ONE-DAY SALES:
FANS CARE FOR AALIYAH

One day after the release of the late Aaliyah’s posthumous collection, I Care for You (Blackground/Universal), it’s clear that fans are still missing the young R&B sensation. The clamor for the new record could drive sales well over 250k for the week, and possibly as high as 280k, according to early reports from national accounts.

That’s likely good for #2 on next week’s album chart. However, if Shania Twain—just off of her third sales week over 300k (862k, 633k and 328k, to be precise)—doesn’t see the kind of holiday shopping lift most expect her record to see this week, Aaliyah could potentially be in the running for #1.

Meanwhile, Whitney Houston’s Just Whitney (Arista) marks the second consecutive week of releases by formerly troubled pop divas, following Mariah Carey’s Charmbracelet (MonarC/IDJ), which bowed this week at #3 on sales of about 239k. According to early info, Just Whitney should see similar sales in the 200k range.

Also hitting the streets yesterday was B2K’s Pandemonium (Epic). Omarion, Raz-B, Lil Fizz and J-Boog should see their sophomore effort nab well over 150k in first-week sales, with a shot and 200k if it ramps up in the next few days. This title is what the retail types call “street sensitive”—the kids gotta have it, and they gotta have it NOW.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Santa. Uh, can we have some, too?