Chrisette Michele
Photo: Def Jam

In the battle of the R&B divas, Chrisette Michele pulled out a squeaker. The Grammy-winning singer's second album, Epiphany, will top next week's Billboard 200 tally with a first-week total of 83,000, helping her best Ciara's latest, Fantasy Ride, which had to settle for a #3 bow on sales of under 81,000, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.

Separating the two is the "Hannah Montana" soundtrack, which will hold on to the #2 spot with sales of close to 82,000. The only other debut in the top 10 came from guitar whiz Ben Harper's new band, the Relentless7, whose White Lies for Dark Times comes in at #9 with 34,000 units moved.

The rest of the top 10: Rascal Flatts's Unstoppable (#4, 58,000); Bob Dylan's Together Through Life (#5, 51,000); Lady Gaga's Fame (#6, 41,000); Taylor Swift's Fearless (#7, 41,000); Rick Ross' Deeper Than Rap (#8, 35,000); and the "Twilight" soundtrack (#10, 32,000).

Dayton's Christian metal-core rockers Devil Wears Prada will hit #11 with With Roots Above & Branches Below, their third, which moved close to 31,000 copies. Former "American Idol" finalist Elliot Yamin's second, non-holiday studio album, Fight for Love, lands at #26 on sales of 20,000. In a good sign for Susan Boyle, should she ever release an album, "Britain's Got Talent" winner Paul Potts' debut, Passione, will hit the chart at #33 thanks to more than 16,000 U.S. fans.

Also making chart debuts are the latest from Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley Band, Outer South (#40, 14,000); the second secular comeback album from Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens). Roadsinger (#41, 14,000); the "Star Trek" soundtrack (#49, 12,000); and raunchy rapper Peaches with I Feel Cream (#160, 3,000).

Among the week's biggest drops in sales for major-label acts was Asher Roth's Asleep in the Bread Aisle, which plunged more than 40 percent in its third week, dropping from #14 to #42.

Next week promises chart debuts from Cam'ron, Paul Wall and Green Day, whose 21st Century Breakdown is being officially released on Friday.

• Chrisette Michele
• Ciara

The White Stripes
Photo: Autumn De Wilde

Mandy Moore has a Wild Hope this week — to defeat the mighty White Stripes — but after a sporadic music career, her chances to do so are almost nil. Beyoncé is also back, but don't get too excited — her "B'Day Anthology Video Album" DVD encompasses all the clips fans probably already grabbed on the B'Day - Deluxe Edition set that came out last year and was subsequently yanked due to a lawsuit. But don't worry, there are still loads of new tunes to fill up those long summer nights.

Feeling Icky?: The Stripes slip out their sixth album, Icky Thump, mere weeks before their 10th birthday — and they've busted out bagpipes, a mariachi trumpet, church organ and more wacky instruments for the occasion. Even more colorful is the story behind one of the tracks, "I'm Slowly Turning Into You": Noted collaborator Michel Gondry pitched them a video concept that would depict Jack White slowly morphing into Meg through the guise of 98 additional actors, and the singer/guitarist liked the idea so much that he wrote a song with the visual concept in mind. Don't even get us started on "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn," a song about the Scottish national flower.

Hope Floats: It's hard to pinpoint Mandy Moore's last tried-and-true release. Candy, issued in 2005, was a contractually obligated disc that culled old material she had previously disowned, and it didn't even chart on the Billboard 200. Before that was 2004's The Best of Mandy Moore, another compilation that reportedly ticked her off, and prior to that was Coverage — a batch of songs originally performed by other artists. That makes Wild Hope her first album of new studio material in six years — and this time around, she's co-written the whole shebang, with some help from Michelle Branch, Chantal Kreviazuk, Rachael Yamagata, and others. Songs include "Latest Mistake," "Can't You Just Adore Her?" and "Slummin' in Paradise."

Off the Hook: Chrisette Michele had a hand in Jay-Z's "Lost Ones" and Nas' "Can't Forget About You," singing on the hooks on both tracks. Now it's her time to shine — and Jay has returned the favor by issuing her debut on Def Jam. The soulful, jazz-influenced singer — who is set to open for Musiq Soulchild when he tours this summer — gets production help from Babyface, John Legend and Will.I.Am on I Am (how apropos!).

