GIRLS GONE WILD!
Lead This Week’s Album Chart
Ashanti provides Murder Inc. chief Irv Gotti a welcome respite from his legal problems this week, as the duel of the divas lands Columbia/CRG’s Beyonce in the second slot and Maverick’s Michelle Branch at #4, with only J’s Luther Vandross spoiling the distaff dominance at #3.
Wherehouse Music Urban music buyer extraordinaire Violet Brown is even more pumped than usual, after handily defeating Bob Bell in the company’s annual Fourth of July three-legged race: "With her sophomore album, Ashanti has proven herself to be an artist that’s going to be around for a while. She seems to be filling the Janet Jackson void right now. The single reminds me of Janet’s ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’—it has that kind of vibe—and the video is incredible. We thought that the album would be huge, and we bought it that way. But it absolutely lived up to expectations. And now, I look forward to whipping Bell’s butt in the Labor Day hot-dog eating contest."
And while Shady/Aftermath/Interscope’s relentless hip-hop icon 50 Cent climbs to #5 on a 20% gain, and Elektra/EEG rock gods Metallica bang away #7, sisters are doing it for themselves in the rest of the Top 10. The female-fronted Evanescence’s Wind-up debut is at #6, Blue Note’s Norah Jones keeps hanging around at #8 and the girl-powered Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle soundtrack on Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax rises 12% to #10, with RCA’s Kelly Clarkson (#11) and J’s Monica (#13) just outside the charmed circle. The Top 10 is completed by Hypnotize Minds/Columbia’s Three 6 Mafia album at #9.
Other chart newcomers include Columbia Nashville’s Buddy Jewell, winner of the Nashville Star reality TV competition, at #12—giving Columbia four of the Top 12—and RCA Nashville’s Tracy Byrd at #42.
The only other double-digit increase in the Top 50 was registered by DreamWorks Nashville flag-waver Toby Keith (25-22, +10%).
Look for a high chart debut next week from Virgin Latin diva Thalia, making her English-language bow.
