It’s Eminem’s Turn to Try to Knock Taylor Swift Off the Top of the Billboard 200

In this week’s The Contenders, the veteran rap superstar stakes his claim for an 11th consecutive chart-topping new album.

 

Eminem performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show at SoFi Stadium on February 13, 2022 in Inglewood, California.

The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. Next week (for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated July 27), Taylor Swift’s Billboard 200 reign faces its greatest challenger yet in the form of Eminem’s alter-ego-killing latest.

Eminem, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope): If you’re a regular reader of The Contenders and are rolling your eyes at yet another “Could [Non-Taylor Swift Artist] Finally Knock Taylor Swift From Atop the Billboard 200?” type headline, it’d be hard to blame you. In the past three months, we’ve seen such charges mounted by the likes of Billie Eilish,

Gracie Abrams and (most recently) Zach Bryan, and all have ultimately fallen short: Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department has now reigned uninterrupted on the chart for a full 12 weeks, becoming the longest-running No. 1 of her career, and tying Morgan Wallen for the longest consecutive rule of the decade.

Eminem, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope): If you’re a regular reader of The Contenders and are rolling your eyes at yet another “Could [Non-Taylor Swift Artist] Finally Knock Taylor Swift From Atop the Billboard 200?” type headline, it’d be hard to blame you.

In the past three months, we’ve seen such charges mounted by the likes of Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams and (most recently) Zach Bryan, and all have ultimately fallen short: Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department has now reigned uninterrupted on the chart for a full 12 weeks, becoming the longest-running No. 1 of her career, and tying Morgan Wallen for the longest consecutive rule of the decade.