For your average VH1 fan, reading the news of what's happening on the album chart has to include at least one moment when a name comes up and you scratch your head and say "Who?" This week's fella we've never heard of is DJ Clue, whose
Backstage Mixtape crashes into a moribund chart at No. 6.
Like anybody with the word "Clue" in his or her name, the DJ has done a pretty good job of keeping himself a mystery. Clue originally marketed his mix tapes on the New York streets, which brought him to the attention of urban radio station WQHT (Hot 97). The DJ then signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label to carry on compiling, and the rest is chart history.
For Backstage Mixtape, Clue was faced with the challenge of mixing together songs used in Jay-Z's Backstage documentary, shot during the Hard Knock Life tour last year and recently released in theaters. We think he rose to the challenge.
"I think its important that I keep bringing the flava," Clue told Rap Pages, "because there are too many n*ggas that get on and fall right off because they start sleeping and they are not staying on point like they're supposed to. What happens is they start getting caught up in the hype and the limelight. They start going to parties thinking they the man."
Something for everybody there. And all it takes is the cliche "and something for everybody in this week's chart, too" to get us back to the top 10. No. 1 continues to belong to Nelly's Country Grammar, his St. Louis-flavored take on Southern bounce, which sold yet another 200,000 copies last week. That's down from the week before, when Grammar sold 213,000 units. Nelly, it should be remembered, is not a real grammarian.
After 16 weeks of release, Britney Spears is still at No. 2 with Oops! ... I Did It Again. Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP rounds out the top three. Creed are up one spot to No. 4 with their album Human Clay.
Unlike Nelly, Britney, and Eminem, Creed have actually seen an increase in their weekly sales, probably because the band is in the midst of a well-received tour. At No. 5 is the fourth volume of the Now That's What I Call Music collection of past top 40 hits.
3 Doors Down hold steady at No. 7, despite selling 5,000 fewer copies than they did last week. 'N Sync sold 13,000 fewer copies than the week before and slip from No. 6 to No. 8. At No. 9 is Papa Roach's Infest, whose album was bought by 2,000 fewer fans this week, and at No. 10 is the Coyote Ugly soundtrack. Despite the inclusion of cuts by Don Henley and EMF, Coyote Ugly is also this week's No. 1 country album.
Chicago rap crew Do or Die is a new entry at No. 13 with Victory. Classical warbling stages something of a comeback as former Hot Gossip dancer Sarah Brightman enters No. 16 with her album La Luna, while gospel has its day as Bebe Winans' Love and Freedom enters at No. 30. The MTV-inspired boy band 2gether debut at No. 26 with Again, proving there can never be too many Monkees.
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