Stray Cats: Straylight Run jogged their way to one hell of a debut, getting rid of more than 200,000 copies of their independently released 2004 eponymous CD. The rock band — which features members of Taking Back Sunday — self-produced its second album, The Needles the Space, and the set includes "How Do I Fix My Head," "Soon We'll Be Living in the Future" and "The Miracle That Never Came."

Choppin' Time: Slimmed down to a threesome after the departure of bassist Kevin Rutmanis, Tomahawk actually sound larger than ever on their third album, Anonymous. Every bit as ambiguous and elusive as the title suggests, the album actually consists of Native American songs guitarist Duane Denison researched after collaborating years ago with cowboy from hell Hank Williams III. Appropriately titled songs include "Totem," "War Song" and four tracks named after dancing rituals.

Getting to Know ...: While you're probably familiar with most of the aforementioned artists, you might be overwhelmed by the litany of bands out there you've never even heard of. Here's some quick 411 on some other artists that are also cranking out CDs this week:

· The Aliens: No, Roky Erickson's old backing band isn't back from the dead — it's actually three founding duders from the Beta Band coming back together to create something that's more glam than trip-hop.

· The Confession: An Orange County, California, quintet that is going to be on this year's Warped Tour and counts Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows — who produced its Requiem debut — among its friends.

· Memphis: A lo-fi, soundscape-addicted band from Canada consisting of Stars co-founder Torquil Campbell and his pallie Chris Dumont.

· Lightning Dust: A minimalist project featuring two guys from groovy psych-rockers Black Mountain. Their self-titled debut was partially recorded in a cave, yo.

· Will Haven: This Sacramento, California, metal band played for a few years, then broke up in January 2002, then regrouped in October 2005. Their new album The Hierophant was co-produced by Deftones' Chino Moreno and ex-Far guitarist Shaun Lopez.

· Savath & Savalas: Another alias belonging to underground hip-hop producer Guillermo Scott Herren, who you probably best know as Prefuse 73. José González, Mia Doi Todd and Tarantula A.D. cellist Danny Bensi pay a visit on S&S' Golden Pollen.

· The Rondo Brothers: Not to be confused with Linkin Park's recently released Minutes to Midnight, these San Francisco producers' new one is titled Seven Minutes to Midnight and features contributions from Head Automatica/Glassjaw linchpin Daryl Palumbo.

· Von Südenfeld: An electro-dub-disco fusion thang featuring the Fall's Mark E. Smith and Mouse on Mars.

· Susperia: Formed by ex-members of Dimmu Borgir and Satyricon. But if you don't know your black metal, then you probably don't know those reference points either.

· Ron Block: Better known as a member of Alison Krauss' bluegrass-country collaborators, Union Station.

· The Marshall Tucker Band: If you aren't already familiar with these guys, you probably don't want to get to know them.

Song Title of the Week:

"Somebody Call Somebody" from Nora's Save Yourself

Album Cover of the Week:

Straylight Run's The Needle the Space

Other Notables:

· Art Brut's It's a Bit Complicated
"Is it so wrong / To break from a kiss to turn up a pop song?" "What's wrong? Scared to commit? Get on the dance floor, it's a direct hit!" Ah, yes, England's Art Brut are back, and frontman Eddie Argos has more amusing chatter to spill. The indie-rock five-piece — which has opened on tour for Ghostface, strangely — recorded its second effort with producer Dan Swift (Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol) at London's Terminal Studios. Songs — and no, you haven't heard these before, familiar as the titles might look — include: "Pump Up the Volume," "I Will Survive" and "Soundtrack of the Summer."

· Burning Brides' Hang Love
The Philadelphia rawkers bust out their third release this week, and the track list ranges from a song about a forlorn lover ("She Comes to Me") to one about a serial killer on the loose ("Waring Street"). The band — which includes a married couple — used to be on V2 but has now partnered with indie imprint Modart for the release. That probably means less exposure for the group, but the move gives the Brides more control over their material — and the right to own the Hang Love master tapes, best of all.

