Here’s How Taylor Swift Ended Kanye West’s 11-Album Streak and Claimed the Top Spot

The Tortured Poets Department album by Taylor Swift has dethroned Vultures 2 by Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign from the top spot on the Billboard 200 list, maintaining its position at No. 1 for the 14th week. In the United States, Swift's album sold 142,000 equivalent album copies last week, according to Billboard. One Thing At a Time by Morgan Wallen was the last album to top the charts for 14 weeks— ended up spending 19 nonconsecutive weeks at no. 1 in a year, as noted by the publication. 

The rivalry between Swift and West is well-documented, persisting for years. Interestingly, recently in February, the rapper tried to reassure Swift's legion of followers that he was 'not [their] enemy' as Swifties, at the time, launched a social media campaign in favor of Beyoncé's Texas Hold 'Em, preventing West's hits from topping the Billboard Hot 100. At the time, West was promoting Vultures 1. One particular song, Carnival, generated a commotion due to a statement West made about Swift. The lyrics went, "I made six Taylor Swifts / Since I had the Rollie on my wrist."

As reported by ET, West later clarified "When I said that I'm the new Jesus b***h, I wasn't even thinking about Taylor Swift...That was a whole line before but I appreciate the free promo." The rapper also claimed that in the follow-up to the recent album, fellow singer Lil Wayne mentioned Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelce. He stated, "Remember I was on Taylor's side when Scooter [Braun] bought her masters behind her back. She and Beyoncé are big inspirations to all musicians. We always say how both sell out tours and movies. Also, I'm sure I've been far more helpful to Taylor Swift's career than harmful. To all Taylor Swift fans, I am not your enemy. Um, I'm not your friend either though. LOL."

The feud between West and Swift began in 2009, when the rapper stormed the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards to sing praises for Beyoncé, interrupting Swift's victory speech. After attempting to patch things up in 2015 when Swift gave him an award, their relationship strained again in 2016 as West mentioned Swift in his song Famous, calling her a 'b---h'. Subsequently, a secretly recorded phone conversation between the artists was revealed when Swift publicly objected to the song. Swift received a great deal of criticism from her fans at the time. After taking some time off, she made a comeback with her 2017 song Look What You Made Me Do, a single off her album Reputation. 

The recorded call was a 'mass public shaming' that left Swift feeling incredibly isolated. In an interview with Vogue in 2019, she explained, "When you say someone is canceled, it's not a TV show. It's a human being. You're sending mass amounts of messaging to this person to either shut up, disappear, or it could also be perceived as, 'Kill yourself'. I knew immediately I needed to make music about it because I knew it was the only way I could survive it. It was the only way I could preserve my mental health and also tell the story of what it's like to go through something so humiliating."