Taylor Swift‘s album The Tortured Poets Department has reclaimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart for the 14th time, dethroning Kanye “Ye” West’s Vultures 2, which now ranks at No. 2. Billboard announced these rankings on Sunday, August 11, reflecting the ongoing chart battle between Swift and West.
Swift’s Success with The Tortured Poets Department
Released earlier this year as a double album, The Tortured Poets Department quickly became one of Swift’s most successful records. The 34-year-old “Karma” singer announced the album’s release after winning the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in February.
“I want to say ‘thank you’ to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the past two years,” Taylor revealed during her acceptance speech. She added, “Which is that my brand new album comes out April 19th. It’s called The Tortured Poets Department.”
In addition to her album success, Swift has embarked on her Eras Tour, performing globally since mid-2023.
Meanwhile, Kanye’s Vultures 2, a collaborative project with Ty Dolla $ign, continues to compete for chart dominance.
A Long-Standing Feud
Taylor and Kanye’s public feud began in 2009 when Kanye interrupted her acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards, claiming Beyoncé had one of the best videos “of all time.” Taylor, left speechless at the time, later received an invitation from Beyoncé to finish her speech on stage.
Though they reconciled and became friends in the following years, their relationship soured again with the release of Kanye’s single “Famous.” The song included controversial lyrics about Taylor: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b**ch famous.”
The Fallout from “Famous”
Kanye’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, later released recordings of a phone call where Taylor seemingly approved parts of the lyrics, reigniting tensions and keeping Taylor and Kanye at odds since.
Last year, Taylor revisited the feud in her December 2023 TIME cover story, stating, “You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited, and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,” Taylor claimed in her interview. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before.”
Kanye West breaks his streak of 11 consecutive #1 albums on the Billboard 200 with ‘VULTURES 2.’
It debuts at #2 behind Taylor Swift’s ‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.’ pic.twitter.com/d5u3jre1JR
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 11, 2024
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