· The Number Twelve Looks Like You's Mongrel
The spazz-metal band — whose name is taken from a 1964 episode of "The Twilight Zone" — titled its third album as such because the songs are so indefinable. As singer Jesse Korman told MTV News, "We wanted this album to be just complete chaos, with no direction at all." The band elaborates on the disc on its Web site, saying in a post: "A product of harried miscegenation, a foaming mix breed halved and re-halved by the pitifully obvious and the suddenly homicidal, Mongrel is a collusion of conflicting desires and uncontrollable urges, a heart-eating hellion seesawing wildly between the need for stasis and an unflinching commitment to violence." Sold?

New Releases:

· 16 Volt - Full Black Habit (Metropolis)
· The Aliens - Astronomy for Dogs (Astralwerks)
· Ellen Allien - Fabric 34: Ellen Allien (Fabric)
· Art Brut - It's a Bit Complicated (Downtown)
· Arthur & Yu - In Camera (Hardly Art)
· August Burns Red - Messengers (Solid State)
· Ron Block - DoorWay (Rounder)
· Bon Jovi - Lost Highway (Mercury Nashville) [Buy Now]
· Burning Brides - Hang Love (Modern Art)
· Kenny Burrell - 75th Birthday Bash Live! (Blue Note)
· Ron Carter - Dear Miles, (Blue Note)
· The Confession - Requiem (Science)
· Ferry Corsten - Passport United States of America (Ultra)
· Deborah Cox - Destination Moon (Decca) [Buy Now]
· Dimitri From Paris - Disco Cocktail (two CDs; BBE)
· Donnie - The Daily News (SoulThought Entertainment)
· Down to the Bone - Supercharged (Narada)
· Euge Groove - Born 2 Groove (Narada)
· The Fridge - The Sun (Temporary Residence)
· The Ghost Is Dancing - The Darkest Spark (Sonic Unyon)
· The Hangmen - In the City (Acetate)
· Jennifer Gentle - The Midnight Room (Sub Pop)
· The Junior Varsity - Cinematographic (Victory)
· Kenna - Make Sure They See My Face (Interscope) [Buy Now]
· Lifehouse - Who We Are (Geffen) [Buy Now]
· Lightning Dust - Lightning Dust (Jagjaguwar)
· Man in Gray - I Can't Sleep Unless I Hear You Breathing (Serious Business)
· Maps - We Can Create (Mute)
· Memphis - A Little Place in the Wilderness (Good Fences)
· Chrisette Michele - I Am (Def Jam) [Buy Now]
Read: "Jay-Z And Nas' Hook Singer Chrisette Michele Ready To Go It Alone"
· The Midway State - Met a Man on Top of the Hill (EP; Interscope)
· Minus Story - My Ion Truss (Jagjaguwar)
· Mooney Suzuki - Have Mercy (Elexia)
· Mandy Moore - Wild Hope (Firm) [Buy Now]
Read: "Mandy Moore Gets Wild ... On Forthcoming LP"
· Nora - Save Yourself (Trustkill)
· The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Mongrel (Eyeball)
· Brad Paisley - 5th Gear (Arista)
· The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army (TVT) [Buy Now]
· Project 86 - Rival Factions (Tooth & Nail)
· Rasheeda - Dat Type of Gurl (D-Lo/Imperial)
· Rasputina - Oh Perilous World (Filthy Bonnet)
· Rondo Brothers - Seven Minutes to Midnight (War Chant)
· Xavier Rudd - White Moth (Anti-)
· Ruiner - Prepare to Be Let Down (Bridge Nine)
· Savath & Savalas - Golden Pollen (Anti-)
· Shop Boyz - Rockstar Mentality (Republic)
· Bob Sinclair - Soundz of Freedom (two CDs; Tommy Boy)
· Specimen - Electric Ballroom (Metropolis)
· Stamen & Pistils - Towns (Echleon)
· Straylight Run - The Needles the Space (enhanced; Republic) [Buy Now]
· Sugar Ray and the Bluetones - My Life, My Friends, My Music (Severn)
· Susperia - Cut From Stone (Candlelight)
· To the Lions - Baptism of Fire (Goodfellow)
· Tomahawk - Anonymous (Ipecac)
Read: "Tomahawk Actually Starting To Sound Like An American-Indian Band"
· Two Gallants - The Scenery of Farewell (EP; Saddle Creek)
· The Marshall Tucker Band - The Next Adventure (Shout! Factory)
· David Vandervelde - Nothin No (Secretly Canadian)
· Von Südenfeld - Tromatic Reflexxions (Domino)
· White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.) [Buy Now]
Read: "White Stripes Reveal Icky New Album Details" · Will Haven - The Heirophant (Bieler Bros.)
· Various artists - "Evan Almighty" soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)
· Various artists - "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" soundtrack (Sony Classical)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Air Supply - Best of Air Supply: The Ones That You Love (Arista/Legacy) [Buy Now]
· William Bell - The Very Best of William Bell (Stax/Concord)
· Booker T. and the MG's - The Very Best of Booker T. and the MG's (Stax/Concord)
· Robert Foster and Grant McLennan - Intermission: The Best of the Solo Recordings 1990-1997 (two CDs; Beggars Banquet)
· Marvin Gaye - In Our Lifetime? The Expanded Love Man Edition (limited-edition two-CD set; Motown/UMe)
· Isaac Hayes - Chocolate Chip (Stax/Concord)
· Albert King - The Very Best of Albert King (Stax/Concord)
· Kinky - Rarities (Sonic360)
· Gladys Knight & the Pips - Love Finds Its Own Way: The Best of Gladys Knight & the Pips (Buddah/Legacy)
· Van Morrison - The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3 (two CDs; Manhattan/EMI)
· Papa Roach - The Paramour Sessions (Geffen)
· The Staple Sisters - The Very Best of the Staple Sisters (Stax/Concord)
· Various artists - Summer of Love: The Hits of 1967 (box set with two CDs and one DVD; Time Life)
· Various artists - The Very Best of Praise & Worship, Volume 2 (Verity/Legacy)

