Jack Johnson's <i>Sleep Through the Static</i>
Photo: Brushfire

It's an annual tradition, and probably one of the only reasons artists still bother showing up for the Grammys (well, that or the gift bag): the post-awards sales bump, which sends albums by nominees, winners and performers — and pretty much anyone who landed a few minutes of Grammy face time (if Jason Bateman had an album, it'd probably be sitting at #1 right now) — rocketing up the Billboard albums chart.

And this year was no exception. Because while Jack Johnson's Sleep Through the Static will retain its hold on the #1 spot on next week's chart, with sales of more than 179,500 copies, the rest of the Top 200 is stuffed with albums posting colossal Grammy-bump numbers, according to SoundScan data.

It all starts with the album sitting at #2, Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, which sold more than 115,300 copies (a 368 percent increase from the previous week's sales), thanks in no small part to the Beehived One's five Grammy wins — including Record and Song of the Year — and her high-profile, live-via-satellite performance.

Coming in at #3 is Alicia Keys' As I Am, which has taken up a permanent residence in the top 10 since being released in November, but still saw sales rise by 36 percent (more than 108,800 copies this week) after Keys' two Grammy performances and her win in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category. Following behind Keys is the 2008 Grammy Nominees compilation, which sold 72,400 copies, a 40 percent increase from the previous week.

Landing at #5 is the man who shocked pretty much everyone by taking home the Grammy for Album of the Year, Herbie Hancock, who saw sales of River: The Joni Letters top the 53,800 mark, an amazing 967 percent spike from the previous week. Clearly, winning has its privileges.

The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by the "Juno" soundtrack (more than 53,200 copies sold), Best New Artist nominee Taylor Swift's self-titled debut (52,100 copies), Sheryl Crow's Detours (51,700 copies), Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains (48,600 copies) and the soundtrack to "Step Up 2 the Streets" (more than 45,200 copies).

The post-Grammy mania continued outside the top 10 too. Daughtry didn't take home an award (going 0-4), but sales of their self-titled album still rose by more than 43 percent from the previous week, landing the "Idol" finalist and his band at #15 with about 38,200 copies sold. The Foo Fighters' Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace won a pair of Grammys (for Best Rock Album and Best Hard Rock Performance), and it sold more than 33,400 copies — a 160 percent increase — to land at #22.

Other winners and performers who experienced big-time sales bumps include Carrie Underwood (almost 30,000 copies of her Carnival Ride album, a 43 percent increase from the previous week); Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad (27,000 copies, a 60 percent increase); Kanye West's Graduation (more than 22,600 copies, a 74 percent increase); and Feist, who left the Grammys with just a slice of pizza but still sold almost 14,800 copies of The Reminder, a 70 percent increase from the previous week.

Aside from all the Grammy goings-on, next week's chart will also showcase a couple of debuts. Simple Plan's serious, self-titled disc sold more than 39,200 copies to open at #14. Jam-meisters Widespread Panic bow at #78 with their Free Somehow disc, and Natalie Grant's Relentless debuts at #81.

• Amy Winehouse
• Alicia Keys
• Jack Johnson
• Herbie Hancock
• Taylor Swift

Christina Aguilera
Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images

Sure, Christina Aguilera got married, collaborated with old hands Herbie Hancock and Andrea Bocelli and made an album she's called "retro," but the former Xtina still has a dirty side.

In fact, she's got a track on that new record with Nas called "Still Dirrty."

"It's part two of the one she did on the last album, but the beat is totally different," said DJ Premier, who produced several of the songs. "It's more jazz-sampled with these horn blasts."

Aside from previewing a few tracks on "TRL" recently, Aguilera has yet to say much about her new record, but according to its primary producers, fans should expect music that takes an innovative approach to honoring past eras.

"DJ Premier's half is very hip-hop with old samples, and then when my half of the album kicks in, all I can say is, just have a glass of wine and enjoy the ride," said Linda Perry, another producer on the disc. "It's a very mature, very risky album [of] old-school jazzy blues. You're gonna think that these songs were recorded and written back in 1940."

