Ice Cube
Photo: MGM

Pretty soon you'll be seeing each of them with one hand raised and their middle fingers twisted around their ring fingers — Ice Cube, Mack 10 and WC are ready to ride as Westside Connection again.

The three put out the song "It's the Holidaze" last year and "Lights Out" this year, and they've consistently appeared on each other's solo projects and have even toured together, but only recently did they officially reform to record a follow-up to 1996's Bow Down. According to their spokesperson, Cube, Mack and Dub C are already eight songs deep into the recording process for what they're calling Terrorist Threat, expected out in October.

Cube's lyrical hoo-banging with his Cali brethren won't be his only focus this summer. Aside from his own solo album that he's been working on with Dr. Dre (see "Dr. Dre To Produce Next Ice Cube Record"), the frosty filmmaker has signed on for "Barbershop 2" and begins shooting the sequel next month in Chicago, according to his spokesperson.

Cube has an abundance of other movie projects forthcoming, but the next time we'll see him on the silver screen will be in January, when his bike thriller, "Torque," opens (see "Ice Cube Switching From Barber To Biker For Next Flick").

• Westside Connection
• Ice Cube
• Mack 10
• W.C.

If you like being serenaded by young men, then listen up. This is the week for you.

First up in the nubile batch is Mario, the older-lady-killer who sings about his penchant on "Just a Friend" and "What Your Name Is." Next, B2K joins the growing rank of artists cashing in on the remix craze. Their offering to the genre, B2K: The Remixes Vol. 1, finds the boys re-imagining songs such as "Uh Huh" and "Gots Ta Be" and gives fans extra tracks like "Back Up." The last of the group is Cash Money kid Lil' Wayne, whose 500 Degreez hits shelves Tuesday (July 23) as well.

This new crop of teen dreams wouldn't be where they are today without Boyz II Men paving the way. The guys, who are officially on the "men" side of things these days, also have a new album out called Full Circle. See how nicely that works?

Turning our attention away from bare-chested boys for a moment: Look out for new albums from Public Enemy (Revolverlution) Toby Keith (Unleashed) and hall-of-famer Solomon Burke (Don't Give Up on Me) plus a mix offering from the Crystal Method (Community Service).

Out Tuesday, July 23:

• 32 Frames - 32 Frames (Revelation)
• Aquanote - The Pearl (Naked Music/ Astralwerks)
• B2K - B2K: The Remixes Vol. 1 (Epic)
• Boyz II Men - Full Circle (Arista)
• Solomon Burke - Don't Give Up on Me (Fat Possum)
   Read: "Dylan, Waits, Costello Help Soul Legend Regain His Throne"
• Cool Dre - Keep it Real (Zion)
• Crystal Method - Community Service (Ultra)
• Deathray - Deathray (Doppler)
• Deep Side - Deep Side (Spy/ Brunswick)
• DJ Magic Mike - Bootyz in Motion Vol. 2 (Downlow)
• DJ Micro - (Moonshine)
• DJ Tiesto - In Search of Sunrise Vol. 3 (Black Hole)
• Dog Fashion Disco - Anarchists of Good Taste (Spitfire)
• Forsaken - Arts of Desolation (Century Media)
• Fourplay - Heartfelt (Bluebird)
• Christophe Goze - Show Me the Way (Bar de Lune)
• Hate - Cain's Way (World War III)
• Haystak - The Natural (In the Paint/ Koch)
• J-Zone - Pimps Don't Pay Taxes (Fat Beats/ Razor & Tie)
• John Butler Trio - Three (ATO)
• KHM - Game (Number 6)
• Toby Keith - Unleashed (DreamWorks Nashville)
• King's Evil - Deletion of Humanoise (Crash)
• Kotipelto - Waiting for the Dawn (Century Media)
• Legit Ballaz - Respect of the Game Vol. 3 (AMC)
• Lil' Wayne - 500 Degreez (Universal)
   Read:
• Mack 10 - Presents Da Hood (Hoo Bangin)
• Malevolent Creation - Envenomed II (Artic/ Crash)
• Mario - Mario (J)
   Read: "Mario Loves Older Women, Gets Help Talking To Them From Biz Markie"
   Buy Now: Mario (J)
  