Music DVDs:

· Anita Baker - "Rapture Live" (Immortal)
· Beyoncé - "B'Day Anthology Video Album" (Columbia)
· Bryan Ferry - "Dylanesque Live: The London Sessions" (Eagle Vision)
· Sammy Hagar - "Sammy and the Wabos: Livin' It Up! in St. Louis" (Image)
· Rusted Root - "Rusted Root" (Fontana/Island)
· Grover Washington Jr. - "Live From Atlantic City" (Immortal)

Digital Releases:

· Grand National - A Drink and a Quick Decision (deluxe-CD version hits stores September 10; Recall)

Coming Attractions:

June 26: · Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up (Capitol) [Preorder]
· Kelly Clarkson - My December (RCA) [Preorder]
Read: "Kelly Clarkson On Her Revealing New LP: 'I'm Not Even This Open With Boyfriends!' "
· Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away (Last Gang) [Preorder]

July 3: · Kelly Rowland - Ms. Kelly (Columbia) [Preorder]
· T.I. - T.I. vs. T.I.P. (Atlantic) [Preorder]
Read: "T.I. Taking On T.I.P. With Help From Eminem, Justin Timberlake"
· Velvet Revolver - Libertad (RCA) [Preorder]
Read: "Scott Weiland Pumped For Velvet Revolver LP, Solo Collabo With Pharrell"

July 10: · All-American Rejects - "Tournado" DVD (Interscope)
· Aly & AJ - Insomniatic (Hollywood) [Preorder]
· Interpol - Our Love to Admire (special edition packaged in hard-covered book form due same day; Capitol)
· Mike Jones - The American Dream (Ice Age)
Read: "The Dream Is Nearly Over For Mike Jones"
· Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist (Reprise) [Preorder]
Read: "Smashing Pumpkins Drummer Offers More Clues About Forthcoming LP"

• The White Stripes
• Mandy Moore
• Beyoncé
• Chrisette Michele
• Kenna

Chrisette Michele
Photo: Mat Szwajkos/ Getty Images

As the breakout star of Jay-Z's "Lost Ones" single, Chrisette Michele is music's latest overnight sensation, but that doesn't mean it's all been easy.