"It's called Back to Basics, and that's exactly what it sounds like, the whole album," Premier added.

Nas is the only guest on the record, according to Premier, but Outkast's Big Boi is recording a verse for the remix to the first single, "Ain't No Other Man." Aguilera is shooting a video for the song this weekend.

"It's pretty much about how her husband has stolen her from looking at anybody else, 'cause he's the one who did it for her," said Premier, who produced the track with Charles Roane. "And the record's real sassy, like an old Aretha [Franklin] 'Respect' kind of attitude. It's real raw and has breakbeats in it and everything, but it's chopped up and totally tailored to what she was trying to do [by] collaborating with me."

On Wednesday, Aguilera told Premier she was sore from learning the crazy choreography for the clip.

"The song is real, real fast, which is definitely different for me, 'cause I don't do real fast tempo," Premier said. "This thing is like 130 beats per minute, but it still sounds like hip-hop/ Christina."

Aguilera worked with Perry on 2002's Stripped but turned to Premier for the first time after hearing his jazz-influenced work with Gang Starr.

"I was surprised I got that call 'cause of our differences in the audiences we hit, but I'm always up for challenges and trying something new," Premier said. "She described what her album is about and then she sent me some CDs of what type of stuff's been inspiring her to make the record, and it happened to be a lot of stuff that I grew up on in the early '70s, 'cause I'm 40. Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Marvin Gaye, Esther Williams, all kinds of different things. Once I saw that's the vibe she wanted, I still had to make it sound like the way my beats thump and stuff but still give her the atmosphere she's trying to bring out on the singing side."

Premier used live instrumentation on some tracks and sampled old jazz records on others. On one tune, he sampled voice messages from fans left through Aguilera's Web site with one of her own classics.

"I had 'Genie in a Bottle' a cappella on vinyl, and I was scratching that, trying some things, and Christina walked in and was like, 'Yo, that's hot,' so we laid that down," Premier said. "That turned into a whole song called 'Thank You,' and I think it's the last song on the album."

Premier was only slated to do one or two tracks but ended up with five on the album, plus the intro. Perry also has several tracks, and Kwame, Mark Ronson and Big Tank, who does the music for "The Boondocks" cartoon, each contribute as well.

"She played me the stuff Linda Perry did, and everything was dope, totally opposite from what my music is, but when you put it all in the right sequence, it works," Premier said. "Her album is really, really well-rounded. She totally put it together right. And she was directing the whole thing. She knew what she wanted."

Perry, who has also been working with Courtney Love (see "Linda Perry Wants To Save 'Queen Of Rock And Roll' Courtney Love"), said Aguilera's marriage has matured her for the better (see "Christina Aguilera Marries Jordan Bratman").

"She's got a lot of wonderful things to say," Perry said. "It was really easy to be a part of the record, because she was so clear with her vision of the record and the ideas that she came with. All I did was sit and listen to her ideas and came up with a way to record it."

Christina has called the album gritty and raw (see "Christina Aguilera Finishing 'Raw' LP, Waiting For Perfect Film Role"), but Perry said fans of her angelic voice need not worry.

"People thought she could sing before — well, you haven't heard anything yet," Perry said. "But it's definitely a risky record. It's not Stripped at all. ... She's completely in a different space."

Perry has one mix left but said the album is otherwise done. Aguilera's spokesperson said to expect a late summer/ early fall release.

• Christina Aguilera: "Dirrty" Girl To Married Woman

• Christina Aguilera
• Herbie Hancock
• Andrea Bocelli
• DJ Premier
• Linda Perry

Name: X-ecutioners

Mixtape: Scratchology

Hometown: New York, New York

Joints to check for: "Ugly People Be Quiet," "Like This (Full & Fresh)" and "Product of the Environment (Remix)"

Previous mixtapes: Although this is their first mixtape, the turntablists have released a bevy of albums, including Built From Scratch and X-ercise.

