Nas Knocks Britney Off Top Of Album Heap
Nas can now add "number one" after his new album title, "I Am.
According to sales figures released by SoundScan on Wednesday, the rapper sold a staggering 470,000 copies of "I Am" to score the top slot on next week's "Billboard" album chart. Nas holds off another impressive hip-hop debut, Krayzie Bone's "Thug Mentality 1999" which sold more than 136,000 copies to land at number four.Nas' big debut means that last week's number one, Britney Spears, moves down a few notches to three as her "Baby One More Time" sold another 142,000 copies. TLC's "Fanmail" also edges ahead of Britney, selling 161,000 more copies to hold on to number two.Other than Nas and Krayzie Bone, the week is thin on debuts, save for notable entries such as the soundtrack to "10 Things I Hate About You" at 52, Buckcherry's self-titled offering at 128, and recent "VH1 Behind The Music" subject Duran Duran at 170 with its "Greatest Hits" package.While few of the week's new arrivals crashed the topten, one of last week's debuts mounts a successful charge on the upper ranks of the album chart. The soundtrack to the sci-fi hit "The Matrix" jumps from number 18 (where it debuted last week) to number nine after seeing its sales jump from 66,000 to 85,000.
