Passing 'By'

The Red Hot Chili Peppers enjoyed their hottest debut in memory with ''By the Way,'' which sold 281,950 copies this week, according to SoundScan. But Nelly was hotter. The mayor of ''Nellyville'' remains the mayor of chartville for the third straight week, keeping his spot at the top of Billboard's album chart with sales of 340,030. Eminem's ''The Eminem Show'' was pushed to third place, with still strong sales of 231,000. Avril Lavigne's ''Let Go'' was No. 4 and sold 147,275 discs, marking the album's fifth week of consecutive sales increases. Entering at No. 5 was Counting Crows' ''Hard Candy,'' selling 138,275 copies.

Debuting at No. 6 was ''A Gangster and a Gentleman'' by rapper Styles, from the Lox. Hip-hop compilation ''Irv Gotti Presents...The Inc.'' fell four spots to No. 7. The self-titled album by the operatic Josh Groban, who enjoyed a guest spot last week on ''Oprah,'' vaulted back into the top 10, up from No. 25 to No. 8. Ashanti's ''Ashanti'' slid three spots to No. 9. Falling six places was Aerosmith's ''O Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits,'' landing at No. 10.