Hip-hop crew the Ruff Ryders came close to assailing the seemingly unstoppable Eminem last week, with their Ryde or Die Vol. II selling only about 36,000 copies less than his Marshall Mathers LP.

The second Ruff Ryders compilation will claim the #2 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week, having moved about 255,000 copies in its opening week, according to SoundScan data released Wednesday (July 12). The LP features appearances by Snoop Dogg, Method Man, Redman, Busta Rhymes, DMX, Trick Daddy, Eve and the LOX.

The first single from the album, "Got It All" (RealAudio excerpt), comes from Eve featuring Jadakiss. Jadakiss is scheduled to release his own solo album later this summer.

Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP — the fastest selling rap album of all time — sold about 290,000 copies, holding on to #1 for the seventh straight week.

The rapper said recently that the album is a more personal effort than its predecessor, The Slim Shady LP (1999). Several songs on the new disc, including "The Way I Am" (RealAudio excerpt), find Eminem addressing his struggles with fame.

"I think I grew up within the last year like crazy amounts," he said. "I think I've been through more in the last year than I've ever been through in my entire life, from being a regular person and then having this superstardom come up. I grew up. There was a lot of sh-- that happened to me in the last year that I decided to write about and kind of, like, put all jokes aside."

The Ruff Ryders disc will bump teen queen Britney Spears' sophomore album Oops! ... I Did It Again down to #3 after several weeks perched at #2. Meanwhile, St. Louis rapper Nelly will move from #3 to #4 with his debut, Country Grammar. The album features the hit title-track single (RealAudio excerpt).

The remainder of the top 10 will be: *NSync's No Strings Attached at #5; rockers Creed's Human Clay at #6; rapper Lil' Kim's Notorious K.I.M. at #7; rockers Papa Roach's Infest at #8; rock-rapper Kid Rock's The History of Rock at #9; and guitar legends Eric Clapton and B.B. King's collaborative album Riding With the King at #10.

Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes' repackaged Live at the Greek will enter at #64.