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Plus: Logic and The Kid LAROI debut in top 10.
Taylor Swift’s Folklore flies in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, capturing the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, 2019’s Lover.
Folkore was released with little advance notice on July 24 and earns Swift her seventh No. 1 album.
Folklore starts with 846,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 30, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. That marks the largest week registered for any album since Swift’s own Lover, which debuted at No. 1 on the Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart with 867,000 units.
Further, in the last four years, the three biggest weeks for any album have been racked up by Swift. Dating back to July of 2016, the three largest frames for any album are: Swift’s Reputation (1.24 million units, Dec. 2, 2017-dated chart), Lover (867,000) and Folklore (846,000).
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Aug. 8-dated chart (where Folklore bows at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Aug. 4.
Folklore’s debut of 846,000 equivalent album units is led by 615,000 in album sales, 218,000 in SEA units (equating to 289.85 million on-demand streams of the tracks on the album), and 13,000 in TEA units.
Seventh No. 1 Album: Folklore marks Swift’s seventh No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, tying her with Janet Jackson for the third-most leaders among women in the history of the chart. Ahead of them on the leading ladies list are Barbra Streisand, with 11 No. 1s, and Madonna, with nine. Among all acts, The Beatles have the most No. 1 albums, with 19.
Before Folklore, Swift topped the chart with Lover (No. 1 for one week, Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart), Reputation (No. 1 for four weeks, 2017-18), 1989 (No. 1 for 11 weeks, 2014-15), Red (No. 1 for seven weeks, 2012-13), Speak Now (No. 1 for six weeks, 2010-11) and Fearless (No. 1 for 11 weeks, 2008-09).
Most No. 1 Debuts Among Women: All seven of Swift’s No. 1 albums have debuted at No. 1 — a record among female artists. Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Britney Spears are tied with the second-most debuts at No. 1 among women, with six each. (Beyoncé, Gaga and Spears each have a total of six No. 1 albums — and all of them also debuted at No. 1. Meanwhile, six of Madonna’s nine total No. 1s debuted atop the list.)
Among all acts, Jay-Z has the most debuts at No. 1, with 14. All 14 of his No. 1 albums have debuted at No. 1.
2020’s Biggest Week for an Album, and Biggest for Any Album Since Swift’s Last Release, Lover: Folklore’s start of 846,000 equivalent album units marks the largest week for 2020 for any album. It blows past the previous high, which was registered just last month by the opening stanza of Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die (497,000 units in the tracking week ending July 16; as reflected on the chart dated July 25).
In addition, Folklore nabs the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, Lover, less than a year ago. It launched atop the list dated Sept. 7, 2019, with 867,000 units earned in the week ending Aug. 29, 2019.
Lover was released on Aug. 23, 2019. Unlike the surprise-released Folklore, Lover was preceded by months of traditional promotion, which began with the release of the set’s first single, “Me!,” featuring Brendon Urie, on April 26, 2019.
Also, while Lover was available widely to purchase at all retailers in its first week, including Target, which carried four deluxe CD editions of the set, Folklore had a limited availability at retail in its first week. Folklore was only sold via Swift’s official webstore or via digital retailers. Folklore will be released on CD widely to all retailers on Aug. 7.
Swift Has the Three Biggest Weeks for Any Album in the Last Four Years: In the last four years, the three biggest weeks for any album have been racked up by Swift. Dating back to July of 2016, the three largest frames for any album were tallied by the debut weeks of Swift’s Reputation (1.24 million units, Dec. 2, 2017-dated chart), Lover (867,000) and Folklore (846,000).
The last time anyone not named Taylor Swift had a bigger week than Folklore was Drake, who saw his Views album launch with 1.04 million units at No. 1 on the May 21, 2016-dated chart.
Biggest Sales Week for an Album Since Lover: Folklore sold 615,000 copies in its first week, marking the largest sales frame for any album since Swift’s Lover sold 679,000 copies in its debut week (Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart).
As noted above, in Folklore’s first week of release, the album was only available to purchase through Swift’s website and digital retailers.
During the album’s first week, Swift’s webstore sold over a dozen physical/digital album bundles (with a CD, vinyl LP or cassette, plus the digital album). All of the physical/digital bundles delivered the digital version of the album upon purchase to the customer, while the physical version will ship to the customer later. Sales of such bundles — where two formats of the same album are bundled together — are counted as one sale, with the album configuration sold determined by the first version of the album that is fulfilled to the customer.
