3, should rebound mightily next week, along with such Grammy winners and performers as Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, the Dixie Chicks (No. 4 this week) and Kid Rock (No. 5). The Cradle 2 the Grave soundtrack enters at No. 5 with 98,000, followed by Avril Lavigne, the Chicago and Daredevil soundtracks and Grammy Nominees 2003.