"I got to write six hooks, and he liked one of them," the singer recalled of collaborating with the Def Jam president. "He's a perfectionist, so I was a little nervous in the studio. He turned around at one point and was like, 'Can I be honest?' So he gave me a lot of feedback."

And that guidance paid dividends, not just with Jay, but with fellow hip-hop king Nas.

"I wrote three hooks on Nas' album [Hip Hop Is Dead] and performed on three hooks," she said. One of those hooks was for Nas' latest single, "Can't Forget About You."

"Nas wasn't in the studio when I went to record," Michele recalled. "But I had the track and I had the vocals, so I just wrote what I felt. It was very organic."

With those experiences under her belt, Michele is ready to go it alone with a self-titled debut album due this summer.

"It's a really cool, cool time," she said. "I wrote every song."

She has yet to pick the first single, but one possibility is "Golden," on which she sings, "I'm ready to be like the olden days/ When commitment was golden."

And with a sound reminiscent of classic jazz songstresses, Michele is definitely taking it back to the olden days.

"I listened to a lot of Sarah Vaughan [and Billie Holiday] coming up," the Long Island, New York, native said. "I went to school for vocal and jazz performance, so I played the sax and played a lot of jazz instruments. That's my heart, that's my soul."

Michele has also learned from contemporary greats like John Legend, Will.I.Am and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds — she worked with all of them on her debut to help put a fresh spin on her style.

"[Will.I.Am and I] got together like brother and sister — it just felt like such a bond that we had together in the studio," she said.

Inspired by Babyface's relationship with his son, Michele co-wrote "My Joy."

"Babyface pulled out his guitar and handed me a pencil and we just started writing," she recalled. "I asked him what he loves. He said his son, so I wrote 'My Joy' about a daughter who loves her father."

Babyface not only assisted Michele with her songwriting, the Grammy-winning producer also schooled her on how to put together a song.

"I learned what [producing] was watching Babyface, because I watched him with the strings and the orchestra — actual instruments as opposed to other producers, who had a lot of different machines, which I also respect," she said. "I learned that my passion was more like what Babyface did with the actual instruments, [which was] more composing than producing."

"Golden" is currently streaming on Michele's MySpace page.

• Chrisette Michele
• Jay-Z
• Nas

Nas on the set of his "Can't Forget About You" video
Photo: M Szwajkos/ Getty Images

NEW YORK — Nas has kept albums pretty spaced out for most of his career, but he's in such a zone right now that he doesn't want to waste any time. Not even a month after releasing Hip Hop Is Dead, the MC is planning to jump right back in the studio and release an LP sometime this year.

"New album is in the making right now," Nas said Sunday night, sitting in his trailer outside the set of his new video for "Can't Forget About You." (Click here to see photos of Nas on the video's NYC set.) " '07, new Nas album, I can't wait. I'm not finished. I feel like something is starting right now. This is a momentum and a movement that's happening out here. I gotta make sure I stay the captain of this ship and push it forward. I'm here at Def Jam, I'm renaming it the Black Oasis. You bring Nas into any situation like the situation that's at Def Jam and you gonna get nothing but the top of the line.

"Look," he continued after a long pause, grinning. "I'm sounding like I'm really feeling myself right now. But real talk, I'm really feeling myself again. '07, I'm gonna drop again and see what's really good with y'all out there. ... When it comes to this, man, sometimes when you're feeling it, you gotta just let it go."

Even with a potential classic in his sights, Nas said he's far from done with his #1-debuting LP Hip Hop Is Dead (see "Nas Proves Hip-Hop Is Alive And Well With Third Career #1").

"Ah, man, going into the year the way I went into the year was real good," he said. "The irony of a title like Hip Hop Is Dead being #1, what is that? That's what it's all about. At the end of the day, it's real big. It feels like a good time. I'm excited, I'm loving the rap game, the potential that it has to grow. A lot of people thought that because I was hating the state of the rap game, I was hating rappers. I don't hate. It's just that there were a lot of rappers that were corny. There's always going to be corny rappers. They didn't understand the message. People were not getting it. It's a slow process, but it's all good. We're going to keep grinding, keep giving them more, showing them more. This is a record that's going to take time. We gonna push it on them for the whole year.

