In its 12th week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the soundtrack to KPop Demon Hunters finally hits No. 1 — in the process displacing Sabrina Carpenter's new album, which drops to No. 2. Elsewhere on the charts, Justin Bieber zooms back into the top 10 thanks to a deluxe edition, sombr's debut makes a move and Hamilton's decade-celebrating victory lap pays chart dividends.
TOP ALBUMS
Last week, Sabrina Carpenter's new album Man's Best Friend not only debuted atop the Billboard 200, but also helped send its predecessor (last year's Short n' Sweet) careening back into the top 10. This week, the initial sugar high wears off just a bit, as Man's Best Friend slips to No. 2 and Short n' Sweet drifts back down to No. 11.
Replacing Man's Best Friend in the top spot? Why, it's the soundtrack to this summer's Netflix juggernaut KPop Demon Hunters, which finally hits No. 1 in its 12th week on the Billboard 200. Much of the soundtrack's chart presence has been a product of streaming, but it's finally starting to benefit from the release of a physical CD — not to mention a deluxe reissue that's loaded with bonus tracks (sing-alongs, instrumentals, a cappella versions, the works). With only a few weeks left until Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl begins vaporizing everything in its path, KPop Demon Hunters can forever call itself a chart-topper.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Justin Bieber benefits from a deluxe reissue of his own, as SWAG — which he recently expanded from 21 to 44 tracks — leaps from No. 17 to No. 4. The new songs technically belong to a package dubbed SWAG II, but for chart purposes, it all feeds the chart beast known as SWAG. Unlike KPop Demon Hunters, SWAG has never hit No. 1 (it debuted at No. 2 a couple months ago), but at least it's back in the top 5.
A more modestly sized album joins SWAG/SWAG II in crashing the top 10: sombr's I Barely Know Her ticks up from No. 12 to No. 10 in its third week on the Billboard 200. Given how often albums peak at their debut chart position, it speaks to sombr's momentum that he's only now cracking the top 10 — thanks, at least a little bit, to his performance at last week's MTV Video Music Awards.
TOP SONGS
There's not a ton of earth-shattering news on this week's Hot 100 singles chart: HUNTR/X's "Golden," from KPop Demon Hunters, continues to lock down the top spot for a fifth nonconsecutive week, while the soundtrack itself once again places four songs in the top 10 simultaneously. (Thanks to Saja Boys' "Your Idol" and "Soda Pop," it's got three of the week's top five songs.)
Otherwise, this week's top 10 looks a fair bit like last week's, albeit with one notable exception: Thanks in part to the streaming boost it received upon the release of SWAG's expanded edition, Justin Bieber's "Daisies" rises a spot to No. 10.
The song with which it swaps places? That'd be Teddy Swims' "Lose Control," which — at least for the moment — ends its run in the top 10 at a record-demolishing 77 weeks. In second place is Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," with 66 weeks, which should provide a hint of the larger theme in play: Yearlong runs in the top 10 were absolutely unheard-of prior to the streaming era. (Incidentally, "A Bar Song" holds at No. 16 in its 74th week on the Hot 100.)
Swims will have to console himself with the extension of another all-time record. Prior to "Lose Control," the longest-ever run in the Hot 100 belonged to Glass Animals' 2020 earworm "Heat Waves," which charted for 91 miserable weeks. This week, by comparison, "Lose Control" notches its 108th week on the Hot 100.
WORTH NOTING
Speaking of unkillable pop culture phenomena, something's going on with the 2015 original cast recording of Hamilton. The Broadway-and-beyond stage phenomenon has experienced chart booms in the past: It's risen as high as No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart, during a run that's now hit its 520th week — or, for those who prefer their milestones rounder than that, exactly 10 years.
This week, Hamilton rises from No. 33 to No. 13, thanks in part to that 10-year anniversary. In an effort to both acknowledge and monetize the milestone, Walt Disney Pictures released a theatrical version of Hamilton — the same recording that dropped via Disney+ back in 2020 — on Sept. 5. The theatrical release debuted at No. 2 (behind The Conjuring: Last Rites) and has grossed more than $15 million, which isn't bad for a filmed performance that's been widely available for years.
America has undergone a series of profound political shifts since Hamilton debuted on Broadway 10 years ago, and critics have continued to reassess the work, its politics and its blind spots. But, at the same time, audiences haven't stopped embracing the musical's blockbuster cast album, to the point where it's currently and improbably the 13th most popular album in the country a full decade after it came into existence.
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