The 411: In the era of exclusives, some hip-hop purists complain that you don't have to have real skills on the 1s and 2s to make street-savvy mixtapes. And while DJs who only use DATs and CDs may serve as evidence for their criticism, there are still some turntabilists who make their compilations the traditional way — with wax.

The X-ecutioners built a reputation for being one of the most adept crews on the wheels of steel with such projects as 2002's Built From Scratch and their stint on Eminem's Anger Management Tour last summer. However, the three-man collective of Rob Swift, Roc Raida and Total Eclipse (Mr. Sinista has left the group) have actually been doing their thing together since 1989. And their love of the art goes back even further. On Scratchology, they not only compiled records to show which artists inspired them, but they also set out to school the masses on hip-hop history.

"The CD was something that I personally wanted to do for a couple of years, but I didn't want to make a CD that would only reach that underground market," said Rob Swift, explaining why the group opted to release its mixtape on Sequence Records rather than just giving it to the streets. "Scratchology is a way to explain that scratching isn't something that came about in the last five years. Scratching and the DJ, [they] helped launch hip-hop.

"There's basically three periods of scratching," he continued. "There's the genesis with Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc and guys like DXT. Then there's the middle school with people like [DJ] Cash Money and Pete Rock. They basically helped the art grow from where it was invented. Then you have today's [scratchers], [people] like the X-ecutioners and Mix Master Mike. We just played music that reflected those three eras [on our mixtape]."

Some of the cuts that serve as a musical history lesson are "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel," where the DJ legend cuts up such records as Chic's "Good Times." From there, the New York troupe reintroduce Herbie Hancock's '80s dance hit, "Rock It." Midway through the mixtape, the X-ecutioners take a more hands-on approach, actually adding their own scratches to the Pete Rock remix of Public Enemy's "Shut 'Em Down" and Gang Starr's "DJ Premier in Deep Concentration."

Another track starring Primo is also featured later as the mixtape comes to a close. Built From Scratch's "Premier's X-ecution," which features an original beat by the producer/DJ along with Roc Raida's "I'll Kick Ya Ass," are among the tracks on the disc's finale.

"Some of the early songs we played in their original form, like [the track by] Grandmaster Flash and 'Rock It,' " Swift explained. "A lot of people were hearing these songs for the first time. I wanted people to really hear the song in its proper context and see how [the art] has grown. Later on in the CD we started to do more manipulating on records because people are more familiar with those cuts."

And while familiarity is always good, the X-ecutioners say they want more people to become more familiar with them on their next album. Swift and the rest of the gang, who are currently in the lab, said that they are about halfway done, but so far no guest collaborations have been made.

"Right now we're really trying to make a strong effort to do songs that are a 100 percent reflective of the X-ecutioners," he said. "We felt it was important to show people we can stand on our own two feet, but mad respect to everybody like Linkin Park and M.O.P. who were on our last album."

Although Swift says Linkin's Mike Shinoda probably won't rhyme on their new project, he did say there was a possibility that they would get a beat from him. Swift estimated the new album should drop no later than January 2004.

For you mixtape junkies that prefer to hit up your favorite local bootlegger rather than go to a store, there are several selections that just arrived this past weekend, one of which comes courtesy of the Roc. The key word here is "sequel": DJ Clue just released Desert Storm 2 in conjunction with Jay-Z. S. Carter has several freestyles on the mixtape, while his estranged homegirl Foxy Brown is featured via "Why You Hating." Also DJs Kay Slay and Big Mike follow up their joint Racial Profiling effort from a couple of weeks ago with a part 2 as well. 50 Cent, Scarface and the LOX's Styles team up for "Most Hated" and Fox Boogie pops up again, with yet another street offering on "Why, Why, Why."

For a full-length feature on mixtape culture and the role of mixtapes in making a rapper's career, check out "Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."

