Tip keeps Metallica out of the top spot for the second week in a row.
By Chris Harris

T.I.'s <i>Paper Trail</i>
Photo: Atlantic Records

After putting an end to Metallica's three-week run at Billboard's #1, T.I. begins his reign as the nation's best-selling artist, spending a second consecutive week at the top with his latest release, Paper Trail, despite a 69 percent decline in week-two sales. But there's no secret to T.I.'s second-week staying power: The rapper's place on top of the chart just wasn't challenged.

Paper Trail scanned more than 176,000 copies during its second week on shelves, and the next closest competitor ended up being T.I.'s recently defeated foes, Metallica, whose Death Magnetic sold another 65,700 units. The album climbs three spots on next week's chart to #2, according to the latest Nielsen SoundScan sales figures, and has sold more than 1.1 million copies to date. Metallica's latest robbed Rise Against's new one, Appeal to Reason, by just 1,000 copies, earning that LP the week's highest debut; the album enters at #3, with 64,700 sold.

There will be 20 new releases impacting next week's Billboard albums chart, with three others entering in the top 10. Oasis return at #5 (right behind Jennifer Hudson's eponymous debut at #4, which sold 62,700 units), having sold 53,000 copies of their newest studio offering, Dig Out Your Soul. Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs enters at #6 with close to 50,000 scans, while Tim McGraw's Greatest Hits 3 follows at #9, with week-one sales of 44,300.

Meanwhile, Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus holds for a third week at #7, selling another 48,000 copies, while Ne-Yo's The Year of the Gentleman sits at #8 with 47,000 sold. Rounding things out at #10, with 43,900 copies snatched up, is James Taylor's Covers.

Also new to next week's chart is Sarah McLachlan's Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan, which opens at #11 after selling around 40,000 copies. Senses Fail's Life Is Not a Waiting Room enters at #18, with 23,700 sold, while Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis' No Molestar bows at #19, with 22,500 scans. Break Up the Concrete, the Pretenders' latest, debuts at #32, after selling 16,200 copies, while Tesla's Forever More follows at #33, with 16,100 sold. Former Destiny's Child member Michelle Williams' solo album, Unexpected, surfaces at #42, with week-one scans of 12,100, while Devin the Dude's Landing Gear debuts at #47, with 10,900 sold.

Elephants ... Teeth Sinking Into Heart, the second full-length album by Rachael Yamagata, opens at #53, having sold a reported 9,600 units, while Casting Crowns' Peace on Earth bows at #56, with 8,700 scans. The Clash's Live at Shea Stadium set enters the chart at #93, scanning 5,600 copies, while the Streets' Everything Is Borrowed opens at #154 with 3,800 sold. Antony and the Johnsons' Another World sold 3,400 copies to debut at #179, while at #180, with 3,300 scans, it's Margot & the Nuclear So and So's' Not Animal.

• T.I.
• Metallica