SZA’s highly anticipated sophomore album, “SOS,” defeated Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” in a head-to-head battle for the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
It is SZA’s fourth week at the top of the genre-blending album charts since her debut on December 9, 2022.
According to Luminate, “SOS” earned a whopping 125,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the tracking week last week. Streaming units account for 121,500 of the total, with album sales increasing by nearly 300% to 3,000 units and track units increasing by 500.
SZA released two digital album variants last week, including a solo version of her collaboration with Travis Scott, “Open Arms,” and the highly anticipated song, “PSA,” both of which were not included on the main album.
SZA achieves a historic first by becoming the first R&B artist since Janet Jackson’s “janet” in 1993 to chart at No. 1 for four weeks in a row. Alicia Keys did it in 2004, but she only charted for four weeks.
It was a particularly heated week on Twitter for SZA’s fans and Swifties as the two fandoms asserted dominance over one another. Swift’s “Midnights,” which remains at No. 2, is 8,000 album equivalents behind “SOS.”
After seeing her fans get riled up online, seemingly launching a war against Taylor Swift, SZA assured that the two have no beef.
SZA tweeted:
“Uhh I feel silly that I even have to say this but i see supporters arguing and I hate that . I don’t have beef w ANYONE especially not Taylor lmao I genuinely loved her album and the writing! Everyone’s jus tryna do their BEST as we all should . LOVE TO EVERYONE. Gn.”
Last week, Hits Daily Double predicted that the battle to be the first No. 1 album of 2023 would be close, with mid-week predictions predicting a 2,000-unit gap, with SZA leading the race. Meanwhile, another outlet predicted Swift as the eventual winner, winning by just 200 units, but Billboard crunched the real numbers, and alas!
Meanwhile, SZA’s music video for “Kill Bill” has yet to be released, despite the fact that she teased her fans with a video in December 2022. The action-packed music video is expected to boost “Kill Bill’s” Hot 100 placement, as it currently sits outside the Top 10. It is expected that the “Kill Bill” music video will peak at No. 1 after debuting at No. 2 on its initial release.
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