Swift’s store additionally sold an array of merchandise/digital album bundles.
‘Folklore’ Is Already 2020’s Top Selling Album: With 615,000 copies sold of Folklore in its first week, the album has already become 2020’s top selling album. It surpasses the previous top-seller, BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7, which has sold 574,000 since its release on Feb. 21.
First Act to Have Seven Different Albums Sell at Least 500,000 in a Single Week: As Folklore sold 615,000 copies in its first week, Swift becomes the first act to have seven different albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a single week, since Nielsen Music/MRC Data began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. Swift previously achieved half-million sales frames with the debut weeks of her last six full-length studio albums: Lover (679,000, in 2019), Reputation (1.216 million, in 2017), 1989 (1.287 million, 2014), Red (1.208 million, 2012), Speak Now (1.047 million, 2010) and Fearless (592,000; 2008).
Swift was previously tied with Eminem, who has seen six of his albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a week.
Largest Streaming Week of 2020 for an Album by a Woman: Folklore garnered 218,000 SEA units in its first week, which equals 289.85 million on-demand streams of its songs in its first week. That’s the biggest streaming week of 2020 for any album by a woman, and the biggest by a non-rap album this year. The only albums to generate bigger streaming frames in 2020 are two rap titles: Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die, with 422.63 million in its opening week, and Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake, with 400.42 million and 348.72 million in its first and second weeks, respectively.
Folklore’s 289.85 million streams also mark the second-biggest streaming week ever for an album by a woman, behind only the debut frame of Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next (307.07 million; chart dated Feb. 23, 2019).
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Logic’s No Pressure launches with 221,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 172,000 are in album sales (supported by an array of merchandise/album bundles), 48,000 are in SEA units (equaling 65.16 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs) and 1,000 are in TEA units.
No Pressure — which Logic describes as his “farewell” effort as he announced his “retirement” — racks up his biggest week for an album since Everybody opened at No. 1 on the May 27, 2017-dated chart with 248,000 units.
No Pressure is Logic’s seventh top 10 effort, stretching back to his first chart entry, Under Pressure, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Nov. 8, 2014-dated chart.
Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die falls from No. 1 to No. 3 in its third week, after two frames on top, with 107,000 equivalent album units (down 34 percent), while Pop Smoke’s former No. 1 Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon dips 2-4 with nearly 107,000 units (down 23 percent).
The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical slips 4-5 with 71,000 equivalent album units (down 9 percent). The album peaked at No. 2 on the July 18 chart after Disney+ premiered the filmed version of the Broadway show on July 3. Hamilton has now spent 27 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 — the most of any cast recording since Hair hung on for 28 weeks in 1969.
Gunna’s Wunna runs 21-6 on the new Billboard 200 with a 205 percent gain in equivalent album units earned (rising to 67,000) after the former No. 1 album was reissued on July 24 with eight additional tracks. Lil Baby’s previous chart-topper, My Turn, falls 5-7 with 53,000 equivalent album units earned (down 6 percent).
The Kid LAROI makes his Billboard 200 debut with F*ck Love at No. 8, which launches with 40,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 33,000 are in SEA units (equaling 49.39 million on-demand streams of the albums songs), 7,000 are in album sales (aided by dozens of merchandise/album bundles) and a negligible sum from TEA units.
F*ck Love is the 16-year-old rapper’s (real name: Charlton Howard) first full-length mixtape. The set includes a guest turn from LAROI’s mentor, the late Juice WRLD.
Rounding out the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 are a pair of former No. 1s, as Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding shifts 7-9 with 33,000 equivalent album units (down 1 percent) and Harry Styles’ Fine Line dips 9-10 with 31,000 units (up 7 percent).
This summer, Taylor Swift was meant to headline Glastonbury. In fact, she was meant to be playing a whole host of festivals and shows on an international tour as well as hosting her own two-part ‘Lover Fest’ in America, all in celebration of her seventh studio album ‘Lover’, which was released last August). The global pandemic, of course, meant these plans were scrapped, leaving Swift with bountiful spare time. No longer locked into rehearsals or jetting around the globe performing to tens of thousands, she used these hours to write.
