Dr. Dre Leads Rappers’ Surge

Record buyers made rap the dominant sound last week, both in Southern California--where Dr. Dre topped a chart whose first four positions were occupied by rap acts--and nationally, where Jay-Z’s new release entered at No. 1. In the singles chart, Jessica Simpson’s long run at No. 1 was ended by teen-pop rival Christina Aguilera.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

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Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 Dr. Dre 2001, Dr. Dre (5) 2 2 Life and Times of S. Carter, Jay-Z (1) -- 3 And Then There Was X, DMX (2) 9 4 Still I Rise, 2Pac + Outlawz (6) 3 5 Supernatural, Santana (8) 1 6 All the Way. . . , Celine Dion (3) 5 7 Enema of the State, Blink-182 (12) 11 8 Christina Aguilera, Christina Aguilera (4) 4 9 Rainbow, Mariah Carey (9) 6 10 Significant Other, Limp Bizkit (11) 5

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TOP 10 SINGLES

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Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 What a Girl Wants, Christina Aguilera (1) -- 2 Girl on TV, LFO (5) 2 3 Auld Lang Syne (Millennium Mix), Kenny G (4) 8 4 You Can Do It, Ice Cube (11) 6 5 I Wanna Love You Forever, Jessica Simpson (2) 1 6 G’d Up, Snoop Dogg Pres. Tha Eastsidaz (18) 10 7 Hot Boyz, Missy Elliott (3) 9 8 Don’t Say You Love Me, M2M (10) 3 9 Dancin’, Guy (14) 11 10 Smooth, Santana (7) 7

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Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ended Jan. 2