Murphy Lee

Murphy Lee Arrested On Drug Charges

9 Nov 2004 10:16:00 EST

MC was pulled over for expired license plate.
By Alyssa Rashbaum

Murphy Lee's mug shot
Photo: St. Louis Sheriff's Department

Murphy Lee was arrested on Halloween on charges of drug possession and driving under the influence of drugs.

The rapper and St. Lunatics member had been pulled over on October 31 near St. Louis for an expired license plate when police found marijuana in his Mercedes, according to The Associated Press.

Lee was arrested for possessing less than 35 grams of marijuana and driving under the influence of drugs after Sheriff's deputies allegedly smelled marijuana in his car. He is expected to appear in court next month.

An attorney for Lee, born Tohri Harper, told the AP that the rapper expects to plead not guilty.

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Murphy Lee

Outkast: Two Men, Two Discs, Two Weeks At The Top

8 Oct 2003 02:35:00 EDT

Double album spends second week at #1 on Billboard albums chart.
By Joe D'Angelo

Outkast
Photo: Arista

Deuces are wild for Outkast. The duo's new double album will top the Billboard albums chart for the second week in a row.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below sold more than 234,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan, to retain its #1 status. The seven-day sum is just less than half the amount the Atlanta artists' fifth album moved the week before.

The last album to spend back-to-back weeks on top was the "Bad Boys II" soundtrack. Propelled by the P. Diddy/ Nelly/ Murphy Lee collaboration, "Shake Ya Tailfeather," the LP perched above all others for four consecutive weeks in August.

Speaking of Bad Boys, Babs, Ness, the reality TV ham formerly known as Chopper (now called Young City) and the rest of Bad Boy's Da Band will place second with their debut, Too Hot for TV. On the heels of the single "Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That," the "Making the Band II" rendering sold more than 203,000 copies.

The heavenly sounds of Sting and Dido will assume the #3 and #4 positions, respectively. Sacred Love, by the former Police frontman, sold more than 194,000, while British chanteuse Dido prolonged the buzz generated by Eminem's use of her "Thank You" on his "Stan" to sell more than 191,000 copies of her second album, Life for Rent.

As a testament to the staying power of the big albums that appeared on the previous chart, six of the seven LPs that debuted in last week's top 10 will remain there. Last week's first runner-up, Dave Matthews' first solo album, Some Devil, will fall three spots to #5 (more than 154,000 copies sold); Limp Bizkit's Results May Vary will dip equidistantly to #6 (126,000); R. Kelly's best-of set, The R. in R&B Collection Vol. 1, will slip four places to #8 (117,000); Nickelback's fourth album, The Long Road, will slide three spots to #9 (102,000); and Obie Trice can continue raising his glass to Cheers, which will fall by five to #10 (96,000).

Murphy Lee's Murphy's Law, the only album that couldn't sustain top-10 placement, will drop 12 spots to #20.

Country superstar Martina McBride's sixth album, Martina, will round out next week's top 10 at #7 by selling more than 122,000 copies in its first week.

Notable debuts on next week's chart include Latin metalheads Ill Nino's second album, Confession, at #37; quirky country crooner Lyle Lovett's first studio album in five years, My Baby Don't Tolerate, at #63; the retrospective by electronica pioneers the Chemical Brothers, Singles 1993-03, at #123; and the soundtrack to the Jack Black flick "School of Rock," featuring contributions from the Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin and the Ramones, at #166.

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Outkast Win Hotly Contested #1 Chart Slot

1 Oct 2003 02:46:00 EDT

Dave Matthews lands at #2, Limp Bizkit take #3.
By Joe D'Angelo

Outkast
Photo: LaFace

In a week that will see more than two dozen new releases enter the Billboard albums chart, eight of them in the top 10, Outkast were able to outwit, outplay and outsell every other artist to place at #1.

The Atlanta duo moved more than 509,000 copies of their double album, Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below, according to SoundScan, to best the closest competition, Dave Matthews' Some Devil, by 40,000 copies.

