Some long-awaited volatility sweeps over the pop charts this week: Tyler, The Creator’s new album, Chromakopia, debuts at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard 200, even though it came out on a Monday and only enjoyed a four-day window of eligibility. The rapper’s success also shakes up the Hot 100 singles chart — which makes room for all 14 of the album’s songs, including two in the top 10. Meanwhile, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” returns to No. 1 after a week away for a new total of 16 nonconsecutive weeks atop the chart, which ties a record for this decade.
TOP ALBUMS
Last week, the rapper Yeat stormed the Billboard 200, notching his first-ever No. 1 album with the debut of Lyfestyle. This week, he plunges back down to earth, as the album slides all the way to No. 70. Taking his place on this week’s chart is the debut of a record that shows hints of having more staying power: Tyler, The Creator’s Chromakopia.
Chromakopia had an oddly timed release: The rapper didn’t announce its title or drop date until Oct. 17, and it came out a mere 11 days later, and on a Monday. Albums typically drop on Fridays, and Billboard’s seven-day window of chart eligibility is set up to reflect that fact, which means Chromakopia had only four days (none of them on the weekend) to compete with everyone else’s seven. It was an act of supreme confidence from an artist who has always liked to invert his audience’s expectations. And it was a test of strength — one he more than passed — in a marketplace where artists typically make aggressive strategic moves (multiple vinyl variants, discounted pricing) to maximize their first-week numbers.
The album did blockbuster business: If you took just its sales numbers or just its streaming numbers, either would have counted enough to elevate the record to No. 1. And, given that streaming is what tends to feed chart longevity these days — and that Tyler’s songs have been streamed enough to propel two of them into this week’s top 10 — he looks to be in for a decent run. (The audacious, electric, frequently experimental record has gotten terrific reviews, which can’t hurt.)
Tyler, The Creator isn’t the only artist to post an impressive Billboard 200 debut this week. Fueled largely by sales — including the now-standard variant editions and online discounts — Halsey’s The Great Impersonator enters this week’s chart at No. 2, while country singer Kelsea Ballerini bows at No. 4 with Patterns.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Eminem takes a steep climb from No. 44 to No. 6, thanks to the release of The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) on vinyl. That makes four fresh entries in the top 10, each of which displaces a recent debut — by Yeat, Jelly Roll, SEVENTEEN and BigXthaPlug — and sends a few standbys slipping down the chart, if only a little bit: Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet is the week’s top holdover from last week, sliding from No. 2 to No. 3, while Rod Wave’s Last Lap dips from No. 4 to No. 5.
Rounding out the top 10, Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us climbs from No. 8 to No. 7 as fans continue to stream its new deluxe edition — and as she continues to open for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour. Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time drops from No. 6 to No. 8, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft holds at No. 9 and GloRilla’s Glorious slides from No. 7 to No. 10.
TOP SONGS
Last week might have been the moment when Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” tied the longest run at No. 1 this decade, set last year when Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” sat at the top spot for an impressive 16 weeks. Wallen had other ideas, however, as his new song “Love Somebody” debuted at No. 1, leaving Shaboozey on the outside looking in for the first time in months.
This week, Shaboozey gets his 16th week after all, as “A Bar Song” returns to No. 1 and “Love Somebody” slides to No. 8. It’s a remarkable milestone for “A Bar Song,” which is now tied with three songs — “Last Night,” “Despacito” (by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee with Justin Bieber) and “One Sweet Day” (by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men) — for the second-longest run at No. 1 in the history of the Hot 100, which dates back to 1958. As noted a couple weeks ago, its days at No. 1 are numbered, as the holiday season promises to send “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and other standards storming to the top of the charts. But the all-time record of 19 weeks — set by Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus — is at least back in the realm of possibility.
Shaboozey had some serious competition this week, too: Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars made a run for No. 1 when they released three alternate versions of their hit “Die With a Smile” — two instrumentals and one subtitled “Live in Las Vegas” — and offered each of the four versions of the song for a discounted 69 cents on the iTunes Store. But their bid for No. 1 fell short, as the song climbed from No. 4 to a new peak at No. 2. (Meanwhile, Gaga’s new single, “Disease,” debuts at No. 27.)
The other big moves in the top 10 came as a reverberation from Tyler, The Creator’s blockbuster chart debut with Chromakopia. With all 14 of its songs landing comfortably in the Hot 100, two of them — “St. Chroma (feat. Daniel Caesar)” and “Noid” — enter this week’s top 10, as the former debuts at No. 7 and the latter climbs from No. 43 to No. 10.
Rounding out this week’s top 10, Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” holds at No. 3, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” climbs from No. 5 to No. 4 (“Taste” also holds at No. 9), Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” rises from No. 6 to No. 5 and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” ticks up from No. 7 to No. 6 — in the process extending his run in the top 10 to 42 weeks, the third-longest run in the top 10 ever posted. (The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” charted in the top 10 for 44 weeks in 2021-22, while The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” had a 57-week run in 2020-21.)
WORTH NOTING
As noted above, we’re just weeks away from a surge of holiday standards overwhelming the Billboard charts. Think “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and their cheerful ilk, all storming the top 10 simultaneously. This week, however, there’s a different kind of holiday surge.
The charts that just dropped reflect a window of eligibility that spanned the final week of October, and if you’re looking for confirmation of which tracks have become Halloween streaming standards, it’s right there: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” re-enters the Hot 100 at No. 20, Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” is close behind it at No. 28, Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers’ “Monster Mash” staggers in at No. 30, The Citizens of Halloween’s “This Is Halloween” pops up at No. 38 and Rockwell’s paranoid classic “Somebody’s Watching Me” resurfaces at No. 50.
The Billboard 200 albums chart reflects a similar Halloween boomlet, as the soundtrack to Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas soars from No. 123 to No. 28, Jackson’s Thriller climbs from No. 71 to No. 29, Pickett’s The Original Monster Mash (in case you prefer “Monster Mash” in album form) re-enters at No. 110, Andrew Gold’s Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music (no doubt a favorite of those who like to stream spooky music for trick-or-treaters) shows up at No. 112, Ray Parker Jr.’s Greatest Hits (yes, people, the man has had other hits) is at No. 135 and Michael Jackson’s Scream lands at No. 172.
Next week? Look for all of ’em except Thriller (the album, not the song) and maybe The Nightmare Before Christmas to drop off the charts and re-enter the crypts from whence they came.