Sound Bytes
R&B/Soul goddess Erykah Badu is riding a wave of awards show success with triumphs at the Grammys and, more recently, at the Soul Train Awards show held last week in Los Angeles.
Badu took home awards in the Best Female R&B Performance and Best R&B Album categories at the Grammys on Feb. 25 and followed with four more top awards at the Soul Train ceremony this past Friday. Other big winners included Usher, Dru Hill, His Puffiness and the late Notorious B.I.G.
While the Grammys were littered with attention-needing boneheads interrupting the show, the Soul Train production went off without a hitch. Much of the ceremony was dedicated to the memory of B.I.G., who died at a post-Soul Train party last year.
Gettin' jiggy this week on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart is Will Smith, who was finally able to pull past Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It" has been threatening Celine's tearjerker but hadn't been able to beat it out until this week. Also making an appearance in the top five this week is Houston's own Destiny's Child. The fresh new female quartet described as the "young Supremes" recently collaborated with Wyclef Jean of the Fugees to produce the number four song on the charts, "No, No, No," and has represented Houston all the way to the top.
I guess there's no need to even mention that the soundtrack to Titanic is once again number one on the album charts. The movie's domination around the globe doesn't appear to be slowing down. Rounding out the top five are Dion's Let's Talk About Love, Silkk The Shocker's Charge It 2 Da Game, Savage Garden's Savage Garden and the soundtrack to the hit movie The Wedding Singer.
Eric Clapton's new album, Pilgrim, is already receiving acclaim nationwide and hits stores on Tuesday, with a tour close behind. Clapton's first release since last year features tracks said to take the listener on an "emotional rollercoaster."