TLC Makes a Top-Notch Entrance

TLC heads a hip-hop invasion of the Southern California album sales chart. The Atlanta trio enters at No. 1 with its first collection in five years, followed closely by newcomer Eminem and Philadelphia rap group the Roots. Absent from the scene even longer than TLC has been Blondie, whose comeback album also debuted in the region’s Top 10. In the singles division, Whitney Houston’s “Heartbreak Hotel” unseats Monica’s long-running chart-topper “Angel of Mine.”

TOP 10 ALBUMS

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Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 Fanmail, TLC (1) -- 2 Slim Shady LP, Eminem (2) -- 3 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill (3) 2 4 Things Fall Apart, Roots (4) -- 5 1999 Grammy Nominees, various artists (8) 4 6 ... Baby One More Time, Britney Spears (5) 3 7 Americana, the Offspring (10) 1 8 No Exit, Blondie (18) -- 9 Believe, Cher (9) 6 10 Come on Over, Shania Twain (7) 20

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TOP 10 SINGLES

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Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 Heartbreak Hotel, Whitney Houston (2) 2 2 Angel of Mine, Monica (3) 1 3 Believe, Cher (1) 3 4 I Still Believe, Mariah Carey (4) 11 5 All I Have to Give, Backstreet Boys (6) 5 6 Somebody Like Me, Silkk the Shocker (8) 9 7 Angel, Sarah McLachlan (5) 6 8 Faded Pictures, Case Featuring Joe (10) 4 9 Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here, Deborah Cox (7) 7 10 Kiss Me, Sixpence None the Richer (14) 16

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Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ended Feb. 28