Jay Z still on top of HOT 100, barely

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys hold at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth week with "Empire State of Mind," barely holding off a strong surge by Ke$ha's "TiK ToK," which jumps 3-2.

"TiK ToK" holds at No. 2 on Digital Songs, trailing that chart's leader, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," by under 1,000 downloads. "Bad Romance," meanwhile slips 2-3 on the Hot 100 even though it is the chart's Airplay Gainer (up 13.5 million listener impressions). The unit difference between the top entries on Digital Songs is the chart's smallest since this very week in 2005, when Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" prevailed over Eminem's "When I'm Gone."

Below the top three, Iyaz's "Replay" and "Fireflies" by Owl City stand still at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. "Sexy Chick" by David Guetta featuring Akon (7-6) swaps spots with former No. 1 "Whatcha Say" by Jason Derulo, whose sophomore single, "In My Head," debuts at No. 63.

The last three spots in the top 10 mirror last week's ranking, as the Black Eyed Peas' "Meet Me Halfway" (No. 8), "3" from Britney Spears (No. 9) and Jay Sean's "Down" (No. 10) hold steady. It's the second week in a row that the top 10 of the Hot 100 has failed to welcome a new title into its ranks.

Timbaland cashes in on another collaboration with Justin Timberlake as "Carry Out" climbs 75-31 as the chart's Digital Gainer. The song also soars 47-18 on Digital Songs (up 26,000 downloads).

Ludacris posts the best Hot 100 debut of his career, as "How Low" opens at No. 13 and claims the week's Hot Shot Debut title, thanks to strong first week download sales (93,000). "How Low" is Ludacris' best start since he was a featured vocalist, with Usher, on Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz's "Lovers & Friends" (No. 36 in 2004). The rapper's best debut with one of his own songs was at No. 48, with "Georgia" in 2006.