Results May Vary proved an appropriate title for Limp Bizkit, whose latest album will be their first not to land at #1 since their debut, Three Dollar Bill, Yall$, was released in 1997. Instead, Fred Durst and company's fourth studio album sold more than 325,000 in its first week to come in at #3.

Slick R&B wonder R. Kelly will take the #4 spot with his modestly titled greatest-hits set, The R. in R&B Collection Vol. 1. The 23-track LP, featuring the current hit single "Thoia Thoing" and remixes of previous singles "Ignition" and "Fiesta," sold over a quarter-of-a-million copies.

Whether folks relate to his dental homage "Got Some Teeth" or they're just hoping to score one of those "golden tickets" packaged inside the album that permits a visit to Eminem's studio, Obie Trice doesn't mind. Either way, the Detroit rapper can raise a glass to the fact that Cheers sold more than 225,000 copies to take the #5 spot.

The Long Road is also an apt description for Nickelback's latest as it tries to measure up to the Vancouver band's previous album, Silver Side Up, which sold more than 4.7 million. Judging by their fourth album's first-week sales of 200,000, the Kroeger brothers' band seems to be driving in the fast lane toward that mark.

Capping off next week's top 10 debuts is St. Lunatic Murphy Lee's solo debut, Murphy's Law. Boasting contributions from Lunatics ringleader Nelly, Jazze Pha, Lil Jon and Jermaine Dupri, as well as a reprise of "Shake Ya Tailfeather," Lee's collaboration with Nelly and P. Diddy, the LP will lay down the law at #8, having sold more than 134,000 copies.

There has yet to be a week this year to pack such a powerful top-10 punch. The last album to bust the half-million mark was Linkin Park's Meteora in March, which sold more than 810,000 then. Every album currently in the top bracket sold in the six figures, and the top four alone sold more than 1.5 million copies. While that is impressive by today's standards, each artist's first-week total falls short of figures in years past.

Outkast's last album, 2000's Stankonia, sold more than 557,000 its first week out. Given some allowance that Some Devil is a Matthews solo affair, the last Dave Matthews Band album, 2002's Busted Stuff, moved more than 621,000 copies. Limp Bizkit get credited with the biggest drop-off; their 2000 LP, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water sold over a million copies the week it was released. And R. Kelly's Chocolate Factory, released in February, sold more than double the copies of this greatest-hits set.

Burning, downloading, exorbitant pricing, a lack of quality ... whatever the cause, the effect of the music industry's slumping sales has never been more evident.

The remainder of next week's top 10 finds last week's #1 album, DMX's Grand Champ, falling six spots to #7 (150,000); John Mayer's Heavier Things slipping five spots to #9 (122,000) after three weeks; and Hilary Duff's Metamorphosis dropping five places to #10 (117,000).

Rob Zombie's best-of collection, Past, Present & Future, which compiles faves from ex-group White Zombie and his solo days, sold more than 94,000 copies to place at #11. Four spots later, Fuel's Natural Selection, the band's follow-up to 2000's Something Like Human, comes in after selling more than 70,000 copies.

Other notable debuts on next week's chart include R&B crooner Anthony Hamilton's Comin' From Where I'm From at #33; The Best of Pantera - Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits at #38; Baby Bash's Tha Smokin' Nephew at #48; Elvis Costello's classically influenced 20th album, North, at #57; Rufus Wainwright's Want One at #60; Vertical Horizon's fourth album, Go, at #61; Meat Loaf's first studio album in eight years, Couldn't Have Said It Better, at #85; Def Jux rapper Aesop Rock's Bazooka Tooth at #112; jam band the String Cheese Incident's Untying the Not at #157; and the self-titled debut by the Fire Theft, composed of former members of Sunny Day Real Estate, at #198.

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New Releases: Outkast, Limp Bizkit, Dave Matthews, Nickelback, Obie Trice, R. Kelly, Fuel, Murphy Lee & More

22 Sep 2003 09:01:00 EDT

Outkast
Photo: Arista

Three or maybe four releases will duke it out for the top spot on next week's Billboard albums chart, and there's a good shot that two albums will be #1.

