'Miseducation' at head of class
Hill album stays atop charts with sales of 214,000 copies
The Columbia Records disc from the Fugees front woman successfully held off challenges from eagerly awaited bows from Canibus and Hole and was among five discs in the Top 10 that belonged to the Sony Music family for the period ended Sept. 13.
At No. 2 was the eponymous bow of Universal Records' Canibus, which was purchased by more than 127,000 devotees and gave the Fugees family the nation's two top-selling albums; Fugee Wyclef Jean manages Hill and produced tracks on the Canibus album.
Canibus credibility
"The fact that it outsold those two albums (Hill and Hole) speaks to the credibility of Canibus," Mel Lewinter, chairman of Universal Records, told Daily Variety. "It also speaks to the teamwork between the label and distribution on the setup of the album which made sure the fans knew it was coming."
RCA Records ensemble 'Nsync held steady at No. 3 for the second week on sales action of 111,000 copies, a tally that was less than 1,000 copies away from the sales total of the Beastie Boys' Capitol Records disc "Hello Nasty," which checked in at No. 4.
'Titanic' sinking
The Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrack album "Back to Titanic" fell three slots to No. 5 on nearly 107,000 copies and held "Stunt," the latest from Reprise Records act Barenaked Ladies, from ascending. The latter disc logged its second week at No. 6 with just under 105,000 copies being sold.
The soundtrack to "Armageddon" and Jive Records' Backstreet Boys benefited from exposure and award wins during last Thursday's MTV Music Video Awards and checked in at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively. Aerosmith's track "I Don't Want to Wait" off the Columbia/SMS disc nabbed a pair of trophies and helped the disc move north of 91,000 copies. The Boys nabbed a MTV nod for best group video for its "Everybody" track.
"Celebrity Skin," the highly touted release from Geffen Records act Hole bowed at No. 9 on 85,000 copies, a tally which was no doubt helped by the band's perf on the MTV Music Video Awards, the disc's smoother sound and the widespread radio acceptance of the title track.
