The contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top Advertising sign charts and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated Aug. 10, Ye is looking for his 12th consecutive chart album to debut at No. 1 – but he'll have to overcome a familiar longtime nemesis first.
Ye & Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures 2 (YZY): We must be approaching the 15th anniversary of the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, because Ye (ex Kanye West) and Taylor Swift are messing it up again. This time, it's not particularly personal: Swift's Department of Tormented Poets has been the album topping the Billboard 200 for over three months now, and Ye & Ty's typically long-awaited and overdue sequel o set Vultures 2originally scheduled for March, it was finally released last Saturday (August 3), after being announced for the previous day.
However, the race is now on, and Ye and Ty are in it to win it. As is typical of Ye's last-second re-releases of the past decade, Vultures 2 not available for physical purchase at launch – is available digitally only, on iTunes and Amazon and its own webstore, and currently on sale for just $5. Late Tuesday night (August 6), Ye released a new deluxe edition of the album as an online store exclusive, featuring a new song that is currently unavailable for streaming, “Take off your dress.”
Given these maneuvers and Ye's history on the map, Vultures 2 would seem a likely front-runner for the No. 1 spot. However, the streaming performance of the set was not on par with the dominance of his and Ty's debut Vultures: On Apple Music, the album claims just three of the top 50 spots, and it has only one entry in that range on Spotify: “Field Trip,” which appears to be the closest thing to a hit on the album — and Still there's no threat to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 like “Carnival” did from the previous set. Add to that some mediocre notices from fans and critics, many of whom considered the album incomplete, as well as a partial first week following (thanks to a late Saturday release), and Vultures 2 is fighting an uphill battle to claim the top 200 spot this week.
However, with “Take Off Your Dress” receiving a very positive response from fans so far, the new deluxe edition of the album should help his numbers quite a bit. And the bar was lower to clear Tormented poets over the past two weeks than it has in the first few months – Swift's album dominated last week with just 71,000 total units, the lowest total for a No. 1 album on the chart since March.
taylor swift, Department of Tormented Poets (Democracy): It's been a lucky 13 weeks now for Taylor Swift's massive blockbuster at the top of the Billboard 200, as the set returned to the top spot in a slow launch week after bequeathing it to Eminem (The Death of Slim Shady) and Stray Kids (ATE), respectively, in the previous two frames. The album has already set a career-best mark for Swift, though she still has a ways to go to match Morgan Wallen's 19 weeks. One thing at a time for the longest-running No. 1 album of the decade.
Swift doesn't seem to be giving up the fight just yet. She introduced a new digital version of the album to her online store over the weekend, with an exclusive bonus track: “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys (First Draft Voice Memo).” (At the same time, she re-released three of her previously available digital variants, each with a different first rough vocal note as its own exclusive bonus track.) She also held a sale on August 4 where 16 previously available physical variants of the album (on CD, cassette and vinyl) were 13% off—apparently in tribute to the album's new milestone number of weeks ruling the chart—and she also brought back the signed CD version of the album on her online store, which (as usual) sold out quickly.
If the sets between Ye and Swift remain tight these final two days of the tracking week, there could be more reissues and releases on both sides as the two arch-rivals look to gain an edge in one of pop's preeminent battlegrounds.
Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (KRA/Entertainment/Island/Democracy): Don't forget the Midwest Princess! While Roan's debut album is now nearly 10 months old, it continues to gain mainstream momentum — climbing to a new peak of No. 4 on the Billboard 200 this week as five of its tracks continue to slowly climb the Hot 100. The ubiquitous present Roan also benefited from additional headlines and exposure after her historically packed Lollapalooza set late Thursday afternoon, and even the announcement of Minnesota Gov. and Nebraska native Tim Walz as Kamala Harris' running mate — with plenty of pop fans dubbing him the “Midwest Prince” to Harris Brat, and even seeing parallels between their campaign hats with Roan's own merchandise.
Rise and fall was still far behind Tormented poets this week in terms of total units – 53,000 to 71,000, with the former actually falling slightly from last week, despite the chart gain – so that gap is unlikely to be bridged in one or even a few weeks. However, given the album's relentless growth over the last four months, it seems practically inevitable that it will be a real contender for the top spot soon – particularly if Roan ever releases any kind of physical reissue or deluxe edition for the much-loved set.
Charli XCX, Brat (Atlantic/AG): And of course, you can't talk Midwest Princess this summer not to mention its counterpart across the pond. While Brat has also gradually gained public awareness over the summer months — with hits “360” and “Apple” hitting the Hot 100 — this week gets a particularly notable adrenaline rush: the release of a new Billie Eilish featuring mix in Brat Bonus cut “Guess”, which also received an extended release last week, including a stunning music video.
The “Guess” remix, which topped both the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA and YouTube Trending Music charts on Friday in its first full day of release, looks poised to become Charli's biggest hit on the entire Hot 100 Brat time. It should give the album a major boost on the chart this week – although mounting a true challenge to Swift's juggernaut might also be too lofty a goal for it right now.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/kanye-west-vultures-2-taylor-swift-billboard-200-1235748667/