C-Murder Joins Top 10 With Familiar Artists

New Orleans rapper C-Murder was the only new entry in the national top 10 saleschart this week, leaving such familiar names as Nelly, Eminem and Britney Spears dominating the sales action.

But that is expected to change next week with the first wave of high-profile fall releases. Albums by veteran rapper LL Cool J, pop-rockers the Barenaked Ladies and R&B; standbys Boyz II Men were all released this week and figure to enter the top 10 next week with sales of between 150,000 and 200,000 each.

The first big splash of the fall, however, is likely to be Madonna’s dance-minded “Music,” which will be released Tuesday.

Her last album, “Ray of Light,” sold 371,000 copies during its first week in the stores in March 1998. That wasn’t enough to enter at No. 1 because the blockbuster “Titanic” soundtrack sold almost a half million copies that week, but “Music”--whose title track is the nation’s best-selling single--doesn’t face such formidable opposition.

Nelly’s “Country Grammar” tops the sales chart for the fourth straight week, thanks to sales of about 191,000, according to SoundScan. The rapper’s collection has now sold almost 2.4 million copies since July.

Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP” and Britney Spears’ “Oops! . . . I Did It Again” are second and third on the new chart, with sales of about 149,000 and 142,000 copies, respectively. Sales of the Eminem album are approaching the 6.5-million mark, while Spears’ album is just past 5.6 million.

On the singles front, “Music” is trailed by Sisqo’s “Incomplete” and Janet Jackson’s “Doesn’t Really Matter.” Profyle’s “Liar” jumped eight places to No. 5.