Hot Stuff

R. Kelly’s “12 Play,” No. 3 on The Times’ Southern California chart, is surely one of the steamiest albums ever to make the Top 10. Gangsta rap albums are more into violence and dissing women than this kind of flagrantly sexy chatter. His racy single “Bump ‘n’ Grind”--No. 5 on the regional chart and No. 1 nationally--is driving album sales. But if you think R. Kelly’s rise signals a downturn in the moral fiber of record buyers, remember that relentlessly wholesome Celine Dion tops the pop singles chart (“The Power of Love”) and is second on the album chart with “The Colour of My Love.”

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Toni Braxton, Toni Braxton (1) 3 2 The Colour of My Love, Celine Dion (4) 1 3 12 Play, R. Kelly (3) 10 4 Reality Bites, soundtrack (13) 7 5 The Cross of Changes, Enigma (10) 4 6 August and. . .After, Counting Crows (7) 2 7 The Bodyguard, soundtrack (6) 14 8 The Sign, Ace of Base (2) 8 9 Doggystyle, Snoop Doggy Dogg (8) 5 10 Music Box, Mariah Carey (5) 6

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 The Power of Love, Celine Dion (3) 1 2 So Much in Love, All-4-One (7) 3 3 Whatta Man, Salt-N-Pepa (4) 2 4 The Sign, Ace of Base (2) 4 5 Bump ‘n’ Grind, R. Kelly (1) 7 6 Gin and Juice, Snoop Doggy Dogg (5) 6 7 Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia), Us3 (8) 5 8 Mmm Mmm. . ., Crash Test Dummies (14) 10 9 You Know How We Do It, Ice Cube (32) 8 10 Without You. . ., Mariah Carey (6) 11

TOP 10 COUNTRY ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Kickin’ It Up, John M. Montgomery (1) 1 2 Songs of the Eagles, Various artists (3) 2 3 Come On. . ., Mary Chapin-Carpenter (9) 5 4 Greatest Hits Vol. 2, Reba McEntire (5) 3 5 8 Seconds, soundtrack (4) 6 6 Lot About Livin’, Alan Jackson (6) 4 7 In Pieces, Garth Brooks (7) 9 8 This Time, Dwight Yoakam (12) -- 9 Hard Workin’ Man, Brooks and Dunn (8) 8 10 I Still Believe in You, Vince Gill (10) 7

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending March 6