Get excited, Swifties! After a long wait, karma made its final move, and Taylor Swift managed to break Kanye West’s No. 1 streak. The Bad Love singer climbed the Billboard charts, taking the first spot with her album The Tortured Poets Department, as reported by TMZ.
Who’s Winning the Billboard Charts?
Taylor’s The Tortured Poets Department has been No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for nearly 14 weeks. According to Luminate, it earned 142,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week ending Aug. 8, 2024. The last album to stay at No. 1 for at least 14 weeks was Adele’s 21, according to Billboard.
Right after Taylor’s album, at No. 2 is Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vulture 2, with 107,000 equivalent album units. This is the thirteenth time West’s album has debuted at No. 2. However, it seems he has lost the ongoing battle with Taylor Swift and being at No. 2 won’t heal his wounds. After topping the chart 11 times in the past, this time, he has fallen behind, and his streak is over as The Tortured Poets Department continues to enjoy success.
This week, Taylor has topped the Billboard 200 for 83 weeks in her career. She shares this new record with the late Elvis Presley, who spent 67 weeks atop the chart among all solo artists.
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What does this mean for Taylor Swift and Kanye West?
The rivalry between Taylor and West has been going on since 2009. During the VMA award show, Kanye stole the limelight from Swift, saying Beyoncé should win the award. The incident sparked a war between artists and the field that became the music industry. Fans also split in their support for their favorite artists.
Another major incident that sparked the rivalry between the artists was when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West recorded Taylor Swift on a private phone call. The recording claimed that Taylor gave Kanye permission to call her a “shit” in his song Famous. However, Swift said that she had not allowed any such thing. The incident angered many fans, and Taylor faced major criticism for allegedly lying. Kim Kardashian even called her a “snake” on social media.
The recording scandal nearly ruined Swift’s career, and the artist told Time, “What you have here is a completely manufactured frame job, an illegally recorded phone call, that Kim Kardashian edited and then broadcast to tell everyone that I was a liar.” The battle between Kanye and Taylor has been active ever since.
Read this also | Did Taylor Swift copy Kanye West when she name-checked him and Travis Kelsey in Vultures 2?
Taylor has since released her album Reputation, which includes songs like Look What You Made Me Do, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, and many more songs that target ideas of revenge against Kanye and Kim. Other albums include songs like Karma, Fortnite, and many more songs dealing with the same issue.
Meanwhile, Kanye recently mentioned Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce. In his new song Lifestyle (Demo), West mentioned, “I twist my Taylor spliffs tight at the end just like Travis Kelce.”
As the Daily Mail reports, Kelsea’s father criticized Kanye on his Facebook page and wrote, “Mental illness is on full display.” Even though karma has badly affected Kanye’s reputation, fans speculate that the fight is not over yet and there is no cure for their curiosity.
