Taylor Swift has done something she has never done before – beat out Kanye West for the number one album.
The singer’s album was released in April, and Kanye’s was released on August 3.
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Credit: Getty
Despite releasing her album, The Tortured Poets Department, four months ago, Taylor, 34, remains at the top of the Billboard 200 Album chart.
She just got her 14th week at number one, according to Billboard.
TTPD moved another 142,000 album units to remain at the top.
The last album to spend 14 weeks at number one was Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which logged 19 nonconsecutive weeks on top from March 2023 to March 2024.
READ MORE ON TAYLOR & KANYE
The last female album to earn that achievement was Adele’s 21, which spent 24 nonconsecutive weeks at number one from 2011 to 2012.
Now, Taylor has beaten out one of her biggest enemies.
OWES HIM NOTHING
Kanye’s Vultures II was released on August 3 and debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
The album he collaborated on with Ty Dolla $ign had 107,000 equivalent album units.
This is Ye’s 13th album to reach the top 3 and Ty’s third top 10 album.
Vultures II was the long-awaited sequel to February’s Vultures 1.
Taylor Swift fans convinced star shaded Kanye West with shirt during concert after singer was name-dropped on Vultures 2 (I bet you think about me)
The opening sales of Vultures 2 were affected by its availability across a widely available standard explicit edition and a clean edition released later in the week on August 8.
Kanye, 47, also released five different editions on his online store, which all contained bonus tracks.
HOW DOES SHE DO IT?
When Taylor first announced TTPD, she dropped four album variants with different bonus tracks.
These bonus tracks were part of the double album she released on April 19.
Taylor’s bitter feud with Kanye and Kim explained
Taylor Swift has been locked in a nasty feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian for years.
- 2009 – Kanye interrupted Taylor’s VMA win for Best Female Video onstage, saying, “I’m really happy for you and I’mma let you finish but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time”
- 2009 – Later that month, Kanye admitted he regretted the action and Taylor confirmed that he rang to apologize
- 2010 – Taylor performed Innocent, a song rumored to be about Kanye, at the VMAs, singing, “It’s all right / Just wait and see / Your string of lights is still bright to me / Who you are is not where you’ve been”
- 2013 – Kanye took back his apology to the singer, insisting, “I do not have one regret”
- 2015 – The former rivals reunited at the 2015 Grammy Awards and posed together for photos and Taylor later said she “likes him as a person”
- 2016 – Kanye debuted his song, Famous, with the lyrics, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b***h famous”
- 2016 – After Taylor insisted she did not approve the lyric, “I made that b***h famous,” Kim released video footage of her phone call with Kanye
- 2017 – Taylor seemingly referenced their feud in her album, Reputation, teasing the news with videos of a serpent – a nod to the snake emojis posted in her Instagram comments implying she was a liar – and seemed to diss Kanye in her song, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
- 2018 – Taylor said Kim had not released the full recording and asked, “Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that b***h’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that b***’ in front of the entire world”
- 2019 – Kim insisted in a magazine interview that they had “squashed” their feud
- 2019 – Taylor claimed Kanye’s Famous music video was “revenge porn” as it featured a fake naked sculpture of her
- 2020 – The full phone call between Taylor and Kanye was leaked, in which there was no mention of her being called “that b***h”
- 2020 – Kim initially said the call revealed “nothing new” and later backtracked and tweeted, “the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that ‘Kanye never called to ask for permission…’ They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘b***h’ was used without her permission.
- 2023 – Taylor said in a TIME interview that the feud with Kim and Kanye felt like a “career death” and “took her down psychologically”
Since the release, she has released different variants on vinyl and CDs.
Taylor also sold thousands of signed CDs, which boosted sales.
Most recently, she released five new digital album variants on her website, which included live TTPS songs from The Eras Tour and a first draft memo.
Every album sold, despite having new material on it, counts towards the charts and the number of copies she sells per week.
‘ENDED KANYE’S STREAK’
Reddit users posted on Sunday, “Taylor Swift has officially ended Kanye West’s streak of #1 albums on the Billboard 200.”
A tweet from chart data said, “Taylor Swift has officially ended Kanye West’s streak of #1 albums on the Billboard 200. All of his projects credited to ‘Kanye West’ since Late Registration had debuted at #1.”
“Karma is her boyfriend,” one fan said, referencing the line from her song Karma.
“The signed album drop paid off,” said another.
“Massive props to her,” said a third.
“I’m so glad she finally got revenge against him,” wrote another.
“This is amusing,” commented another.
TAYLOR VS. KANYE
Taylor and Kanye’s feud began in 2009 when he stormed the stage at the VMAs and said that Beyonce should have won Best Female Video in the middle of Taylor’s speech.
Later that year, she admitted that Kanye had called her to apologize and admit he was wrong.
But, in 2010, she still made a song about him on her album Speak Now called Innocent.
Some standout lyrics are “It’s ok. Life is a tough crowd. 32 and still growing up now.”
The two became friends for a while until 2016 when their feud started back up.
The rapper debuted his song Famous with the lyrics, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? I made that b***h famous.”
Taylor said that she did not approve the “I made that b***h famous line,” which caused Kayne’s then-wife, Kim Kardashian, to leak a phone call and start a Taylor Swift hate train.
She insisted that Kim fabricated the phone call and wanted to know where the part was with him, asking if he could call her a b***h.
The full phone call was released in 2020, with no mention of her being called “that b***h.”
Taylor sang about Kim, 43, and Kanye on her 2017 album Reputation and again on 2024’s TTPD.
Fans also think she shaded him during her concerts in Poland after he name-dropped her and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, on Vultues II.
Credit: Getty
Credit: Getty
Credit: Getty
Credit: YouTube/Miguel___Angel
