The Swift-West feud continues — at least when it comes to music. Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department album is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for the 14th time, while Kanye “Ye” West‘s Vultures 2 is ranked No. 2 on the chart. Billboard reported the rankings on Sunday, August 11.
TTPD was released earlier this year as a double album, quickly becoming one of Taylor’s most successful albums of all time. The “Karma” hitmaker, 34, announced that she was releasing the new music after winning the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in February.
“I want to say ‘thank you’ to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the past two years,” Taylor said while accepting her award, before adding, “Which is that my brand new album comes out April 19th. It’s called The Tortured Poets Department.”
On top of her latest album, Taylor has been performing around the world for her Eras Tour since mid-2023. As for Ye, 47, the rapper’s Vultures 2 was in collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign.
Kanye West breaks his streak of 11 consecutive #1 albums on the Billboard 200 with ‘VULTURES 2.’
It debuts at #2 behind Taylor Swift’s ‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT.’ pic.twitter.com/d5u3jre1JR
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 11, 2024
Taylor and Ye have been in an icy feud since 2009 when the “Stronger” artist interrupted her Video Music Awards acceptance speech after winning Best Female Video. In that moment, Ye took the microphone from Taylor and said that Beyoncé released one of the best albums “of all time.” Upon giving the mic back to Taylor, she fell silent. Later on, Bey, 42, invited Taylor to finish her acceptance speech on stage.
Despite the harsh moment, Taylor and Ye patched things up and became friends a few years later. However, their alliance quickly turned into a rivalry after Ye released his single “Famous,” which features a dig at Taylor: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b**ch famous.”
Ye’s then-wife, Kim Kardashian, released recordings of a phone call between Ye and Taylor, in which the “Love Story” artist was heard agreeing with a portion of that lyric. Since then, Ye and Taylor have been at odds.
Last year, Taylor brought up the feud during her December 2023 TIME cover story.
“You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited, and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar,” Taylor claimed in her interview with the outlet. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before.”
