Bobby Valentino
Photo: Michael Buckner/ Getty Images

NEW YORK — Ladies, Bobby Valentino wants to cater to you — in more ways than one.

The Southern singer — signed to Ludacris' Disturbing Tha Peace imprint — is not only prepping his sophomore album, November 14's Special Occasion, but he's also introducing a line of Bobby V jeans for women.

"Ever since the 'Tell Me' video everyone has been asking me, 'When is your jean line coming out?' So I've been working on that," Valentino said Wednesday while promoting his album. "I'm totally hands-on with all the creative things with the Bobby V jean line. That was one thing I put in the contract, that I wanted to be hands-on. We're ladies' men as R&B singers, and I love the ladies — all types of women. I definitely want to see my name on the back of jeans. And I feel like there's a void for women's jeans. A lot of women are either too small or too big for certain jeans. I really want to provide for all women."

For the new album, Valentino called on beatsmiths Tim & Bob, Dre & Vidal and Rodney Jerkins, who produced Valentino's first single, "Turn the Page" (see "Bobby Valentino Asks Sean Garrett, Rodney Jerkins To Attend Special Occasion"). Valentino said the ballad was a change of pace from the midtempo songs that appeared on his self-titled debut. He's hoping it will help him display more of his vocal range, as well as get listeners to notice the man behind the music.

"A lot of people hear my other songs and say, 'Oh, he's a cool singer, he's a'ight,' " Valentino said. "[With] 'Turn the Page,' it really shows my singing abilities and what I can do. I actually had to practice this song [before recording], and I usually don't do that. But that's really why I wanted to drop this song: to really show people I'm a real singer. The first album, people didn't get to know me. They knew 'Slow Down,' and by being on DTP they connect me to Luda. But with this album, I want to separate myself from all R&B singers."

With the Chris Browns and Ne-Yos emerging recently, Valentino said he needed to secure his place in the singers' circuit. He began working on Special Occasion almost immediately after dropping his first album. But with his sophomore effort — which he said features songs for the club, the bedroom and more — don't expect the former Mista frontman to bust any moves.

"I'm more of a groove type of guy," he said. "Growing up I never got into the dancing. We would let the dancers do all that in the middle of the floor. Instead we would just be in the club posted up on the wall, hollering at the chicks."

• Bobby Valentino

Bruce Springsteen's <i>Devils & Dust</i>
Photo: Columbia

Well, they don't call him the Boss for nothing.

Bruce Springsteen's newest release, Devils & Dust — the stripped-down follow-up to 2002's September 11-inspired The Rising — will enter Billboard's albums chart at #1, with first-week sales of over 222,000, according to the latest SoundScan totals. The second straight Springsteen opus produced by Brendan O'Brien (Train, Pearl Jam) and the Boss' 13th studio LP, Devils & Dust soared past recent chart-toppers Mariah Carey and Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas, proving once again why New Jersey's favorite son is a bona fide rock legend.

Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi clings to the chart's #2 spot with an impressive third-week total of close to 197,000 scans. Even though the pop diva's comeback disc experienced a 13 percent sales plunge, Mimi still managed to outperform the self-titled first crack from Bobby Valentino — the R&B crooner signed to Ludacris' Disturbing Tha Peace label — who opens at #3 with first-week sales of nearly 180,000 and scores the week's biggest debut album.

The second-week-sales bug sunk its teeth into Thomas, who bumped Mariah from #1 on the previous week's chart with his first solo release, Something to Be, but falls three positions to #4 this time around. Waning retail interest — sales of the album nosedived 42 percent — resulted in second-week scans of little more than 145,000.

Smooth R&B looker Amerie's sophomore album, the Rich Harrison-produced Touch, is the chart's #5 finisher, with a first-week showing of close to 124,000 copies sold. The soulful songstress bested retail powerhouse 50 Cent's The Massacre by not quite 10,000 units; 50's multiplatinum LP, which slips from the top five for the first time since its release nine weeks ago, sold more than 114,000 copies.

