Puerto Rican-born rapper Big Punisher (nee Christopher Rios) may be gone, having died of heart failure just over two months ago, but the 179,000 fans who snatched up his final album its first week in stores prove he's not forgotten. His appropriately triumphantly-titled swan song, Yeeeah Baby, entered the SoundScan album chart last week at a solid No. 3.

Of course, Big Pun's numbers fell far short of 'N Sync's No Strings Attached, which moved a phenomenal 533,000 copies, enough to keep it well ahead of the second place Santana (186,000). After just three weeks in stores, 'N Sync's album has already sold nearly four million copies and more than Supernatural has sold all year.

The rest of the Top 10 remained mostly static, with Sisqo's Unleash the Dragon holding onto No. 4, the Romeo Must Die soundtrack slipping from No. 3 to No. 5 and Dr. Dre remaining at No. 6. Not faring quite as well were Drag-On's Opposite of H20 (falling from a No. 5 debut the previous week to No. 11) and Ice Cube's War & Peace Vol. 2 (Peace), down to No. 13 from No. 7.

Comparatively speaking, it was a much better week for Oasis. A No. 113 placement for Standing on the Shoulder of Giants after only six weeks in stores may not look too impressive, but considering that's up eighty-one spots from their No. 194 ranking one week before, the Gallagher Brothers are the comeback kids of the week. No doubt the producers of VH1's Behind the Music are now waiting for a big fruit basket, as the April 2 debut of the Oasis BTM is certain to have jump-started the album's sluggish sales.

Besides Big Pun, the only other debuts in the Top 40 belonged to Rah Digga's Dirty Harriet (No. 18, with sales of 70,000) and Pink's Can't Take Me Home (No. 26, with sales of 52,000).

From the top, it was 'N Sync's No Strings Attached, followed by Santana's Supernatural, Big Punisher's Yeeeah Baby, Sisqo's Unleash the Dragon (150,000 copies sold), the Romeo Must Die soundtrack (147,000), Dr. Dre's Dr. Dre 2001 (110,000), Destiny's Child's Writing's on the Wall (104,000), Macy Gray's On How Life Is (101,000), Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause (93,000) and DMX's And Then There Was X (91,000).

RICHARD SKANSE
(April 13, 2000)