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The era of Taylor Swift dominating the Billboard charts is over—for now.
Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department has dropped to number 4 on the Billboard 200 for the top albums in the country, ending its 12-week reign at number one. It was beaten by Eminem with his latest studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), his 11th number one.
This dominance has been a new accomplishment for Swift, who is used to breaking records. Her previous record for consecutive weeks atop the chart was 11 weeks, which Swift did twice with her albums 1989 and Fearless. According to Billboard, only two other albums in history, Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time and Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, have spent at least their first 12 weeks on top.
It’s not totally shocking, though, considering how Swift is currently at the center of what has basically become a monoculture surrounding herself. She’s literally the main character right now, or, at least it feels that way if you engage in the zeitgeist whatsoever. TTPD’s success—despite its middling reviews from critics—is as much of a product of that total, Eras-tour fueled, Travis Kelce-supported, mania surrounding everything she does as the actual music.
It’s also, of course, what Taylor Swift appears to want, and people are starting to catch on. She’s long been a fan of, as Vulture recently put it, making “an Olympic sport out of the charts, scheming up additional releases around her albums and timing them just right to keep her at No. 1, break new records, and cement her spot as the most successful artist of her generation.” They are referring to the new “editions,” remixes, or singles Swift drops constantly after releasing an album, with the apparent goal of keeping herself up top.
For example, TTPD had competition for its throne when Billie Eilish released her latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, in early June. But then, Swift announced she would be releasing more editions of her album, and retained her number one spot (and fueled rumors of a feud between her and Eilish, which may or may not be true).
Swift has done this chart game playing for a while, and plenty of other artists do it too. But during this era, fans have started to seriously engage with her strategies. They have criticized her for, in their opinion, blocking other artists, especially women like Eilish, from the top. This is in a year that’s been especially good for women in music, with stars like Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappel Roan on the rise and Beyonce and Ariana Grande also releasing new music.
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