"With an album like this and a title like Hip Hop Is Dead, this is going to be a long burial," he continued. "You plant it, then maybe we could get some rain to fall, then you see stuff start sprouting and maybe get something reborn out here. But right now I'm at the funeral service, man. We got more material that's going to be showed to the world. I don't wanna stop this record. I usually fade out and not be a part of the scene ... but this one right here don't matter. I'm not even thinking about too much attention. I'm not thinking that. I'm thinking this one gotta play all the way out."

Nas and Def Jam are talking about making videos for "Hustlers," which features the Game, or even his duet with Jay-Z, "Black Republicans." But for now, the track is "Can't Forget About You." He shot the video Saturday and Sunday with director Chris Robinson. On Sunday, God's Son wore a tuxedo and bowtie, recalling the days he was suited up on the regular with the Firm in his Nas Escobar phase. On Saturday, Nas had taken his look back even further to the It Was Written days. He was shot on top of a triple-decker bus that cruised through Manhattan, similar to how he glided through those same streets in the clip for "If I Ruled the World."

"The concept of the video is [that] I put a lot of things on the map," he explained in his trailer, with friends like Swizz Beatz looking on. "Whether it's the pink-suit thing or the real dress-up look for the rappers. I been doing it for so long, and right now is a good moment in the '07. It's a good time to get that energy going."

If you've heard the single, you know the Will.I.Am-produced track uses a sample of Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable." Nas felt it was only right that he pay the legend's family tribute by inviting the legendary singer's daughter, Natalie Cole, to participate in filming on Sunday.

"I'm friends with [Def Jam A&R rep] J. Brown, and he said, 'Nas wants you to be in the video.' I said 'OK,' " said Natalie Cole, wearing a black suit, Chuck Taylor sneakers and a pendant of a crown (to pay homage to her famous father). "I hadn't heard [the song yet]. But I've heard of Nas, and I thought it was cool. I knew we had already given the license for the use of 'Unforgettable.' I think it's great every time I see the hip-hop world reaching back and getting great vintage stuff. I think the title ['Can't Forget About You'], it's appropriate. Then Nas got on the phone, we talked, and here I am."

"It was just an idea I wanted," Nas elaborated about reaching out to Cole. "It's a given, though, if we use the track. Nobody could forget what she did with the record, her and her father," he added, referring to the 1991 album on which Natalie sang a posthumous duet with her father using a track of his original vocal. That was one of the most major moments in music. With the family and what the song meant to a generation before her and our generation when she did it with her father. I'm not blood-related, but I'm musically related, and I guess I'm the child of their generation and I'm bridging the gap from Nat King Cole to Natalie Cole to Nas King Cole, and we're going to make it one family all over again."

Natalie Cole isn't the only female co-star Nas has in the video. R&B newcomer Chrisette Michele (Jay-Z's "Lost Ones") makes her video debut. The Long Island native, who appears four times on Hip-Hop Is Dead ("Not Going Back," "Still Dreaming," "Hope" and, of course, "Can't Forget Abut You"), said she was able to get on the album after Nas heard her freestyling over one of his incomplete tracks.

"I was introduced to Chrisette just from her being in the Def Jam family," Nas said. "When I heard her, I wanted to work with her more. She's an incredible writer and an incredible singer. It's something about her voice that's just the truth."

• Nas On The Set Of His Video "Can't Forget About You"

• Nas
• Natalie Cole
• Chrisette Michele

MTV.com Exclusive: Chrisette Michele

• Chrisette Michele
• Chrisette Michele

Ciara, LL Cool J, Snoop, More At 2008 Hip-Hop Summit Action Awards

• Ciara
• LL Cool J
• Jim Jones
• Jinx
• Chrisette Michele

Rihanna, Janet Jackson, Chingy, More Celebrate Ne-Yo's Birthday In New York

• Ne-Yo
• Rihanna
• Janet Jackson
• Jermaine Dupri
• Chingy

Nas On The Set Of His Video "Can't Forget About You"

• Nas
• Natalie Cole
• Chrisette Michele