• Micro - Music Through Me (Moonshine)
• Midwest Product - Specifics (Ghostly Int'l)
• Mr. Keal - Opposite of Hate (AMC)
• Murder Squad - Unsane, Insane & Mentally Deranged (Crash)
• Joe Nichols - Man with a Memory (Universal South)
• Mark Olson & the Creekdippers - December's Child (DualTone)
• Opeth - Blackwater Park (Koch)
• Shuggie Otis - In Session: Great Rhythm & Blues (Cleopatra)
• Jimmy Page - Bury the Axe (Dressed to Kill)
• Stephen Pearcy - Social Intercourse (Triple X)
• Places to Park - Better Sights Were Set (Volcom)
• Planet X - Moon Babies (Inside Out)
• Public Enemy - Revolverlution (Slam Jamz/ Koch)
   Read:
• Rakoth - Planeshift (Earache)
• RJD2 - Dead Ringer (Def Jux)
• Safety in Numbers - Build & Structure (Triple Crown)
• Scion - Arrange and Process Basic Channel Tricks (EFA-CAR)
• Skirts - Smashing the Sky (Blackliner)
• Stranglers - Early Years: Rare & Unreleased (Castle America)
• Subterranean Source - Vivid Circles (Release)
• Thirstin Howl III - Skilligan's Island (Landspeed)
• John Travolta - Saturday Night Fiction (Dressed to Kill)
• Trust Company - The Lonely Position of Neutral (Geffen)
   Read: "Trust Company's Debut Video Blows"
• Unknown Ghosts - Transfer at Dub (Invisible)
• Uriah Heep - Lansdowne Tapes (Castle America)
• Various artists - Abstract Sessions (Thump)
• Various artists - Backstock: Compiled and Mixed by John Tejada (Urabon)
• Various artists - BPM Magazine Presents: That Club Mix (Moonshine)
• Various artists – "The Country Bears" soundtrack (Walt Disney)
   Read: "Country Jamboree Movie: 'Almost Famous,' But With Bears"
• Various artists - Dance Alliance (Dance Alliance)
• Various artists - Dance Hits USA (Radikal)
• Various artists - Don't Be Scared Vol. 2 (Fearless)
• Various artists - Earth and Bass (Triloka)
• Various artists – "Eight Legged Freaks" soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)
• Various artists - Essential Rave (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Faith No More: Tribute of the Year (Underground Inc.)
• Various artists - Fat Beats Vol. 2 (Fat Beats)
• Various artists - Feed Your Ears (Fueled by Ramen)
• Various artists – "Frontier House" soundtrack (Pacific Time)
• Various artists - How We Rock (Burning Heart/ Epitaph)
• Various artists - In the Pocket: A Taste of Blues Harmonica (Telarc)
• Various artists – "The Master of Disguise" soundtrack (Music World/ Sony Soundtrax)
• Various artists – "Monsoon Wedding" score (Milan)
• Various artists - Monsta Jamz (Razor & Tie)
• Various artists - Plastic Vol. 6 (Nettwerk America)
• Various artists - Radikal Techno Vol. 6 (Radikal)
• Various artists – "Reign of Fire" soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)
• Various artists - Sonar 2002 (Milan)
• Various artists – "Son's Room" soundtrack (Pacific Time)
• Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Pink Floyd (Vitamin)
• Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to the Who's Tommy (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Touch Tones (Tummy Touch)
• Various artists - Trance Essentials Vol. 1 (UBL)
• Various artists - Tribute to Garbage (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to Linkin Park (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to Slayer: Post Mortem (Dwell)
• Various artists – "Wendigo" soundtrack (Pacific Time)
• Voodou - Blessing of Curses (Underground Inc.)
• Waifs - Sink or Swim (ATO)
• Joe Louis Walker - In the Morning (Telarc)
• Without Face - Astronomicon (Earache)
• John Zorn - Filmworks XI: Under the Wing (Tzadik)

• Filter - The Amalgamut (Reprise)
• Lamya - Learning From Falling (J)
   Read: "You Hear It First: Lamya"
• Linkin Park - Reanimation (Warner Bros.)
   Read:
   Buy Now: Reanimation (Warner Bros.)
  
• Beth Orton - Daybreaker (Astralwerks)
   Read:
• Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - The Rising (Columbia)
   Read: "Springsteen, E Street Band On The Rise After 18 Years"
   Buy Now: The Rising (Columbia)
  
• Various artists - "Topdog/Underdog" soundtrack (MCA)
   Read: "Jay-Z, DMX, Wu-Tang, Mos Def Bone Up 'Topdog/Underdog' LP"

• Eve - Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
   Read: "Eve, Alicia Keys Team Up For Some 'Gangsta Love' "
   Buy Now: Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
  
• Trick Daddy - Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Trick Daddy Celebrating Thug Holiday In August"
   Buy Now: Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
  

• Lady May - May Day (Arista)
   Read: "Lady May: Savage Hip-Hop Straight From the Suburbs"
• Murderdolls - Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."

