DMX Bandit Steals Garth's Spot

05/29/1998 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Bruce Haring

(5/29/98) - Rapper DMX's debut, It's Dark & Hell Is Hot, is the new No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week, selling 251,000 copies.

The debut album supplants Garth Brooks's Limited Series boxed set, which ruled for two weeks before slipping to the No. 6 position this week.

Other newcomers on the charts include R&B stylist Sparkle (whose duet with R. Kelly, "Be Careful," is the No. 1 song on R&B radio), the soundtrack to Godzilla (featuring the Wallflowers, Ben Folds Five and the Foo Fighters), Southern rap star Eightball (a three-CD package featuring guest shots from Busta Rhymes and Master P) and former 10,000 Maniacs frontwoman Natalie Merchant.