We're not predicting a two-way tie here — we're just saying that Outkast's new double CD, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, is like two different records, each the brainchild of one-half of the group's creative team. Andre 3000's disc bubbles with jazz, funk and R&B styles, while Big Boi's record is more spacey and experimental.

Also in contention for the #1 position is Limp Bizkit's first outing in three years, Results May Vary. Created with new guitarist Mike Smith, the disc showcases a more eclectic and emotionally varied band than the one that issued Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water in 2000 and reveals such influences as Jane's Addiction, Metallica, the Beastie Boys and the Fat Boys.

And don't count out Dave Matthews, whose last Dave Matthews Band album, Busted Stuff, was #1 in July 2002. His first solo album, Some Devil, comes with devout fan support, and four songs feature Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, which should help draw another element of the jam-band community.

Nickelback return to the fray with The Long Road, a more hard-rocking effort than their multiplatinum 2001 disc, Silver Side Up, but one filled with enough radio-ready riffs to blow up just as big. And look for Fuel's third major-label LP, Natural Selection, which features such commercial rock songs as "Quarter," "These Things" and "Falls on Me."

Those hungering for a chance to hang out in the studio and ride the great glass elevator with Eminem will probably boost sales of Obie Trice's debut, Cheers. Three Willy Wonka-style "golden tickets," which offer access to Em's world, will be included in the first 500,000 pressings.

The first soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies, Kill Bill Volume 1, features music by Wu-Tang Clan member RZA and cuts by Isaac Hayes, Quincy Jones and Zamfir, master of the pan flute. R. Kelly's The R in R&B Collection, Volume 1 features 24 of Kelly's sultry singles and should sound great with the lights turned low.

On the fringier side of things, inventive electronic duo Matmos return with their fifth offering, The Civil War, which manipulates samples of classical instrumentation and unconventional beats into a sound collage about the struggle of war.

Here's what else will be battling for your hard-earned dollars:

Out Tuesday, September 23:

