For a third consecutive week, pop newcomer Britney Spears was far and away the nation's top-selling artist, with Lauryn Hill taking over the #2 spot from The Offspring.

The Orange County, Calif., punk-pop combo can't seem to slay the dragon.

Despite their resounding chart success with Americana, which has spent the past two months in the top five of the Billboard 200 albums chart, the Offspring haven't grabbed the top spot.

This week, Americana, which climbed to #2 a week ago, has dropped to #3, with sales of 114,677 copies for the week ending Feb. 21, according to sales tracker SoundScan.

The Offspring album includes "The Kids Aren't Alright" (RealAudio excerpt) -- a title that doesn't seem to take into account how well the kids are selling. Seventeen-year-old Spears' debut album, ... Baby One More Time, sold 197,698 units last week, 75,000 more than its closest competitor, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Fugees singer/rapper Hill is up for 10 trophies at the Grammy Awards Wednesday (Feb. 24).

Spears' ... Baby One More Time now has sold over one million copies. It's already been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, meaning two million copies have been shipped to stores.

Overall sales were slack last week. Nine of the top 10 records sold fewer copies than they had the week before. The one exception was the World Wrestling Federation's WWF: The Music, Volume 3, which continued its move up the pop chart by selling 78,598 copies, good for the #10 spot (up from #18 a week ago). The album is a collection of ring entrance music for such wrestlers as "Stone Cold Steve Austin" (RealAudio excerpt).

The week's highest debut came from Mr. Serv-On, a New Orleans-bred rapper and, until now, a relatively obscure member of Master P's No Limit Records crew. Mr. Serv-On's second album, Da Next Level, sold 69,384 copies and debuted at #14.

"I'm talking about issues that have caused pain in my life and maybe I can help someone else," said Mr. Serv-On earlier this month, whose album includes a collaboration with Big Punisher. "If they hear what I went through, then when they come near to that road they can be just like, 'Let me slow up.' "

In a week in which white rappers are in the spotlight, thanks to Tuesday's release of Eminem's Slim Shady -- which will be eligible for next week's chart -- Everlast continued to maintain a strong presence. His Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, with "What It's Like" (RealAudio excerpt), sits at #9 for a second week, on sales of 80,534 copies.

Not to be outdone, DMX re-entered the top 10 with Flesh of My Flesh -- Blood of My Blood, which had dropped to #11 last week. It climbed back to #8, even though its weekly sales dropped by about 500 copies. DMX's debut album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, moved up from #27 to #22. He'll co-headline the "Hard Knock Life" Tour with platinum hip-hopper Jay-Z starting Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.

Filling out the rest of the top 10 are: country trio the Dixie Chicks' Wide Open Spaces, at #4, pop quintet 'N Sync's self-titled album at #5, the late Tupac Shakur's Greatest Hits at #6 and pop icon Cher's Believe at #7.

Jay-Z is at #11 with Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life, while fellow rapper Foxy Brown fell out of the top 10 with Chyna Doll, which slipped to #16. Big-beat DJ Fatboy Slim's You've Come a Long Way, Baby climbed from #75 to #58; right behind him, and also climbing, was Candyass, the #59 album from industrial rockers Orgy.