Brandy’s Leap

One of the hottest singles on the Times’ Southern California pop chart is “I Wanna Be Down,” by 15-year-old pop/R&B; singer Brandy, who is from Carson. The single, which jumped from No. 8 to No. 3, is from her self-titled debut album. Madonna’s new single, “Secret,” entered the pop chart last week at No. 10 and appeared to be on its way to the top. False alarm. It went into reverse, slipping to No. 12. Not a good sign for the fate of her upcoming album, which features the single.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 Monster, R.E.M. (1) 1 2 Pisces. . ., Smashing Pumpkins (4) -- 3 From The Cradle, Eric Clapton (3) 2 4 No Need To Argue, Cranberries (12) -- 5 Tuesday Night. . ., Sheryl Crow (11) 5 6 Smash, Offspring (5) 7 7 Dookie, Green Day (8) 8 8 II, Boyz II Men (2) 4 9 Rhythm Of Love, Anita Baker (6) 6 10 Live. . ., Barbra Streisand (13) 3

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Playaz Club, Rappin’ 4-Tay (29) 3 2 I’ll Make Love To You, Boyz II Men (1) 1 3 I Wanna Be Down, Brandy (7) 8 4 Never Lie, Immature (4) 2 5 At Your Best, Aaliyah (5) 4 6 Thuggish Ruggish Bone, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (10) 9 7 . . .The Hotstepper, Ini Kamoze (12) -- 8 Endless Love, Luther Vandross/ Mariah Carey (2) 6 9 Sukiyaki, 4 P.M. . . .(77) 20 10 Stroke You Up, Changing Faces (6) 5

TOP 10 HARD ROCK ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Pisces. . ., Smashing Pumpkins (1) -- 2 Smash, Offspring (2) 1 3 Dookie, Green Day (3) 2 4 Candlebox, Candlebox (5) 4 5 Purple, Stone Temple Pilots (4) 5 6 Natural Born Killers, soundtrack (11) 6 7 Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nails (10) 8 8 Superunknown, Soundgarden (7) 7 9 4P, Danzig (8) -- 10 Divine Intervention, Slayer (6) 3

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week of Oct. 9