The numbers are in!
SZA's highly-anticipated sophomore album, "SOS," emerged victorious in a head-to-head battle with Taylor Swift's "Midnights," as they fight for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
It is now SZA's fourth consecutive week atop, ruling over the genre-blending album charts since her debut last Dec. 9, 2022.
According to Luminate, "SOS," earned a staggering 125,000 equivalent album units in the United States on last week's tracking week. Of the whole chunk, 121,500 are composed of streaming units, while album sales were up almost 300% with 3,000 sales, and track units 500.
Last week, SZA released two digital album variants, which include a solo version of her collaboration with Travis Scott, "Open Arms," and the anticipated song, "PSA," which weren't released on the main album.
SZA achieves a historic milestone as she becomes the first R&B artist this century to chart at No. 1 for its first four consecutive weeks since Janet Jackson's "janet" in 1993. Alicia Keys did it in 2004, but she charted for four nonconsecutive weeks.
It was a particularly heated week for SZA's fans and Swifties on Twitter after the two relentless fandoms assert dominance over each other. Swift, whose "Midnights" remains at No. 2, is 8,000 album equivalent short of "SOS."
READ ALSO: Taylor Swift, SZA Beef? Chart Battle for Billboard 200 Albums Chart Seems to be the Reason Why
After seeing her fans getting riled up online, seemingly launching a war against Taylor Swift, SZA assured that there is no beef between the two of them.
"Uhh I feel silly that I even have to say this but i see supporters arguing and I hate that . I don't have beef w ANYONE especially not Taylor lmao I genuinely loved her album and the writing! Everyone's jus tryna do their BEST as we all should . LOVE TO EVERYONE. Gn," SZA tweeted.
Hits Daily Double predicted last week that the fight on who gets to be the first No. 1 album of 2023 will be a close fight, with mid-week predictions saying that it may come to a 2,000-unit gap, with SZA leading the race. Meanwhile, another prediction by the outlet even declared Swift as the eventual winner, winning by a hair of 200 units, but Billboard crunched the real numbers, and alas!
Meanwhile, SZA's music video for "Kill Bill" has yet to be released after teasing her fans with a video last December 2022. The action-packed music video is expected to boost the Hot 100 placement as "Kill Bill" sits outside the Top 10. With the "Kill Bill" music video release, it is projected that it would peak at No. 1 after debuting at No. 2 on its release.
READ ALSO: SZA 'Kill Bill' Music Video Teaser: Uma Thurman Cameo Possible After THIS?
