"Late Registration," the latest album from rapper Kanye West [ tickets ], was the best-selling disc in the country during the past week, and is one of four just-released albums making a Top 5 debut.

West, who made headlines late last week after blasting President George W. Bush on television during a live broadcast of a Hurricane Katrina benefit, logged first-week sales of about 860,000 copies of "Late Registration" which will take over the top slot on the forthcoming Billboard 200 album chart.

"Thoughts of a Predicate Felon," the solo debut from 50 Cent protégé Tony Yayo, bows at No. 2, followed by country duo Brooks & Dunn's "Hillbilly Deluxe," which enters the chart at No. 3.

Death Cab for Cutie's major-label debut, "Plans," claims the No. 4 slot, while Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi" slips two slots from No. 3 to round out the Top 5.

Citing "U.S. promotional commitments, rockers Staind [ tickets ], who were scheduled to launch a month-long European tour Sept. 19, have pushed the run back until March of next year.

"We love touring overseas and are incredibly thankful to our European fans," the band's members said in a joint statement. "Unfortunately at this time, circumstances prevent us from coming over to perform live. We apologize for this inconvenience to our fans and look forward to seeing everyone in the future."

Apple Computer, Motorola and Cingular Wireless announced on Wednesday (9/7) the availability of a new mobile phone--dubbed the Motorola ROKR--that is compatible with Apple's iTunes software, making it the first of its kind.

Also on Tuesday, Apple unveiled iTunes 5, the latest version of its digital-music software, and a new member of its iPod line of digital music players. The new device, which goes by the name iPod nano, is just over a quarter-of-an-inch thick, features a color screen and can hold up to 1,000 songs, according to the company's website.

Ludacris, Lyfe Jennings, Bone Thugs N Harmony, The Outlawz, Memphis Bleek and Talib Kweli are among the artists who will appear on "The Rose, Vol. 2 - Music Inspired by Tupac's Poetry." Unlike its predecessor, which is a spoken-work collection, the new disc will feature poetry by Tupac Shakur [ tickets ] set to music and sung by a number of different artists. The disc hits stores Sept. 20.