Five albums make their debut appearance in the top 10 on the Billboard albums list this week, including Tyler, The Creator’s Don’t Tap the Glass at number one and Ozzy Osbourne’s The Essential Ozzy Osbourne, which soars to No. 7 following the singer’s passing. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” is dominating the Hot 100 singles list for the eighth consecutive week, while HUNTR/X’s “Golden”—from the increasingly powerful K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack—is vying for the top spot.
TOP ALBUMS
Five new albums simultaneously made their Billboard top 10 debuts last week, including Justin Bieber’s SWAG at number two and Travis Scott’s collaboration with the hip-hop group JACKBOYS (JACKBOYS 2) at number one. Only slight drops occur on both albums seven days later, partly to create space for a new album at the top of the charts: Tyler, The Creator’s Don’t Tap the Glass, his second new number-one in as many months. This is the talented rapper’s eighth album (out of eight) to break into the top ten, and his fourth consecutive No. 1 album.
The album was released on a Monday, three days after Tyler, The Creator made the announcement on July 18. Don’t Tap the Glass had just four days to reach the top of the charts in terms of sales and streaming. However, Tyler had little trouble holding off Morgan Wallen’s former chart-topper I’m the Problem for the top spot since he had sold and shipped a total of 128,000 copies through his webstore, including a bonus track that isn’t available on streaming services.
Three of last week’s debut albums by Scott, Justin Bieber, and the renowned rap duo Clipse remain in the top 10, making this another exciting week for fans who enjoy seeing new (or at least relatively new) albums dominate the chart’s upper sections. Even better, Don’t Tap the Glass is one of five albums that made it into the top 10 for the first time this week. This includes debuts (Jessie Murph’s “Sex Hysteria” at number eight and BTS’s “Permission to Dance on Stage Live” at number ten) as well as a recent album that reached a new high: Alex Warren’s “You’ll Be Alright” jumped from No. 19 to No. 5 thanks to a deluxe reissue that included ten new tracks. Then, 2003’s The Essential Ozzy Osbourne, which rises from No. 134 to No. 7, makes its top 10 debut. Read more about it below.
Last but not least, the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack continues to expand on streaming, moving up from No. 5 to No. 3. Although it’s still a long way from surpassing Wallen, it’s catching up to him and currently has a staggering seven tracks in this week’s top 40. It’s drawing slightly less than two thirds of I’m the Problem’s consistently strong streaming statistics.
TOP SONGS
The two most obvious routes to number one on the Billboard albums chart are sales and streaming, or ideally both. The corresponding routes on the Hot 100 singles chart are radio airplay and streaming, which are more likely to dovetail, albeit the latter frequently lags behind the former and builds up more slowly. Streaming and airplay typically go hand in hand, at least close to the top of the Hot 100, unless a superstar releases a song on streaming without much notice, as Drake’s “What Did I Miss?” a few weeks ago or Cardi B’s “Outside” prior to that.
The top of this week’s list, however, shows how drastically the chart trajectory of one song can diverge from that of another. Due in large part to its strong airplay, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” has topped the Hot 100 for eight consecutive weeks. It is also securely at the top of the Pop Airplay chart and doesn’t appear to be moving from there anytime soon. On the streaming chart, however, it is only ranked No. 4.
HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” the biggest success from K-Pop Demon Hunters, featuring EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI, has risen from No. 4 to No. 2 on the Hot 100. It just reached No. 1 on the streaming list, and a remix (by David Guetta) on July 25 is expected to boost its numbers even more starting next week. The song’s airplay figures have lagged despite its strong performance on streaming services; it debuts this week at No. 35 on Pop Airplay. That’s a significant disparity, but it seems to be gradually closing, even considering radio programmers’ propensity to fall behind (and follow the lead of) the streaming audience.
In its second week on the list, Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” falls from No. 2 to No. 3, but its airplay has more than quadrupled each week, which is encouraging for the song’s future. Drake’s “What Did I Miss?” drops from No. 8 to No. 23, while Kendrick Lamar’s enduring hit “Luther (feat.SZA)” returns to the top 10. According to sources, this might not be Lamar’s first victory over Drake; we’ll review our documentation and provide a comprehensive analysis.
WORTH NOTING
A chart surge is frequently triggered by the passing of a well-known musician: Take the week that five Prince albums simultaneously peaked at number ten following his passing, or the rise of Toby Keith’s 35 Greatest Hits to the top of the charts following the country music icon’s death in early 2024. As an homage, it makes sense that fans would use their preferred streaming services, favorite stores, and request lines from their preferred radio station.
Four days into the eligibility period for this week’s Billboardcharts, Ozzy Osbourne passed away on July 22 at the age of 76. Additionally, this week’s Hot 100 and Billboard 200 album charts both show the spike in streaming, airplay, and sales—even for just three days.
“Crazy Train,” one of Osbourne’s hallmark songs, was published on his 1980 album Blizzard of Ozz. Over the next forty-five years, the song became a classic, but its rise was so gradual that, up until now, it had never made it into the Hot 100 in a single week. In its debut week on the list, it is at number 46.
Osbourne’s only solo top 40 hit, “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” from 1991’s No More Tears, peaked at No. 28 in the spring of 1992. However, he had top 10 singles with Lita Ford (1988’s “Close My Eyes Forever”) and Post Malone (2019’s “Take What You Want,” which also featured Travis Scott). “Mama, I’m Coming Home” is back on the chart at No. 49, 33 years after it was last heard on the Hot 100.
If it weren’t for that technicality, it’s probable that more Osbourne titles (as well as songs by his band Black Sabbath) would have made it onto this week’s Hot 100. Billboard regulations state that previously charting catalog titles must break the top 50 in order to qualify for the Hot 100. “No More Tears” and “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath were probably next in line because they rank right below “Crazy Train” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home” on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. Since “Paranoid” peaked at No. 61 in 1970 and “No More Tears” peaked at No. 71 in 1992, both songs had to surpass the top 50 threshold in order to appear on the Hot 100.
This week, The Essential Ozzy Osbourne, a 2003 compilation, leaps from No. 134 to No. 7 on Billboard’s albums chart, greatly surpassing its previous record at No. 81. The singer’s tenth album to reach the top 10 is that set. Black Sabbath’s discography has also benefited: The band’s 1970 hit song “Paranoid,” which includes the songs “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” and, of course, “Paranoid,” is back at No. 37 on the chart this week.
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