The results of these unforeseen quarantine writing sessions have come together on Swift’s new, eighth studio album, ‘Folklore’. She’s uncharacteristically ‘done a Beyoncé‘, announcing the album less than 24 hours before it drops, a stark change to the very deliberate, calculated release schedules we’ve seen from Swift in the past. In a simple statement posted to social media, she acknowledged that she’d usually wait and release the album at the “perfect” time, but said the global situation acted as a reminder to her that “nothing is guaranteed”. These shock release tactics go hand-in-hand with a change in musical direction for Swift; ‘Folklore’ is something totally unexpected from one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
Over the course of seven albums, we’ve seen Swift evolve from a fresh-faced, teenage country crossover hopeful to sleek synth-pop chart-juggernaut. Each record has brought with it gradual changes – 2010’s ‘Speak Now’ was rockier and 2012’s ‘Red’ saw more pop-leaning production, and by the time we got to 2014’s ‘1989’ she’d cast the cowboy hat aside entirely for pure pop bangers. On album eight, Swift dives headfirst into the world of folk, alternative rock and indie.
It was written in isolation; she remotely teamed up with a handful of her musical heroes – and indie legends – including The National‘s Aaron Dessner (who worked on 11 of the 16 songs), Bon Iver‘s Justin Vernon (he makes the record’s only guest appearance on ‘Exile’) and long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff. In her pre-release statement, she claims to have worked with another ‘hero’, the mysterious William Bowery – though no known details exist about him elsewhere and fans have speculated that this is a pseudonym for her brother or boyfriend, the actor Joe Alwyn.
Whoever Bowery is, the results are unexpected, and sometimes astonishing – ‘Folklore’ feels like Swift has travelled to a metaphorical cabin in the woods – albeit one with a very strong WiFI connection – and concocted a gorgeous, relaxed record filled with modern folk songs.
Dessner’s fingerprints permeate most of ‘Folklore’. The trickling piano on ‘The 1’ and ‘Mad Woman’ are reminiscent of last year’s The National album ‘I Am Easy to Find’ and ‘The Last Great American Dynasty’ evokes the glitchy production heard on the band’s 2017 album ‘Sleep Well Beast’. These brooding instrumentals are always complemented by Swift’s distinctive vocals and ear-worm hooks, though, a reminder that this is the artist behind some of the biggest songs of the past decade. Meanwhile Bon Iver collaboration ‘Exile’ is a melancholy duet, a slow-burner that eventually erupts into a climax of glittering euphoria filled with chorused vocals and soaring strings reminiscent of Vernon’s fourth Bon Iver album, last year’s ‘i, i’.
Despite the bold new direction, there are moments of nostalgia for Swift albums gone by, too. ‘Betty’, a sweet tune about high school romance written by Swift and the enigmatic Bowery, fuses this new folk-rock sound with moments of country we’ve not heard for several albums. ‘My Tears Ricochet’ feels like a sister to the Imogen Heap co-written ‘Clean’ from ‘1989’, only this time a megawatt pop song is encased in layered vocals and twinkling music box instrumentals.
True: at 16 songs (17, if you count bonus track ‘The Lakes’) ‘Folklore’ can sometimes drag slightly. ‘Mirrorball’, a saccharine declaration of romance, lacks the bite of the rest of the album, while ‘Epiphany’ feels slightly sluggish. Yet for the most part, the elegant melodies, glittering production and, crucially, Swift’s songwriting and lyricism pull it back from the brink.
In fact, it’s Swift’s vivid storytelling that makes ‘Folklore’ such an impressive album. This facet has always been a keystone in her music, but her discography twinkles with gems in which it’s heightened (the gut-punch couplet of “you call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest” on ‘Red”s ‘All Too Well’; the rich description of a gaudy wedding in the title track to ‘Speak Now’).
‘Folklore’ is infused with this sort of storytelling. Take ‘The Last Great American Dynasty’, which is a contender for the best Taylor Swift song ever written. Describing one woman’s life crumbling around her, the descriptive lyrics evoke those of ’80s singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, or the complex tales Bob Dylan spins in his lengthy, winding verses. ‘Invisible String’, filled with an unusual turn of phrase – “Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to LA” – is a candid glimpse inside Swift’s current relationship. And, of course, there are plenty of pithy kiss-offs perfect for your next Instagram caption, the greatest arriving when Swift whispers “And if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?” on ‘My Tears Ricochet’.
‘Folklore’ feels fresh, forward-thinking and, most of all, honest. The glossy production she’s lent on for the past half-decade is cast aside for simpler, softer melodies and wistful instrumentation. It’s the sound of an artist who’s bored of calculated releases and wanted to try something different. Swift disappeared into the metaphorical woods while writing ‘Folklore’, and she’s emerged stronger than ever.