• Erykah Badu - TBD (EP, Motown)
• BBMak - Into Your Head (Hollywood)
• The Black Crowes - The Black Crowes Live (V2)
• Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (Nettwerk/ Capitol)
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene (EP, Epitaph)
• Dixie Chicks - Home (Open Wide/ Monument/ Columbia)
• Gus Gus - Attention (Moonshine)
• Aimee Mann - Lost in Space (Superego)
• Ms. Jade - Girl Interrupted (Beat Club/ Interscope)
   Read: "Ms. Jade's 'Big Head' Is Meant To Move Your Big Butt"
• O-Town - O2 (J)
   Read: "New O-Town Album To Include Track From Nelly"
   Buy Now: O2 (J)
  
• Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)  Read: "Queens Of The Stone Age Flex Their Star Power"
• Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic)
   Read: "Silverchair Craft U.S. Diorama, Plan New York Dates"
• Stone Sour - Stone Sour (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."
• Trina - Diamond Princess (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Diamond Princess Trina Recruits Tweet For 'No Panties' Single"
• Uncle Kracker - No Stranger to Shame (Lava/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Uncle Kracker Won't Pay Lip Service To Willa Ford In New Video"
   Buy Now: No Stranger to Shame (Lava/ Atlantic)
  

• Mario
• Lil Wayne
• B2K
• Public Enemy
• The Crystal Method

Mack 10
Photo: Priority Records

"Stayin' Alive" may not be the first song a hardcore rapper considers sampling, but Mack 10 expects the Dr. Dre-produced "Hate in Yo Eyes" — whose chorus plays off of the refrain of the Bee Gees disco classic — will be his biggest song ever. A catchy, driving song, "Hate in Yo Eyes" stands as the Inglewood rapper's most commercially viable release, straying from his typically abrasive sound.

"I'm already getting feedback from radio that it will be bigger than 'Backyard Boogie' and 'Foe Life,' " Mack 10 said, referring to his two biggest hits. "Radio stations that never f---ed with me before are just digging the record."

Mack 10 will be releasing Bang or Ball, his first album on Cash Money Records, on December 4. Even though he's newly aligned with Cash Money — whose roster includes Juvenile, B.G., Big Tymers and Turk — don't expect to see cameos from them in the video for "Hate in Yo Eyes." Only CM's Lil' Wayne appears in the clip. Dr. Dre was unavailable due to his commitment to other projects.

"I didn't have time to wait for our schedules to be where we're on the same page," Mack said of Dre. "I had to get my video done. But he definitely called me and said that he was behind me 100 percent.

"It's not like I've got to sell my records by putting a whole bunch of rappers in my video just so everybody thinks I'm cool," he added.

At least some of Mack's cool comes from his incendiary work with Ice Cube and WC as the Westside Connection. The group's 1996 album, Bow Down, sold more than 1 million copies and had the trio defending their coast's brand of rap music, among other topics.

The Westside Connection reconvene on Bang or Ball with "Connect for Life," a Mannie Fresh-produced track that features crooner Butch Cassidy on the chorus. In addition to being the album's second single, it is also one of the collection's strongest songs. Even though the Connection rarely records together due to Cube's movie career and other scheduling concerns, the trio sound as sharp as ever on "Connect for Life."

"I think we have a magic chemistry," he said. "There are certain groups that are just like that, like Dre and Snoop. Together, they're just the sh--. Westside Connection, it's just magic when we're together. We're to the point where we don't even have to rehearse for shows. We know each other."

During the recording of Bang or Ball, Mack 10 got to know Mannie Fresh, Cash Money's resident beatsmith. In an era when many rappers use a different producer for every song on their albums, Bang or Ball features 15 Mannie Fresh-produced beats and one each from Dr. Dre, Ron ("Work") and QDIII ("Let It Be Known").

Working extensively with the diverse Fresh allowed Mack 10 to expand his sound and become a more rounded artist than he was on his last effort, 2000's The Paper Route, which sold less than Mack's other three albums. Because of this artistic maturity, Bang or Ball is one of those rare albums that could be accepted equally in the West and the South.