For other artists featured in Mixtape Mondays, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines.

• The X-Ecutioners
• Jay-Z
• DJ Clue
• Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
• Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock's <I>Future 2 Future</i>
Photo: Sony

Herbie Hancock, a jazz keyboardist consistently ahead of his time, continues his forward thinking on his new album, Future 2 Future.

With saxophonist Wayne Shorter, electric bassist Bill Laswell (who also produced the album) and acoustic bassist Charnett Moffatt rounding out Hancock's ensemble; guest DJs Rob Swift, A Guy Called Gerald, Carl Craig and DXT providing the cutting edge; and Chaka Khan and Imani Uzuri adding classically soulful vocals, Future 2 Future seamlessly bridges the gaps between electronica, cool jazz, hip-hop and funk. The set is scheduled for release September 25, according to Hancock's publicist.

Future 2 Future marks the first time Hancock and Laswell have collaborated since 1983's scratch-loaded "Rockit," which earned a Grammy award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. The project stands as Hancock's first contemporary jazz project since his 1995 fusion album Dis Is Da Drum. Additional cameos are made by spoken-word poet Dana Bryant and drummers Jack DeJohnette, Karsh Kale, and the late Tony Williams, with whom Hancock played in the Miles Davis Quintet of the mid-'60s.

While Hancock is scheduled to tour in the fall with tenor-saxophonist Michael Brecker and trumpet player Roy Hargrove, a jaunt to support Future 2 Future is being planned for 2002, his publicist said.

Hancock, who began his musical career with 1962's Takin' Off, joined Miles Davis' group a year later, remaining with the innovative trumpeter for the next five years. Davis became Hancock's mentor, and the pair equally influenced each other's progression throughout their residency together. After leaving the Davis group, Hancock fully immersed himself in synthesized funk, recording albums with his own group and forming the Head Hunters in 1973. However, unlike Davis — who never looked back once he forged into fusion — Hancock periodically returned to his conventional jazz roots.

Hancock's last album of new material was 1998's Gershwin's World, an LP featuring the songs of composer George Gershwin interpreted by Hancock and a slew of collaborators, including Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder and pianist Chick Corea.

• Herbie Hancock
• Chaka Khan
• Carl Craig

The first day of this weekend's two-day Tibetan Freedom Concert was silenced at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern time when a bolt of lightning struck the field at the show's venue, injuring a number of fans.

This year's concert in Washington, D.C., the third annual edition of the event, was halted about four hours after it started when the heavy rain that had been falling on RFK Stadium gave way to lightning. The bolt came during a performance by Herbie Hancock and Gang Starr's Guru, and left a handful of fans injured.

"As far as we know there's one person who's in stable condition, and the other people are alright," Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, one of the event's organizers, told MTV News. "Three people got struck by lightning, or one person was struck and the other two were nearby or affected, maybe touching a pole, and when they came to treat the people, one person got up and walked away and the other two were taken to the hospital."

After the lightning strike, show organizers halted the show, and requested that the 60,000 ticketholders on hand evacuate the venue. At the time of the incident, fans had already seen sets from Money Mark, the Dave Matthews Band, KRS-One, and Live. Show organizers said that they hoped to reschedule the performers who were slated for Saturday but who were preempted by the lightning, including Sonic Youth, Tracy Chapman, R.E.M., Beck, and Radiohead. Organizers hoped to bring those acts to the stage during Sunday's portion of the two-day concert, but noted that some of the groups have scheduling conflicts that make such a move unlikely for them.

Yauch seemed optimistic that, weather permitting, the second day of the concert would go on as planned. "As far as we know, as long as the weather is fine, I guess we are going to go on with the show tomorrow," Yauch told MTV News.

• Herbie Hancock
• Guru
• Adam Yauch

2008 Grammy Award Nominees: Akon, Fergie, T.I., More

• Akon
• Amy Winehouse
• Jay-Z
• Christina Aguilera
• Justin Timberlake