Taylor Swift, seen onstage in Amsterdam in July during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour, has broken another record with her latest album The Tortured Poets Department.
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Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
This week, Kendrick Lamar enjoys a resurgence: His very catchy Drake diss track, “Not Like Us,” has rebounded to the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart for the first time since its release week back in May. Taylor Swift has outdone her own record on the Billboard 200 albums chart and a talented upstart named Bruce Springsteen has made a chart debut. (For real.)
TOP SONGS
It was probably the release of the clever official video on the Fourth of July that did it: Kendrick Lamar’s sneering Drake diss track “Not Like Us” is back at No. 1, nine weeks after it debuted in the top spot.
Since then, it’s been meandering between the second and sixth position. By contrast, none of Drake’s own diss tracks against K-Dot are currently anywhere in the Hot 100; his collaboration with rapper Sexyy Red, “U My Everything,” is currently at No. 76. As far as sheer popularity goes, Kendrick is the clear winner in this round of beef.
Meanwhile: Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” has dipped back down to No. 2 after one week in the top spot, followed by Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, at No. 3, Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” at No. 4 and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” rounding out the top five (her follow-up, “Please Please Please,” is at No. 6).
TOP ALBUMS
Well, folks, she did it: With The Tortured Poets Department at No. 1 for a 12th consecutive week, Taylor Swift has set another chart milestone. Not only has Tortured Poets beat the 11-week record of two of Swift’s other albums (1989 and Fearless), but it is now the only album by a female artist to debut in the top spot and remain there for so long. (The previous record was held by Whitney Houston, for her 1987 album Whitney.)
As Billboard notes, only two other albums have remained at No. 1 for their first 12 weeks after being released: Stevie Wonder’s iconic Songs in the Key of Life, which was released in 1976 and spent 14 weeks in first place, and current country star Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which in total spent 19 weeks in the top spot.
In a big upward sweep, another contemporary prince of country, Zach Bryan, moved from 17th place last week to No. 2 with his album The Great American Bar Scene. (Remember how we said this looked like it was going to be a big summer for country music?)
Seventeen of the album’s 19 tracks have also made it into the Hot 100. Why the big jump this week? The reason why Bar Scene didn’t chart higher last week is that was only commercially available for one day of the last chart-tracking period.
Rounding out the top five on the Billboard 200: Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time has tripped down to No. 3, followed by Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
WORTH NOTING
Last week’s Billboard 200 chart position for The Great American Bar Scene doesn’t tell the full story of this album’s successes so far. Bryan’s album is currently atop a number of Billboard charts: Top Streaming Albums, Top Country Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Americana/Folk Albums. Bryan’s multi-genre dominance also helped has also made some room to introduce another singer-songwriter to the country music chart: Bruce Springsteen. (Bruce Springsteen! In 2024! 49 years after his first Billboard chart appearance with 1975’s “Born to Run”!)
Performing as a featured artist on Bryan’s song “Sandpaper,” The Boss has made his debut on the Hot Country Songs chart, at No. 26. “Sandpaper” also landed at No. 76 on the Hot 100 this week — Springsteen’s first appearance on the overall singles chart since “Working on a Dream” in 2009. It just goes to show: With a lot of effort and a vision, a talented singer-songwriter can accomplish anything!