Grammy Award winning Murder Inc. recording artist, Ashanti, lands at #1 again this week on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B album charts with the release of her second album Chapter II selling 326,000 units in its first week. Chapter II follows her record breaking self-titled debut album one year ago which set a Soundscan record for a solo female artist scanning over 500,000 copies in one week.

Chapter II, executive produced by Ashanti and Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo features the hit single "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)" and fourteen new tracks all penned by Ashanti. Ashanti will appear live on NBC's Today Show "Summer Concert Series" on July 18th and currently graces the cover of Elle Girl magazine. The second single off of Chapter II is the powerful "Rain on Me".

In 2002, Ashanti's knack for writing hit records helped her alter Soundscan history when her self-titled debut album sold more copies in its first week of release than any first-time female solo artist in the chart's history outselling debuts by Beyonce, Tweet, Alicia Keys and Lauren Hill. Simultaneously, Ashanti also secured the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and the R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart in Spring 2002 with the hit single "Foolish."

Also in 2002, the then 21-year-old rocked the Billboard charts by having her first three chart entries all land in the top 10 of The Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. (Ashanti is the first female to accomplish this feat and only second to the Beatles to do so.) Her string of top ten singles include, "Rock Wit U (Aww Baby)", "Foolish", "Happy", "Mesmerized" f/Ja Rule, "What's Love" with rapper Fat Joe and "Always on Time" with Ja Rule. Also, Ashanti is co-writer of the Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule hit single "Ain't it Funny" (remix) which also reached the Top 10.

Ashanti took home a Grammy in 2003 for Best Contemporary R&B album, seven Billboard Awards, two American Music Awards, The Lady of Soul Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year Award, and a 2002 BET Award for Best New Artist. Ashanti published her first book of poetry and essays Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections On Love through Hyperion.

The Island Def Jam Music Group is home to a multi-cultural and diverse family of artists and has fast become one of the most successful labels in the industry. It is comprised of Island Records, Def Jam Recordings and Def Soul, and is in partnerships with American Recordings, Lost Highway Records, Roc-A-Fella Records, Murder Inc, Bloodline Records, Java Records and Roadrunner Records. The roster boasts an array of talented artists including Jay-Z, Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey, Ludacris, Ashanti, Ryan Adams, Nickelback, Musiq, Slipknot, Thursday, Thrice, Method Man, Hoobastank, Ja Rule, Sum 41, Slayer, Kelly Price, Saliva and DMX.