Taking #7 on the chart is Delicious Surprise, the new one from country-music diva Jo Dee Messina. That album sold nearly 99,000 copies during its first week at retail. Right behind Messina lands rapper Mike Jones' Who Is Mike Jones?, which suffered a 55 percent sales decline during its second week of release, netting scans of less than 81,000. The self-titled debut from Il Divo — "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell's boy-band amalgamation — will come in at #9, with a second-week showing of slightly more than 74,000.

Rounding out the top 10 is Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby, continuing its domination with sales of more than 71,000 copies its 23rd week in stores.

Artists having big first weeks on the next Billboard chart include piano man Ben Folds with Songs for Silverman, which will open at #13 with sales of 50,000 and change. R&B six-piece Mint Condition return after more than six years of retail hibernation with Livin' the Luxury Brown, moving close to 20,000 copies to claim the chart's #45 position its first week out. Right behind Mint, debuting at #46 with just 54 fewer scans, another blast from the past: electro-rockers New Order with Waiting for the Sirens' Call, their first full-length since 2001's Get Ready.

For Gavin, Bice Is Nice

Singer/songwriter and Clive Davis protégé Gavin DeGraw probably owes the 61 percent sales boost enjoyed by his acoustic album, Chariot Stripped, to "American Idol" token rock dude Bo Bice. The long-trussed Bice belted out "I Don't Want to Be," a cut from DeGraw's disc, during last week's performance episode. With sales of close to 11,000, Chariot Stripped lunged 54 spots from #146 to #92. Digital or online sales of the track itself, through Web sites like iTunes, soared a whopping 94 percent.

Strength Of Singles

For two bands on this week's chart, the success of their singles — and the subsequent success of the videos shot for those tracks — seems to be aiding album scans.

MMHMM, the latest from Christian pop-punkers Relient K, was released in early November but made its top 200 debut this week, coming in at #190. A 15 percent sales jump helped move more than 5,100 copies of the disc off shelves last week. The band's single, "Be My Escape," is heating up rock radio, and Relient K's companion video has become an MTV rotation regular.

Maybe it's the critical praise London art-punkers Bloc Party have been getting for their Silent Alarm, or it could even be the popularity of the record's first single, "Banquet" — either way, Bloc Party have been holding their own on the chart. The album comes in at #144, thanks to a 10 percent increase in retail interest that pushed sales just past the 7,000 mark.

A Lot Like Album Sales

It appears that every single one of the 10,000 people who threw down their hard-earned cash to see Ashton romance Amanda on the big screen loved the music from the movie too. Sales of the soundtrack to the film "A Lot Like Love" — which were clocked at 7,000 plus — shot up 105 percent, scoring the disc a #141 chart debut. The soundtrack was released close to a month ago, and the week before it sold a mere 3,500 copies.

• Bruce Springsteen
• Mariah Carey
• Bobby Valentino
• Rob Thomas
• Amerie

Ludacris (file)

NEW YORK — With his newest single, "Slow Down," heating up, Bobby Valentino sat down with the president of his label — otherwise known as Ludacris — to discuss his upcoming album, Disturbing Tha Peace Presents Bobby Valentino. And though he was in the middle of a photo shoot for Stuff magazine, Luda wasn't too busy to compliment his protégé's work ethic.

"A lot of artists don't realize that it's hard work," Luda sighed. "But he understands — it's half the battle when you understand."

Valentino knows all too well that success can be fleeting. He began his career in the 1990s with the all-male R&B group Mista, who had a big hit with "Blackberry Molasses" and released a self-titled album in 1996 before dropping from sight. Valentino is determined not to let that happen again.

"I've been down so I want to continue the success," he said. "It can all be gone tomorrow, and I've had that happen before. That's why I try to work so hard."

After pairing Valentino with Los Angeles-based producers Tim & Bob, Luda is very confident in the crooner's potential.

"He chose his first single and everything," Luda said proudly. "He has an ear, and that makes it a lot easier to work with artists. His success is only beginning."

Bobby Valentino's self-titled solo debut hits stores on April 26.

• Ludacris
• Bobby Valentino