Awww Baby! Chart Rocks wit Ashanti

It appears Ashanti fans are still stuck on the second chapter. And that's a good thing.

For a second straight week, Ashanti and Beyoncé Knowles tussled for the chart's top spot, and Ashanti once again squeezed out a victory by the narrowest of margins. Ashanti's Chapter II extended the R&B singer's reign by fewer than 4,000 copies, which marks an even slimmer margin than the 10,000-copy margin she held over Beyoncé on last week's charts.

Ashanti's Chapter II sold 135,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan data, while Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love took runner-up honors with just over 131,000 copies.

With little new competition this week, Chapter II became the first album to hold the number one spot for back-to-back weeks since Linkin Park repeated with Meteora in early April.

Rockers Evanescence parlayed a recent appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to a chart bounce, as Fallen jumped up to number three, matching the band's best chart position to date. With help from the new single "Going Under," Fallen moved 72,000 copies of Fallen last week.

His rookie bow may have only been seven years ago, but country singer Trace Adkins is already pumping out his first retrospective, Greatest Hits Collection Vol. I (a title that threatens a Vol. II). The album, which also topped the country sales chart, sold a career-best 56,000 copies for the Louisiana-born singer.

The rest of the Top 10, all chart mainstays, consisted of Luther Vandross' Dance with My Father at four, 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' at five, Michelle Branch's Hotel Paper at six, Metallica's St. Anger at seven, Norah Jones' Come Away with Me at eight and Cher's Very Best of Cher reentering the Top 10 in the 10 spot.

Latin babe Thalia just missed, checking in at number 11 with her self-titled, English-language debut. Already a huge acting and singing success in Mexico, Thalia is also the third wife of former Sony chief Tommy Mottola, who previously helped launch the career of ex-wife Mariah Carey. (Ironically, Thalia's new album is on Virgin Records, which took it on the chin with a disastrous, megadollar Carey contract a few years back.)

Norah Jones, currently in a remarkable Top 10 stretch, appears a prime target for enterprising vault vultures. Early collaborations with Peter Malick were unearthed and issued as part of the seven-song disc New York City, which opened at 54 even though Jones refused to endorse the release.

Finally, famed jazz guitarist George Benson debuted at 138 with Greatest Hits of All, the Pittsburgh-born six-stringer's fourth best-of collection since 1990. Benson, who's appeared on such albums as Mile Davis' Miles in the Sky, made his label debut more than four decades ago.

As the summer sequel season continues at theaters, the soundtracks continue at retail, and the latest offering, Bad Boys II, is expected to top the album charts next week. The soundtrack benefits from the lead single, "Shake Ya Tailfeather," featuring Nelly, P. Diddy, and Murphy Lee. Finally a legitimate excuse for Diddy to yell "bad boy" every five seconds!

To recap, the Top 10 albums for the week ended Sunday were as follows:

1. Chapter II, Ashanti
2. Dangerously in Love, Beyoncé Knowles
3. Fallen, Evanescence
4. Dance with My Father, Luther Vandross
5. Get Rich or Die Tryin', 50 Cent
6. Hotel Paper, Michelle Branch
7. St. Anger, Metallica
8. Come Away with Me, Norah Jones
9. Greatest Hits Collection Vol. I, Trace Adkins
10. The Very Best of Cher, Cher