"It's got a bigger range," Mack 10 said. "This is more of a complete album. The Paper Route, that was one of my favorite albums. But a lot of people's fans get spoiled. Once you create a certain sound and do things a certain way, that's what they want you to do forever. Sometimes, you've got to change with the times a little bit. I keep a little bit of the gangster sh-- in there, like the old school sh--. But you don't want anybody listening to your album to think that it came out in '95."

• Mack 10
• Dr. Dre

Jay-Z
Photo: MTV News

Like all of us, artists in the music industry have had their lives turned upside down in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attack on America.

Superstars like Madonna and Janet Jackson have had to switch their concert schedules, but more importantly, many performers' whole way of seeing life has changed.

"To be honest, I've been scared to come through the Lincoln Tunnel," Ja Rule, who was raised in New York and now lives in New Jersey, told Carson Daly Friday (September 14) on MTV's "TRL." "When I came through the tunnel [today], I saw a whole thing of Army [trucks]. It shook me up."

And while some now have to muster courage to take a simple 20-minute trip, other artists are rethinking their ways of long-distance travel.

Mack 10, who was scheduled to come to New York but was stranded in California on Tuesday, has vowed never to fly again and is buying a tour bus. Carl Thomas, who has been stranded in Chicago all week, agrees with Mack 10's sentiments and has canceled an upcoming concert in South Africa, saying he'll be traveling by tour bus a lot more now.

Although Jay-Z hasn't given up on flying, he too has been stranded in California since the incident and has thus postponed the start of his tour from Friday to Wednesday (see "Jay-Z Announces Blueprint Lounge Tour Dates"). Jay was in Los Angeles on Tuesday shooting a video for "Girls, Girls, Girls" as well as promoting his album, The Blueprint, which came out that day.

"It's weird 'cause as an artist you look forward to your release date, then something tragic like that happens — that's the last thing on your mind," Jay told Daly via phone Friday on "TRL." "With every tragedy I believe it makes [you] stronger. If your faith is in the right place you will get stronger."

Moby, who lives two miles from the disaster area, said he drew on his talent for strength while confined to his home the past few days.

"Since that incident happened, my neighborhood was curtained off by the police," said Moby, who watched from his roof in disbelief as the twin towers crumbled. "I haven't been able to go outside anyway 'cause the air was just so thick with smoke. Everyone that lives down here, we have really sore throats and sore eyes from the smoke and from crying from being upset.

"Music and friends are the only things that have gotten me through this," he continued. "Wednesday when I was stuck in my home, I spent my day in the studio working on music because it was healing. Very melodic and tranquil music to provide a counterpoint to the events on Tuesday."

• Moby
• Mack 10
• Madonna
• Jay-Z
• Carl Thomas

Turk
Photo: Cash Money

Although he's been on platinum albums, heavily rotated videos, hit songs and a bevy of tours, the world is not too familiar with Turk.

Sure, hip-hop fans may know his name and face, but rolling with his more flamboyant family members — the Cash Money Millionaires and the Hot Boys — Turk has more often than not been relegated to background status.

"I blame that on myself because I was shy and laid-back," Turk said. Now opening up a little more, Turk, the only member of the Hot Boys without a solo album (everybody else — Juvenile, BG and Lil Wayne — has at least two), is ready to unabashedly tell his story with his debut, Young & Thuggin', due June 5th.

"This is the hardest album since [Juvenile's] Tha G-Code," Turk said, assuring fans of Cash Money that they can expect more of what they love: girls, guns, getting your grind on and flashing their platinum grills. Not surprisingly, Manny Fresh produced the entire album and the Hot Boys and Big Tymers are featured throughout the LP. Turk said that Cash Money's newest members, Christina (the label's first female rapper), her brother Mickey and Mack 10 will also appear on the album.

"Mack 10 is great. It's like he was here all the time," Turk said about his labelmate, who appears with him and the Hot Boys on "Yes We Do." "Being with the younger guys, [his music] is getting even more gangsta." Turk said Cash Money Records is still one big family — Juvenile included. Lately the industry has been buzzing about a possible severing of ties between Juvenile and his blinging brethren.

"Shoot the messenger!" Turk said jokingly, dismissing talk of any breakups. "You know how they say 'don't shoot the messenger,' I say 'shoot the messenger.' You know how them rumors be. Juvenile is still with us. He's just been taking a break because he started work on his new label. We talk to him every day. He's on my album. They started rumors about me that I was leaving. " It's a wonder that Turk and his crew even have time to hear any innuendo with their current work schedule. They're locked down in the studio.