4 Rebels - 4 Rebels Volume 2 (Sanctuary/Ras)
Aim of Conrad - Whiskey Slowboat (Iodine)
Alexkid - Mint ([PIAS])
Atmosphere - Seven's Travels (Epitaph)
Baby Bash - The Smokin' Nephew (Universal)
Bangles - Doll Revolution (Koch)
Christopher Beck - "Under the Tuscan Sun" original score (Hollywood)
Bile - Sex Reflex (Invisible)
BK- Klub Kollaborations (MRI/Nukleuz)
Ron Blake - Lest We Forget (Mack Avenue)
Bleeding Through - This Is Love, This Is Murderous (Trustkill)
Blood Drained Cows - 13 (Triple X)
Capercaillie - Choice Language (Sanctuary)
Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll (Century Media)
Elvis Costello - North (Deutsche Grammophon)
Darediablo - Feeding Frenzy (Southern)
Steve Earle - Just an American Boy — The Audio Documentary (Artemis)
Gloria Estefan - Unwrapped
The Fixx - Want That Life (Rainman)
Fuel - Natural Selection (Epic)
Buy Now: Natural Selection (Epic)
Give up the Ghost - We're Down Til We're Underground (Equal Vision)
Grimfist - Ghouls of Grandeur (Candlelight)
Anthony Hamilton - Comin' From Where I'm From (Arista)
Emmylou Harris - Stumble Into Grace (Nonesuch)
Joe Henry - Tiny Voices (Anti)
Eddie Izzard - Circle (Anti/Epitaph)
Jet by Day - Cascadia (Kindercore)
R. Kelly - The R in R&B Collection, Volume 1 (Jive)
Kennedys - Stand (Koch)
King Creosote - Kenny and Beth's Musakal Boat Rides (Domino)
KMFDM - WWIII (Sanctuary)
Laguardia - Welcome to the Middle (Universal)
Latif - Love in the First (Motown)
Lawrence Arms - The Greatest Story Ever Told (Fat Wreck Chords)
Leaves - Breathe (DreamWorks)
Murphy Lee - Murphy's Law (Universal)
Buy Now: Murphy's Law (Universal)
Limp Bizkit - Results May Vary (Flip/Interscope)
Read: "All Up In Limp Bizkit's Bizness"
Buy Now: Results May Vary (Flip/Interscope)
Love - The Forever Changes Concert (Snapper)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Vicious Cycle (Sanctuary)
April March - Triggers ([PIAS])
Matchbook Romance - Stories and Alibis (Epitaph)
Matmos - The Civil War (Matador)
Dave Matthews - Some Devil (RCA)
Read: "Dave Matthews Digs Up A Video For His First Solo Single"
Buy Now: Some Devil (RCA)
Mavericks - The Mavericks (Sanctuary)
Meat Loaf - Couldn't Have Said It Better (Sanctuary)
Mnemic - Mechanical Spin Phenomena (Nuclear Blast)
Mojave 3 - Spoon and Rafter (4AD)
Nebula - Atomic Ritual (Liquor & Poker)
Nickelback - The Long Road (Roadrunner)
Read: "Upcoming Nickelback LP Seems Aimed At Shedding Pop Image"
Buy Now: The Long Road (Roadrunner)
Obie Trice - Cheers (Shady/Interscope)
Read: "Dr. Dre Cuts Down Ja Rule On New Obie Trice Track"
Buy Now: Cheers (Shady/Interscope)
Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (LaFace/Arista)
Read: "Outkast Album Preview: From The Whole World To The Entire Universe"
Buy Now: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (LaFace/Arista)
Peaches - Fatherf---er (XL/Beggars Banquet)
Pissing Razors - Evolution (Spitfire)
Place of Skulls - With Vision (Southern Lord)
Polmo Polpo - Like Hearts Swelling (Constellation)
Matthew Ryan - Regret Over the Wires (Hybrid)
Six Feet Under - Bringer of Blood (Metal Blade)
Stellastarr - Stellastarr (RCA)
Read: "You Hear It First: Stellastarr*'s Art School Old School"
Street Dogs - Savin Hill (Crosscheck)
Streetwalkin' Cheetahs - Gainesville (Triple X)
The String Cheese Incident - Untying the Not (Sci Fidelity)
Rosie Thomas - Only With Laughter Can You Win (Sub Pop)
Billy Bob Thornton - The Edge of the World (Sanctuary)
Toilet Boys - Live in London (Morpheus)
Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players - Vintage Slide Collections from Seattle, Vol. 1 (Bar/None)
Trailer Bride - Hope Is a Thing With Feathers (Bloodshot)
T.S.O.L. - Divided We Stand (Nitro)
Vertical Horizon - Go (RCA)
Read: "Vertical Horizon Aiming For Imperfection On New Album, Go"
Buy Now: Go (RCA)
Rufus Wainwright - Want One (DreamWorks)
Various artists - Atomic Funk (Razor & Tie)
Various artists - Bonnaroo South (two CDs, Sanctuary)
Various artists - "Casa de los Babys" soundtrack (Hybrid)
Various artists - Charmed: The Soundtrack (RCA Victor/AAL)
Various artists - Cool December (Shout! Factory)
Various artists - Desert Sessions Vol. 9 & 10 (Ipecac)
Various artists - Global Indie Club Pop (Eenie Meenie)
Various artists - Kill Bill Volume 1 (Maverick)
Read: "RZA, Isaac Hayes, Nancy Sinatra Help Tarantino 'Kill Bill'"
Various artists - Lost Highway: Lost & Found Volume 1 (Lost Highway)
Various artists - Strictly Dancehall 4 and Strictly Reggae 4 (Jamdown)
Various artists - A Tribute to Godsmack (Tributized)
Various artists - Yulesville (Shout! Factory)
Various artists - "Veronica Guerin" soundtrack (Hollywood)
DVD: Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas - "The Long Road to Cabo" (Sanctuary)
DVD: Nickelback - "The Videos" (Roadrunner)
DVD: Pretenders - "Loose in L.A." (Eagle Vision)
DVD: Justin Timberlake - "Justified: The Videos" (Jive)
Read: "Justin's Videos, Live Show Collected On Two New DVDs"
DVD: Toto - "25th Anniversary: Live in Amsterdam" (Eagle Vision)
DVD: Various artists - "Hellfest 2003" (Sanctuary)