Hot Diggity

Dr. Dre might have abandoned gangsta rap, but his former N.W.A. partner Ice Cube proves there’s still an audience for inflammatory funk. “Bow Down,” the debut album from Westside Connection--the trio of Cube, Mack 10 and WC--outdid the mighty Van Halen on The Times’ Southern California chart. Meanwhile Blackstreet, which last week had the best-selling single in Southern California, finally matched that feat nationwide when “No Diggity” ended the 13-week national reign of Los Del Rio’s “Macarena (Bayside Boyz Mix).”

TOP 10 ALBUMS

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Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 Bow Down, Westside Connection (2) -- 2 Best Of, Vol. 1, Van Halen (1) -- 3 Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt (7) 2 4 Trial by Fire, Journey (3) -- 5 Recovering the Satellites, C. Crows (5) 1 6 The Moment, Kenny G (6) 3 7 Falling Into You, Celine Dion (4) 5 8 That Thing You Do!, soundtrack (27) 6 9 Secrets, Toni Braxton (9) 13 10 Sublime, Sublime (36) 9

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TOP 10 SINGLES

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Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 No Diggity, Blackstreet (1) 1 2 Never Leave Me Alone, Nate Dogg (40) -- 3 Bow Down, Westside Connection (21) 2 4 Unbreak My Heart, Toni Braxton (4) 6 5 Falling, Montell Jordan (18) 10 6 Twisted, Keith Sweat (9) 3 7 It’s All Coming Back . . ., C. Dion (8) 7 8 Pony, Ginuwine (6) 8 9 I’m Still in Love . . ., New Edition (10) -- 10 Only You, 112 (25) 4

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TOP 10 R&B; ALBUMS

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Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Bow Down, Westside Connection (1) -- 2 The Moment, Kenny G (2) 1 3 Secrets, Toni Braxton (3) 4 4 Another Level, Blackstreet (7) 2 5 Home Again, New Edition (6) 3 6 Keith Sweat, Keith Sweat (4) 6 7 Set It Off, soundtrack (5) 9 8 All Eyez on Me, 2Pac (9) 5 9 Stardust, Natalie Cole (13) 7 10 ATLiens, Outkast (10) 10

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Source: SoundScan Inc., week ending Oct. 27