POP-EYE U.S. 11/17/00
this week on the billboard charts, the top three remains solidified with destiny’s child continuing to bitch-slap the competition with “independent women, pt. 1.” creed and 3 doors down stay in spots 2 and 3, 3 doors down seeming particularly comfortable in that position: still — wait for it — i guess it’s better than being #2. ahhh.
madonna and christina aguilera seem to be in an unspoken battle about whom can fall down the chart faster, each dropping four spots this week (madonna to 8, christina to 12). christina’s exit from the top ten makes room for, yes finally, the backstreet boys’ “shape of my heart,” now at 10. with four days until the day their album drops, i’m not getting the feeling that they’ll best ‘nsync’s single week sales mark, but, right now, i don’t think they’d mind: they seem to be going out of their way to distinguish themselves from their would-be nemeses what with their upcoming adult spread in rolling stone, subdued video, and plain album cover (it’s the black & blue album, quite literally).
shaggy’s pleasant “it wasn’t me” makes the biggest leap this week, moving up fourteen spots from 30. his continued success since “boombastic” is very likely confounding to most individuals who would’ve had him pegged as a one-hit wonder, and who could blame them, i mean that voice. also debuting in the top 20 this week are nelly with the quite excellent “e.i.” coming in at 17, displaying further his ability in making a great chorus out of gibberish, and dream with “he loves u not.” the other day, i was wondering what was up with bad boy records because they seem to be in pretty bad shape since b.i.g.’s death and puffy’s last album being a relative flop and no one really taking to either black rob or shyne. well, dream represent his best hope of continuing to make a profit and, surprisingly, it’s an interestingly-produced tune — a marvel in itself given puffy’s predilections — with an agitated, shuffling beat and some fuzzy synths, if just a tad dull in the melody/chorus department.
making moves in the twenties are matchbox twenty, jay-z, and outkast. will any of these break into the top twenty next week? will destiny’s child continue their dominance? will 3 doors down ever leave the third spot? just how far will “come on over baby” and “music” fall next week? answers to these questions and more in the next installment of pop-eye u.s.
FIVE BEST
samantha mumba – “gotta tell you” (5)
backstreet boys – “shape of my heart” (10)
ricky martin – “she bangs” (13)
nelly – “e.i.” (17)
mystikal – “shake ya ass” (19)