Details
Release date: July 24
Record label: Republic
(CNN)From now on, anyone working for Taylor Swift will have the day off for Juneteenth.
What’s more, Swift wanted to educate her followers about the celebration so the superstar singer posted information on her official social media accounts about the holiday also known as Freedom Day.
June 19 commemorates the day in which slaves in Texas learned slavery had ended — two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
On Friday, Swift posted a video of The Root writer Danielle Young explaining the origins of Juneteenth and why it should be a national holiday.
She thanked the site and Young before also sharing her thoughts about the day.
“Personally, I’ve made the decision to give all of my employees June 19th off in honor of Freedom Day from now on, and to continue to educate myself on the history that brought us to this present moment,” Swift wrote in the caption. “For my family, everything that has transpired recently gives us an opportunity to reflect, listen, and reprogram any part of our lives that hasn’t been loudly and ferociously anti-racist, and to never let privilege lie dormant when it could be used to stand up for what’s right.”
The post came days after Swift took on the issue of Confederate monuments in her adopted home state of Tennessee, writing on social media, “As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.”
A demonstrator holds a sign with the image of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers, during a protest against the death George Floyd in Minneapolis, in Denver, Colorado on June 3, 2020.
Jason Connolly | AFP | Getty Images
Kentucky’s attorney general on Thursday asked the public to remain patient with his office’s investigation of the police killing of Breonna Taylor, more than three months after the Black emergency medical technician died during a raid on her Louisville home.
“I can assure you that at the end of our investigation, we will do what is right,” Attorney General Daniel Cameron told reporters at a press conference, which did not include announcements of any criminal charges against police involved in the raid.
“We will find the truth,” said Cameron, who took over the criminal investigation as a special prosecutor in the case last month.
“It’s important that we get this right,” he said.
The attorney general pointedly asked people to refrain from violent protest over the 26-year-old Taylor’s killing.
“Violence and lawlessness will do nothing more than to perpetuate further tragedy,” Cameron said.
He said he is “saddened and heartbroken” by Taylor’s death.
Taylor’s death has attracted nationwide interest and been among the subjects of protests in the weeks since the Minneapolis police killing of a Black man, George Floyd, on Memorial Day.
The officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than seven minutes, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with murder and manslaughter in that case, and three other officers who assisted in the arrest have been charged with aiding and abetting those crimes. Floyd was being arrested on suspicion of using counterfeit money for a purchase. All four cops charged in the case have been terminated by the Minneapolis Police Department.
On Wednesday, now-former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe, who fatally shot a Black man named Rayshard Brooks in the back as he allegedly pointed a taser at cops he was fleeing from, was charged with murder and other charges.
Another Atlanta cop, Devin Brosnan, was charged with aggravated assault and other counts in the incident, which occurred after cops roused a sleeping Brooks from a car parked outside a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant Friday.
Cameron said his office is conducting an “independent” investigation of Taylor’s death, while also continuing to receive information from the Louisville Police Department’s public integrity unit.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron speaks during a roundtable discussion with President Donald Trump and law enforcement officials, Monday, June 8, 2020, at the White House in Washington.
Patrick Semansky | AP
“We believe that the independent steps we are taking are crucial for the findings to be accepted both by the community and those who are directly involved in the case,” Cameron said.
“I’m not going to get into specifics of what we have,” Cameron said when asked about evidence in the case.
He also said, “I’m not going to provide a specific date when our investigation will be concluded.”
Taylor was shot eight times on March 13 by police, who were executing a no-knock search warrant at her residence as part of a drug investigation.
Her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against three cops, Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove, alleging they “blindly” fired more than 20 shots into Taylor’s apartment.
Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was in the apartment with her during the raid, did not have criminal histories, and no drugs were found in the raid, according to the lawsuit. Walker, who attorneys have said feared a home invasion, fired a gun he had at one officer, hitting him in the leg.
Cameron took over as special prosecutor in the case because the local district attorney until recently was prosecuting Walker for attempted murder on the cop. Walker’s case has since been dropped.
“An investigation of this magnitude requires time and patience,” Cameron said.
On Friday, Taylor Swift became one of the most prominent voices denouncing President Donald Trump’s tweets regarding the unrest in Minneapolis. “We will vote you out in November,” Swift warned Trump, saying that he had “stok[ed] the fires of white supremacy and racism [his] entire presidency.”