"We stay working," Turk said. "The new Hot Boys album (Let 'Em Burn) is finished and coming out soon, Wayne got his new album finished. BG got his new album finished, Juvenile's album is coming out soon, and Baby got a solo album coming." Turk also said he's already started on his second solo album, Untamed Guerilla, which will drop early next year, and that there's another Cash Money movie in the making, to be directed by Charles S. Dutton. The first single from Young & Thuggin' is "It's in Me." Turk is currently wrapping up production on the video for the second single, "Freak Dem Girls," which appears on the album as "Freak Dem Hoes."

• Hot Boys
• Cash Money Millionaires
• Juvenile
• Lil Wayne
• B.G.

Mack 10
Photo: Michael Miller

While the Cash Money Millionaires were looking for a "Project Chick," they made a Westside connection when they signed veteran rapper Mack 10 to a contract.

The Inglewood, California, artist's first album for the New Orleans imprint will be Bang or Ball, which is scheduled for a September release. The follow-up to 2000's The Paper Route will feature guest appearances from the Hot Boys and Ice Cube as well as production from both Mannie Fresh and Dr. Dre.

"I always was a fan first," said Bryan "Baby" Williams, Cash Money's co-CEO and one-half of the Big Tymers. "When [Mack 10] called me and told me that he was about to be a free agent, I'm always about strengthening my family and I liked the G about him, so I thought it would be perfect for him to come over here and f--- with us. "Mack has style and flavor, and he kicks the type of sh-- that I like to hear about. He speaks the street language." A member of the Westside Connection with Ice Cube and WC — champions of the West Coast — Mack 10 said that he needed to move on from Hollywood-based Priority Records, which had released each of his four collections as well as the Westside Connection's album, 1996's Bow Down. (Mack 10 still has his Hoo-Bangin' Records, which is distributed by Priority; he is in the process of working out a new deal for the company that will likely leave some of Hoo-Bangin's acts on Priority and move the rest elsewhere.) Like many artists, Mack 10 felt as though his record company wasn't giving him the promotional push needed in order to keep moving his career forward — something he feels Cash Money, which has enjoyed platinum success with Juvenile, Lil' Wayne, B.G., the Hot Boys and Big Tymers, will be able to provide.

"We had been talking about [signing with Cash Money] even before I was out of my deal at Priority," said Mack 10, who is in New Orleans recording his album. "They had been getting at me for like two years, like, 'How many more records you got?' I kept saying, 'This is the last one.' Instead of me renegotiating, they came to the table and made it where I wouldn't even want to look anywhere else. They gave me them NBA, Kevin Garnett figures.

"Money wasn't an issue, because I was always straight financially," he continued. "But it gets to the point where a brother in the NBA wants a championship ring. It got to that point. I just needed to win." One way that Cash Money feels that Mack 10 can win is by combining the revved-up sounds of the South with the gangsterfied sounds of the West. With Dr. Dre producing some of Bang or Ball, the album will be the first modern-era Cash Money Records release that was not entirely produced by Mannie Fresh. Baby feels that having those two producers helm the album will only make it stronger.

"I know Mack's from the West Coast, and they've got a unique sound of their own," he said. "Not to say that Fresh can't do that, but I think it will be nothing but right by me being a boss player to get a boss player like Dre, because I made a boss move by getting Mack. Let's just do it all boss. Dre is a good f---in' producer, and it won't do nothing but help. Dre and Mannie Fresh, that's two of the top in the business." Mack 10 was also inspired to name his album Bang or Ball because of two business options he feels many of his fans are faced with.

"There's two choices a brother has in the ghetto," Mack 10 said. "They can either bang, gangbang, thug it, or you can ball, get money. When I say ball, I don't mean that they've got to sell dope. They could either bang or be a successful brother. If you're a doctor and you've got 20 cars and three mansions, you're balling. I don't care what occupation you've got." Part of Mack 10's résumé also includes his marriage to T-Boz, whom he wed last fall. Now that Cash Money is home, will he be asking the TLC member to appear on his album, as she did on The Paper Route? "I haven't made my mind up," he said. "If I need a fly hook, I can always call her in there." For now, at least, Mack 10 is focusing on his first Cash Money album and what he feels is his first chance at becoming a bona fide hip-hop star.

