After just one week in the top spot, U2's Pop got the boot from Houston hardcore rapper Scarface, whose fourth solo effort, The Untouchable debuted as the nation's best-selling album for the week ending March, 16. According to SoundScan, Scarface's album sold 169,000 copies, earning the former Geto Boys star his first solo No. 1.
The Untouchable was powered in part by its first single, "Game Over," featuring Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, as well as the buzz on its second single "Smile," which features the late Tupac Shakur.
As for U2, Pop sold 150,000 copies, dropping to No. 2. That represents a sales decrease of 52 percent from last week's tally of 349,000.
From the top it was The Untouchable; Pop; LeAnn Rimes' Unchained Melody (136,000 copies sold); The Spice Girls (114,000); Jewel's Pieces of You (109,000); the soundtrack to Space Jam (104,000); Celine Dion's Falling Into You (96,000); The Wallflowers' Bringing Down the Horse (95,600); No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom (95,5000); and Erykah Badu's Baduizm (85,000).
Other notable chart debuts included Collective Soul's Disciplined Breakdown (at No. 16), the soundtrack to Selena (No. 20), The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Let's Face It (No. 45), the soundtrack to Love Jones (No. 60), Morphine's Like Swimming (No. 67), and Blur's Blur (No. 89).
Not surprisingly, following the March 9 murder of Notorious B.I.G., the rapper's 1994 debut, Ready To Die, re-entered the sales chart, at No. 119. (B.I.G.'s posthumous follow-up, Life After Death, arrives in stores March 25.)
On the single sales side, for the third week in a row, it was Puff Daddy (featuring Mase) at No. 1 with "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" (179,000 copies sold), followed by the Spice Girls' "Wannabe" (107,000); Dru Hill's "In My Bed" (95,000); Foxy Brown (featuring Jay-Z) with "I'll Be"; 702's "Get It Together" (71,000); Jewel's "You Were Meant For Me" (60,000); Babyface's "Every Time I Close My Eyes" (59,000); Da Brat (featuring T-Boz) with "Ghetto Love" (54,000); Monica's "For You I Will" (53,000); and R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" (51,000).