In Minneapolis, protests have been raging over the past few days in response to the police killing of George Floyd on Monday. Shortly after midnight on Friday morning, Trump tweeted that he wanted to dispatch military troops to Minneapolis to shoot American citizens, saying, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Trump’s words triggered an unusual response from Twitter itself, which began screening the president’s tweets, as well as outrage from onlookers. And Swift, who has 6 million more Twitter followers than Trump has (86.1 million to his 80.5), was one of them.
After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020
Swift’s tweet stands in sharp contrast to the apolitical stance she took for most of her career. When she came up as a teenager in country music, she refused to talk about politics at all, saying that she was too young and uneducated to want to influence anyone’s political decisions. She remained pointedly silent during the 2016 election, even as celebrity after celebrity endorsed Hillary Clinton.
In Miss Americana, a documentary about the singer released in January on Netflix, Swift says her early political silence was part and parcel of her desire to be a “good girl,” one everyone around her would like. Swift’s managers told her she should never discuss politics, lest she suffer the fate of the Dixie Chicks after they criticized George W. Bush, and so she stayed silent. But in 2018, she says, she decided she could no longer be passive in the face of political injustice and would have to speak out.
In 2018, Swift endorsed two Democratic congressional candidates in the midterm elections. Miss Americana shows Swift pleading with her father and staff to sign off on her decision. She cites Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn’s anti-LGBTQ voting record: “I think it is so frilly and spineless of me to stand onstage and go, ‘Happy Pride Month, you guys,’ and then not say this, when someone’s literally coming for their [the queer community’s] neck,” she says.
And now, Swift has gotten comfortable enough being politically vocal to use her enormous platform to denounce Trump in public.
Swift is among the most visible of those celebrities using their fame to drive political conversations, but she’s not the only one by far. Cardi B has made a habit of posting wonkish progressive videos to social media for years, and she campaigned for Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary in 2019. Early Friday morning, the rapper posted a video to social media expressing her solidarity with the protesters in Minneapolis.
“How many peaceful protests have we seen, how many trending hashtags have we seen?” she asked rhetorically. “I’ve been doing fucking police brutality videos since my teeth got fucked up, and the only thing that’s changed has been my fucking teeth.”
She finished her video by urging her followers to vote in down-ballot races. “The people that are voting for these people are most likely cops, most likely rednecks. That’s why every single time that some fuck shit like this happens, it goes in their favor,” she explains. “Because these people have the power — these DAs, these judges, these attorneys — they have the power to prosecute these cops when they do fuck shit.”
Cardi B has 11.9 million Twitter followers. Taylor Swift has 86.1 million Twitter followers. And Donald Trump has 80.5 million followers. If Trump has built his political power in part on his social media clout — and he has — he’s facing some major threats to his online influence right now.
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On Thursday, the Cincinnati Bengals officially released quarterback Andy Dalton.
A 10-year veteran, Dalton was a three-time Pro Bowler for the Bengals and broke several team passing records since the team selected him in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of TCU.
Dalton is the Bengals’ all-time leader in completions (2757), touchdown passes (204), passer rating (87.5) and 300-yard passing games (28). He also stands second in career passing yards (31,594) and career completion percentage (62.0). He also holds the team’s single-season records for passing yards (4293 in 2013), touchdown passes (33 in ’13) and passer rating (106.3 in ’15).
“Andy will always hold a special place with this franchise, and I know that he holds a special place in my heart,” said team president Mike Brown in a press release. “This is a hard day for our club because we know and appreciate what a consummate professional Andy has always been. We respect and appreciate Andy, and we thank him.”
Off the field, Dalton’s community contributions have been among the most significant in Cincinnati sports history. Following his rookie season in 2011, he and his wife, JJ, established the Andy & JJ Dalton Foundation, which conducts a wide range of community outreach efforts in the Cincinnati and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas areas. The foundation’s mission is to provide opportunities, support, resources and life-changing experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children. Dalton’s work in the community was recognized during the 2016 season, when he was named the Bengals’ nominee for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
“Andy will always be considered a key member of the Bengals’ organization,” said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. “His teammates and coaches appreciate his leadership and his commitment to winning. Just as importantly, Andy and his wife JJ are leaving a lasting impact in the community with the incredible work their foundation has done over the years. Andy and his family have meant a lot to this team and this city, and we wish them the best in the future.”