Street-wise rapper DMX tops the Billboard 200 albums chart with Flesh of My

Flesh -- Blood of My Blood for the third week in a row with sales that pushed it above

the platinum mark (1 million albums sold).

This time, however, DMX faced stiff competition from Fugees rapper/singer Lauryn Hill's

highly acclaimed solo debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which leaped from

#10 to #2, clearly benefiting from the album's recent 10 Grammy nominations and its

high ranking on many critics' best-of 1998 list.

Flesh of My Flesh -- Blood of My Blood, DMX's second album, remained at #1

after moving 134,672 copies in the week ending Jan 10, according to sales-tracking

company SoundScan. That brings the album's total sales to 1,053,233; that's enough for

DMX to earn another platinum award from the Recording Industry Association of

America.

Meanwhile, DMX's first album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, which features such

songs as

music/DMX/Fuckin'_Wit'_D.ram">"F---in' Wit' D" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Ruff

Ryder's Anthem," is still high on the chart -- sitting comfortably at #20 after moving 55,546

copies during the past week.

By comparison, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill -- which features the hits,

href="http://media.addict.com/atn-bin/get-music/Hill,_Lauryn/Lost_Ones.ram">"Lost

Ones" (RealAudio excerpt) and

bin/get-music/Hill,_Lauryn/Doo_Wop.ram">"Doo Wop (That Thing)" (RealAudio

excerpt) -- moved 110,953 copies last week, keeping it ahead of such competition as

slain rapper Tupac Shakur's Greatest Hits (#3) and Jay-Z's Vol. II ... Hard

Knock Life (#5).

In a statement released after she learned of her 10 Grammy nominations, Hill said she

was thankful but still amazed that an album she considers so personal has resonated

with so many other people.

"I'd like to thank everyone who supported this album," the statement reads. "I think it is a

strong statement, in these days, that I can make an album completely from my soul and

without compromise and be acknowledged for it. Praise God."

Overall album sales continued along in their post-holiday depression. Of the albums

already on the chart, only three demonstrated a sales increase: Mannheim Steamroller's

Christmas Angel (#64), R&B singer Tyrese's self-titled debut (#81) and R&B

singer Brian McKnight's Bethlehem (#95). The only major debut was the

oldies-dominated soundtrack to the Robin Williams film "Patch Adams," which landed at

#180.

The rest of the top 10: Offspring, Americana (#4); N' Sync, N' Sync (#6);

Jewel, Spirit (#7); Mariah Carey, #1's (#8); Garth Brooks, Double

Live (#9); and various artists, Now That's What I Call Music (#10).