Charts: Shaggy stays at No. 1, just ahead of WWF album
update: For the fourth week straight, Shaggy ’s “Hotshot” (MCA) has topped the album chart, according to industry sources. Meanwhile, the latest WWF-themed compilation album--“WWF: The Music Vol. 5” (Koch)--roars onto the charts at No. 2.
“Hotshot,” the sophomore release from R&B-reggae artist Shaggy, has sold nearly 3 million copies since its release last August. The album has two hit singles riding the charts right now: “Angel” and “It Wasn’t Me,” which are at Nos. 3 and 6, respectively, on Billboard’s latest Hot 100 Airplay chart.
“WWF: The Music Vol. 5” features 14 theme songs used by different WWF wrestlers. “Pie,” the album’s final track, features well-known wrestler the Rock collaborating on his own theme song with hip-hop artist Slick Rick.
The new WWF disc has already been certified gold, and is on track to outsell 1999’s “WWF: The Music Vol. 4,” according to a joint WWF-Koch Records press release.
The No. 2 debut from the WWF album pushes the Beatles' highly successful “1” (Capitol) compilation down a notch to No. 3 this week.
Up to No. 4 from No. 6 last week is Dido ’s “No Angel” (Arista), featuring the hit-single “Thank You.” Released in June of 1999, “No Angel” has surged in recent weeks thanks to Eminem’s sampling of “Thank You” in his hit “Stan.”
The soundtrack from “Save the Last Dance” (Hollywood) drops two spots this week to No. 5 this week, and is followed at No. 6 by Jennifer Lopez’s sophomore release, “J. Lo,” which is down one spot from last week.
Staying put at No. 7 for a third week in a row is Lenny Kravitz’s “Greatest Hits” (Virgin), which features 14 of his previously released hits and the new single “Again.” The song is at No. 1 on trade publication Radio & Records’ latest pop national airplay chart.
Rounding out the Top 10--and all unmoved for the second week straight--are Ja Rule ’s “Rule 3:36” (Def Jam), Crazy Town’s “Gift of Game” (Columbia) and Ludacris’ “Back for the First Time” (Def Jam).
Grammy aftermath
Last week’s Grammy awards, while not enough to propel any newcomers into this week’s Top 10, did manage to give a significant boost to a number of last year's releases.
Landing just outside of the Top 10 is U2’s latest, “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” (Interscope), which surges up from No. 35 last week to No. 11 this week. The group won awards in the Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal categories for its recent hit "Beautiful Day," a song that the group also performed during the ceremony.
Right behind U2 at No. 12--up from No. 25 last week--is the “Grammy Nominees 2001” (Capitol) compilation, which features “Beautiful Day” and a number of other award-nominated songs from artists such as Macy Gray (“I Try”), Destiny’s Child (“Say My Name”) and Eminem (“The Real Slim Shady”).
Eminem himself, meanwhile, sees the buzz surrounding his multiple nominations and duet with Elton John transfer into album sales: the rapper’s “The Marshall Mathers” LP leaps from No. 62 to No. 32 this week.
Techno artist Moby, who performed at the Grammys with theater act Blue Man Group, sees his latest, “Play” (V2), jump from No. 57 last week to No. 40. Destiny’s Child’s performance garnered the trio similar results, with “The Writing’s on the Wall” making a one-week leap from No. 66 to No. 46.
And getting the biggest exponential boost from its Grammy win is Steely Dan ’s “Two Against Nature” (Warner Bros.), which returns to the Top 200 album chart at No. 54. Sales of the album increased from just under 4,000 copies in the one-week period before the Grammys to just over 30,000 copies last week. The album has sold over 830,000 copies to date.
“Two Against Nature”--Steely Dan’s first album in 19 years--beat out competition from Beck ("Midnite Vultures"), Eminem ("The Marshall Mathers LP"), Radiohead (“Kid A”) and Paul Simon (“You’re the One”) to take the Album of the Year award. The disc debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart following its release last March, and ducked out at No. 184 last August.
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