It's another week of turmoil on the Billboard albums chart, as five albums enter the top 10 for the first time — including Tyler, The Creator's Don't Tap the Glass at No. 1 and Ozzy Osbourne's The Essential Ozzy Osbourne, which races to No. 7 in the aftermath of the singer's death. On the Hot 100 singles chart, Alex Warren's "Ordinary" rules for an eighth nonconsecutive week, but HUNTR/X's "Golden" (from the increasingly mighty soundtrack to KPop Demon Hunters) is making a run for the top with "Golden."
TOP ALBUMS
Last week, five new albums debuted in the Billboard top 10 simultaneously — including Travis Scott's collaboration with the hip-hop collective JACKBOYS (JACKBOYS 2) at No. 1 and Justin Bieber's SWAG at No. 2. Seven days later, both albums experience only modest drops, in part to make room for a fresh album at No. 1: Tyler, The Creator's Don't Tap the Glass, which marks his second new chart-topper in just nine months. It's the versatile rapper's fourth straight album to hit No. 1 and his eighth (out of eight) to crack the top 10.
Tyler, The Creator didn't announce the album's existence until July 18 and released it three days later, on a Monday. That gave Don't Tap the Glass just four days to accumulate enough streaming and sales to top the charts. But, because he'd sold and promptly shipped so many copies via his webstore — 128,000 in all, with a bonus track that isn't on streaming services — Tyler had no problem holding off Morgan Wallen's former chart-topper I'm the Problem for the top spot.
For those who love to see new (or at least newish) albums dominate the chart's upper regions, it's another exciting week, as three of last week's debuts — albums by Scott, Bieber and legendary rap duo Clipse — stick around in the top 10. Even better, Don't Tap the Glass is one of five albums to enter the top 10 for the first time this week, from debuts (Jessie Murph's Sex Hysteria at No. 8, BTS's Permission to Dance on Stage — Live at No. 10) to a recent title experiencing a fresh peak, as Alex Warren's You'll Be Alright, Kid surges from No. 19 to No. 5 thanks to a deluxe reissue that adds 10 tracks. Then, there's an even older title making its top 10 debut: 2003's The Essential Ozzy Osbourne, which climbs from No. 134 to No. 7 — more on that below.
Finally, the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is still racking up week-over-week growth on streaming, as it rises from No. 5 to No. 3. It's still a ways away from overtaking Wallen — it's pulling a little less than two thirds of I'm the Problem's ever-sturdy streaming numbers, but it's gaining on him — so for now it'll have to make do with landing a whopping seven songs in this week's top 40.
TOP SONGS
On the Billboard albums chart, the two clearest paths to No. 1 involve streaming and sales — or, preferably, a combination of the two. On the Hot 100 singles chart, the equivalent paths entail streaming and radio airplay, which are more likely to dovetail, though the latter often trails behind the former and accumulates at a slower pace. Outside of instances in which a superstar drops a track on streaming without much warning — for example, Drake's "What Did I Miss?" a couple weeks back, or Cardi B's "Outside" before that — streaming and airplay tend to go hand in hand, at least near the top of the Hot 100.
But the top of this week's chart demonstrates how radically one song's chart path can differ from another's. Alex Warren's "Ordinary" tops the Hot 100 for an eighth nonconsecutive week, thanks largely to dominant airplay numbers; it sits comfortably atop the Pop Airplay chart and seems unlikely to budge from that perch any time soon. But it's only No. 4 on the streaming chart.
Rising from No. 4 to No. 2 on the Hot 100, HUNTR/X's "Golden" — the biggest hit from KPop Demon Hunters, featuring EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI — has just hit No. 1 on the streaming chart, with a July 25 remix (by David Guetta) set to fuel its numbers further starting next week. But, for all its dominant performance on streaming services, the song's airplay numbers have lagged; this week, it debuts at No. 35 on Pop Airplay. Even given radio programmers' tendency to lag behind (and follow the lead of) the streaming audience, that's a big gap, but one that appears to be shrinking slowly.
Justin Bieber's "Daisies" drops from No. 2 to No. 3 in its second week on the chart, but its airplay numbers have more than doubled week-over-week, which bodes well for its future. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar's durable smash "Luther (feat. SZA)" reenters the top 10, displacing Drake, whose "What Did I Miss?" tumbles from No. 8 all the way to No. 23. Sources suggest that this may not be Lamar's first-ever victory over Drake; we'll check our records and issue a full report.
WORTH NOTING
The death of a prominent musician often triggers a chart boom: Consider the week five Prince albums cracked the top 10 simultaneously in the aftermath of his death, or Toby Keith's 35 Biggest Hits surging to No. 1 after the country star died in early 2024. It's only natural that fans would turn to their favorite streaming services — and their favorite retailers, and their favorite radio station's request lines — as a way of paying tribute.
Ozzy Osbourne died at 76 on July 22, four days into the eligibility period for this week's Billboard charts. And the surge of streaming, airplay and sales — even just three days' worth — is reflected on both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 albums chart this week.
Osbourne released one of his signature songs, "Crazy Train," on his 1980 album Blizzard of Ozz. The song grew to become a classic over the 45 years that followed, but its growth has been incremental enough that it had never cracked the Hot 100 in any single week — until now. It's No. 46 in its first-ever week on the chart.
"Mama, I'm Coming Home," from 1991's No More Tears, peaked at No. 28 in the spring of 1992 — that track was Osbourne's only solo top 40 hit, though he landed top 10 singles thanks to collaborations with Lita Ford (1988's "Close My Eyes Forever") and Post Malone (2019's "Take What You Want," which also featured Travis Scott). Now, 33 years after its last appearance on the Hot 100, "Mama, I'm Coming Home" is back on the chart at No. 49.
Billboard rules stipulate that previously charting catalog titles must crack the top 50 in order to qualify for the Hot 100, so it's certainly likely that other Osbourne titles (and material by his band Black Sabbath) would have landed on this week's Hot 100 were it not for that technicality. "No More Tears" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" appear just behind "Crazy Train" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home" on Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, so they were likely next in line. ("No More Tears" hit No. 71 in 1992, while "Paranoid" topped out at No. 61 in 1970, so both needed to clear the top 50 benchmark in order to chart on the Hot 100 now.)
On Billboard's albums chart, a 2003 compilation titled The Essential Ozzy Osbourne races from No. 134 to No. 7 this week, easily outpacing its prior peak at No. 81. That set is now the singer's 10th album to land in the top 10. Black Sabbath's catalog has experienced a boost, too: The band's 1970 classic Paranoid — the one with "War Pigs," "Iron Man" and, of course, "Paranoid" — reenters this week's chart at No. 37.
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