C-Murder Challenges TLC for SoundScan Crown
Make that three-for-three for TLC.
The R&B trio just locked up its third straight week at No. 1 on the nation’s album chart, with Fanmail selling 203,000 copies for the week ending March 14, according to SoundScan. TLC held off No Limit rapper C-Murder, whose follow-up to last year’s Life or Death, came in at No. 2. As usual with a release from Master P’s label, C-Murder’s Bossalinie came stocked with cameos, from Snoop Dog, Korupt, Nate Dogg, Goodie Mobb and P himself.
Harlem World, the new hip-hop project from Puffy’s man Mase, also got lots of supporting help. The debut album, Movement, came in at No. 11, and features Mase and Kelly Price on the single “I Really Like It.” Nas, Rashad, Jermaine Dupri and yes, the Harlem Boys Choir, also contribute.
Elsewhere, acts climbing the charts last week included Sugar Ray. Sugar Ray’s 14:59, a tongue-in-cheek reference to its allotted fifteen minutes of fame, jumped to No. 20 on the strength of the band’s No. 1 modern rock radio track, “Every Morning.” The video is No. 11 at MTV.
Korn’s six-month-old release, Follow the Leader, also continues to rise. Thanks to its top five video for “Freak on a Leash,” Follow the Leader has jumped from No. 35 to No. 24 in two weeks time. Fatboy Slim is also in MTV’s good graces. The music channel bestowed Buzz Worthy status on the hilarious “Praise You” clip. Fatboy’s Slim’s album, You’ve Come a Long Way Baby, has climbed from No. 62 to No. 48 in two weeks. (Not every act needs music videos to sell records, though. TLC has yet to make a video from their No. 1 album.)
Meanwhile, six months ago who would have thought Cher would have two albums in the top 100? Last week she did just that as her surprise hit Believe remained in the top then while her new greatest hits package, If I Could Turn Back Time, debuted at No. 67.
From the top, it was Fanmail, followed by C-Murder’s Bossalinie (selling 176,000 copies); Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time (175,000); Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP (172,000); Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (155,000); Shania Twain’s Come On Over (121,000); Cher’s Believe (103,000); the Dixie Chicks’ Wide Open Spaces (97,000); the Offspring’s Americana (95,000); and Everlast’s Whitey Ford Sings the Blues (76,000).