You can also call Diddy ‘top seller’

CALL him what you will, but Diddy is back on top.

The rapper formerly known as Puff Daddy, Puffy and P. Diddy (as well as Sean Combs, the name on his birth certificate and, more important, his bank accounts) has the new No. 1 album in the country with “Press Play,� which sold 170,000 copies its first week in stores.

It was a return to grace for Diddy, who is getting favorable reviews for the new CD and enjoying his first No. 1 album since his major-label debut, “No Way Out,� way back in 1997. That collection sold 570,000 copies in its first retail week.

The next strongest debut this week belonged to young Boston pop singer JoJo, whose sophomore release, “The High Road,� sold 108,000 copies to take the No. 3 spot on the sales tally by Nielsen SoundScan. The singer, born Joanna Levesque, got an early career lift from an appearance on “America’s Most Talented Kids� and has several screen credits to her name, including the films “RV� and “Aquamarine.�

Another title with an itinerant sound comes in at No. 5 -- “Long Trip Alone,� from Arizona native Dierks Bentley, which sold 82,000 copies in its first week. It is the third album from the bluegrass-influenced country singer, and it features the forlorn hit “Every Mile a Memory.�

One more Top 10 debut this week: Ruben Studdard of “American Idol� fame is back with “The Return.� After a gospel-minded sophomore effort, the second-season “Idol� winner this time digs into a more contemporary, urban adult sound, and it features producers such as Ne-Yo, Scott Storch and the Underdogs. The R&B; CD sold 71,000 copies in its first week to capture the No. 8 slot.

The most ambitious new release is clearly “These Days� by Vince Gill. The veteran country singer, who was inspired in part by the old-school prolific ways of acts such as the Beatles and also by his own songwriting energy, put out a four-CD set, all new recordings. It sold 42,000 copies to claim the chart’s No. 17 spot.

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