Los Angeles, July 10: Dueling hip-hop/R&B divas dominated the pop charts this week as Ashanti's latest album debuted at No. 1, pushing chanteuse Beyonce to No. 2, according to data released Wednesday by Nielsen Soundscan. After nabbing a Grammy for best R&B album for her first self-titled 2002 album, "Ashanti," which sold more than 3.4 million copies in the United States, "Chapter II," the latest album by the former backup singer for Ja Rule, has sold an estimated 327,000 units in its first week of release.
While the first week tally lagged the debut of Ashanti's first album, which sold about 500,000 units in its opening week, executives at the singer-songwriter's label, Island Def Jam Music Group, were anything but discouraged.
"Ashanti's stuck to doing Ashanti and it proved the sophomore jinx did not get her," said Kevin Liles, executive vice president of Island Def Jam Music Group, part of Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group.
The album, described as a cross-section of R&B and hip-hop, features 18 tracks, many of which were written or co-written by the 22-year-old New York native.
Ranking No. 2 behind Ashanti this week was Beyonce Knowles' "Dangerously in Love," which sold about 183,000 units, bringing her cumulative tally to about 501,000 units according to Nielsen Soundscan.
The album by the 21-year-old Houston native and member of the multiplatinum trio Destiny's Child, features collaborations with stars like rappers Jay-Z and Missy Elliott.

"They both have hot records and that's great for today's business," said Violet Brown, an urban music buyer for retail chain Wherehouse Music, referring to Ashanti and Beyonce.

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"Ashanti has proven herself to be an artist that's going to be around for a while and she seems to be filling the Janet Jackson void right now," Brown said.

Ranking third on the sales charts, was "Dance With My Father," by Luther Vandross, who is still recovering from a stroke.

Reflecting the continued sluggish conditions of the music industry, the top three albums were the only records this week to crack six digits sales figures.

Ranking fourth, was "Hotel Paper" by Michelle Branch, which sold about 85,000 units, while hard-core rapper 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin"' came in at No. 5, selling about 77,000 units, bringing his total to about 5.4 million units sold, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

That album ranks as the best-selling release of 2003.
Bureau Report