"Since Cash Money existed on a nationwide level, they've never released an album that went less than [gold or] platinum," Mack 10 said. "That says it all. Anything that Cash Money and Universal gets behind, you're going to have a fair shot.

"People are going to lend me an ear now," he continued. "Cats are waiting to hate, waiting to hear the album and have it not as hot as they think it should be. So I'm going to give it to them. I'm damn sure going to give it to them. I'm trying to put the best record that I've ever put together together now, because I haven't ever had a shot like this."

• Mack 10

Two months after becoming husband and wife, Mack 10 and T-Boz have become parents.

On Monday, the couple announced that they welcomed their first child, daughter Chase, at 10 p.m. (PT) in Los Angeles on Friday, October 20. According to the announcement, issued by Priority Records (Mack 10's label home), the new parents and baby Chase are happy and healthy following the birth.

The rapper and the TLC singer were wed outside of L.A. in August, with Ice Cube, W.C. and T-Boz's TLC colleague Chilli present at the ceremony (see "T-Boz, Mack 10 Wed As Chilli, Ice Cube Look On").

The friends became a couple during the filming of TLC's "Unpretty" video. "We were homies for a long time," Mack said of T-Boz in a statement announcing the engagement in May, "but it wasn't until the taping of TLC's 'Unpretty' video that I finally made my feelings known to her. She felt what I felt, so we came together" (see "TLC's T-Boz, Mack 10 Set Wedding Date").

T-Boz is featured on Mack 10's single "Tight to Def," and she plays Bonnie to his Clyde in the video for the track.

• Mack 10
• TLC

There's just no other way to say it: It's all about Nelly.

The St. Louis rapper will once again have the top-selling album in the country next week, according to sales figures released by SoundScan on Wednesday. Nelly's "Country Grammar" sold another 191,000 copies last week to hold on to the number one spot on next week's "Billboard" album chart. Nelly has owned the top slot on the album chart for one month, having hit number one on August 16.

Nelly may owe a small bit of his continued chart success to his performance on last week's MTV Video Music Awards, which also gave a sales bump to rapper Eminem. After grabbing three awards and storming the VMAs with hundreds of look-alikes, Em saw sales of his "The Marshall Mathers LP" jump to 149,000 copies last week, after selling 145,000 copies the previous week. The sales bump was enough to goose Em's album up to number two on next week's chart.

The biggest debut of the week belongs to rapper C-Murder, whose "Trapped In Crime" sold just under 76,000 copies in its first week in stores to land at number nine. Rapper Mack 10 also scored a Top 20 debut, as his "Paper Route" sold more than 47,000 copies to debut at number 19.

The week's other notable debuts include Jaci Velasquez's "Crystal Clear" at 49, the "Platinum Hits 2000" compilation at 63, the hard-rock-meets-hip-hop experiment "Loud Rocks" at 108.

• C-Murder
• Mack 10
• Nelly

TLC's T-Boz and her beau, Westside Connection rapper Mack 10, have nailed down a date to get hitched.

The couple will wed on August 19 at an undisclosed location, according to a statement issued by Mack 10's label, Priority Records. Mack and T-Boz are also expecting a child in the fall (see "TLC Members Hearing Wedding Bells").

"We were homies for a long time," Mack said of T-Boz in the statement, "but it wasn't until the taping of TLC's 'Unpretty' video that I finally made my feelings known to her. She felt what I felt, so we came together."

Mack, who in addition to rapping with Ice Cube in the group Westside Connection is also the CEO of Hoo Bangin' Records, recently completed recording his solo album, "The Paper Route." Mack also recruited his fiancee to co-star in a video for its single, "Tight To Def."

His album, "The Paper Route," is set for release on August 29 and features guests such as the Hot Boys, Too Short, Trick Daddy, and his cohorts in Westside Connection, Ice Cube and WC.

Next up, Mack will release albums by MC Eiht and The Comrads on his Hoo Bangin' label, before rejoining Ice Cube and WC for another album by Westside Connection.

• Mack 10
• TLC

Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Mack 10, and Xzibit are a few of the hip-hop artists that have agreed to take part in an upcoming event being billed as "A Day in the West," scheduled to take place on August 19 at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles.

• Mack 10
• Snoop Dogg
• Xzibit

Nelly, Kim, LL, Sean Paul, More On Source Awards Red Carpet

• Nelly
• Lil' Kim
• LL Cool J
• Sean Paul
• Clipse