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Tracy Chapman is an artist who has seen her star rise, fall and rise again. “New Beginning,” her latest collection, is the singer-songwriter’s most popular album since her 1988 self-titled debut. The album sold 78,000 copies last week according to SoundScan, and is currently at No. 6 on The Times’ Southern California chart. Nas’ “It Was Written” slips to No.2 behind Alanis Morissette’s relentless “Jagged Little Pill” on the local front, but holds on to its national No.1 position for the fourth consecutive week. 2Pac’s “How Do U Want It,” meanwhile, has slipped to No. 2 nationally, but remains No. 1 locally.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

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Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1 Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette (2) 1 2 It Was Written, Nas (1) 2 3 Secrets, Toni Braxton (8) 3 4 Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt (10) 4 5 Phenomenon, soundtrack (12) 5 6 New Beginning, Tracy Chapman (9) 6 7 Falling Into You, Celine Dion (6) 8 8 En Pleno Vuelo, Marco Solis (--) -- 9 Blue, LeAnn Rimes (3) 10 10 The Nutty Professor, soundtrack (13) 12

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TOP 10 SINGLES

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Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 How Do U Want It, 2Pac (2) 1 2 Twisted, Keith Sweat (3) 3 3 Loungin, LL Cool J (6) 2 4 You’re Making Me High, T. Braxton (7) 4 5 Macarena (B. Boyz Mix), Los Del Rio (1) 5 6 Someday, All-4-One (15) 6 7 Only You, 112 (10) 8 8 I Can’t Sleep, R. Kelly (4) 7 9 Elevators, Outkast (8) 10 10 Change the World, Eric Clapton (9) 9

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TOP 10 RAP ALBUMS

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Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 It Was Written, Nas (1) 1 2 The Score, Fugees (3) 2 3 E. 1999, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (2) 3 4 Gettin’ It (Album No. 10), Too Short (5) 4 5 All Eyez on Me, 2Pac (6) 5 6 The Final Tic, Crucial Conflict (4) 7 7 Stakes Is High, De La Soul (12) 8 8 N.W.A.’s Greatest Hits, N.W.A. (13) 6 9 Licensed to Ill, The Beastie Boys (--) 9 10 Mr. Smith, LL Cool J (10) --

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Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending July 28