*Weverse Magazine’s Billboard weekly trends column “CHARTWISE” has now been reborn as the monthly feature of the industry special series “THE INDUSTRY.” Each month, regular contributor, pop music critic Suh Sung-duk analyzes key Billboard chart trends, highlights noteworthy artists, and examines significant achievements. His analysis offers a multidimensional view of chart dynamics, providing valuable insights.
Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem has held the No. 1 spot 11 times in the 13 weeks from the fifth week of May through the fourth week of August. The two weeks it failed to take the top were when Jackboys and Travis Scott’s JACKBOYS 2 reached No. 1 on the fourth week of July, and when Tyler, the Creator’s DON’T TAP THE GLASS entered at No. 1 on the first week of August.
Over the past month, Wallen’s weekly chart numbers have trended downward, from 142,000 units to 126,000. Streaming, which had consistently hovered above 200 million plays, has now dipped to around 160 million. Given the steady demand for his music, I’m the Problem could become the benchmark for the Billboard 200’s top spot, effectively setting a threshold of 100,000 units. Of course, heavyweight releases are lining up that won’t even need to worry about it. On August 29, Sabrina Carpenter will release Man’s Best Friend, followed on October 9 by Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl.
Wallen’s three blockbuster albums—Dangerous: The Double Album (2021, 10 weeks at No. 1), One Thing at a Time (2023, 19 weeks), and I’m the Problem (2025, 11 weeks)—together account for 40 weeks at No. 1. That surpasses Elton John’s 39 weeks, tying Wallen with Adele for 8th place all-time. The all-time leaders are The Beatles at No. 1 with 132 weeks, Taylor Swift at No. 2 with 86, and Elvis Presley at No. 3 with 67; they are also the top group, female solo artist, and male solo artist, respectively. Among male solo artists, Wallen now ranks fourth, behind Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks (52 weeks), and Michael Jackson (51 weeks). He is also only the sixth artist to have more than three albums spent at least 10 weeks at No. 1. The Beatles and Elvis Presley each have four such albums; Whitney Houston, the Kingston Trio, and Taylor Swift each have three. Wallen is the only artist whose three consecutive albums have all cleared the 10-week mark at No. 1.
This run illustrates just how dominant Wallen has been over the past five years. Looking at the top tier of the Hot 100 in recent years, he represents the country’s mainstream prominence. In the first half of 2025, country songs made up 29 percent of all Top 10 hits (11 tracks), outpacing hip-hop at 26 percent and pop at 24 percent. Back in 2021–22, the country accounted for only 4 percent. Nine of those 11 Top 10 country hits this year belong to Wallen. Recently, to mark the first 25 years of the 21st century, Billboard unveiled its “21st-Century Charts.” At No. 1 on the charts is Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album. That release not only topped the 2021 year-end chart but also remained in the Top 10 of the year-end rankings for four consecutive years through 2024; no album had done that since the 1960s. His One Thing at a Time ranked No. 6 on the same list, and on the Billboard 200, it holds the record for the longest No. 1 run in country music history with 19 weeks.
The past month for the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack has been truly spectacular. From its release in the first week of July, its four-week run has already surpassed any expectations. Let’s start with the Billboard 200. While Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem and Tyler, the Creator’s DON’T TAP THE GLASS held the top two spots, the soundtrack placed at 3, 2, 2, and 2 over the following four weeks. Since its debut seven weeks ago, its weekly numbers have continued to grow stronger. Since the third week of August, weekly sales have stayed above 100,000. That consistency shows more than chart positions: it signals steady demand and attention.
On the Hot 100, the performance has been even more impressive. In the fourth week of July, the chart was packed with major new releases like Justin Bieber’s SWAG, Jackboys and Travis Scott’s JACKBOYS 2, and Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out. With so much competition, most tracks outside the top 40 stalled. Yet soon after, tracks 1 through 9 on the soundtrack’s tracklist all rose in the rankings.
Songs like “What It Sounds Like,” “Free,” and “Takedown” jumped into the mid-20s after being outside the top 40 just a month earlier. TWICE’s “Strategy” moved up from Bubbling Under to enter the Hot 100 at No. 92 in the first week of August, reaching No. 62 by the fourth week. That marks TWICE’s third Hot 100 entry and their highest position so far. A special version of “Takedown” featuring Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung is currently at No. 60.
Now let’s look at the performance of “Your Idol,” “Soda Pop,” and “How It’s Done,” the tracks driving the soundtrack’s popularity alongside “Golden.” In the first week of August, Huntrix’s “Golden” climbed to No. 2 on the Hot 100, its highest position to date, and claimed No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart for the very first time. Back in the fourth week of July, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” the previous No. 1 on that chart, had slipped below 20 million streams, while “Golden” surpassed 20 million to overtake it. But Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” made a surprise debut with 28 million streams, pushing “Golden” down to No. 2. “Golden” kept building momentum, however, and by the first week of August reached 26 million streams to take the top spot. It became the first No. 1 on Streaming Songs by a female group since the chart’s launch in 2013. Until now, there had only been four collaborations that included two female solo artists. In that same week, “Golden” also began to show gains in radio airplay, debuting at No. 35 on the Pop Airplay chart.
In the second week of August, “Golden” stayed at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on Streaming Songs, with 29 million streams. In that same week, Saja Boyz’s “Your Idol” recorded 19 million streams and rose to No. 9 on the Hot 100. This was the first soundtrack album to produce two top 10 hits since the Encanto soundtrack in 2022 with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which peaked at No. 1, and “Surface Pressure,” which peaked at No. 8. At this point, the gap between “Golden” and “Ordinary” on streaming had widened to about 10 million. However, “Ordinary” still had a far stronger showing on the radio. The combined performances of the two songs remained close overall, and it is never easy to guarantee that weekly streams of nearly 30 million will continue to hold.
In the third week of August, “Golden” finally hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. It became the ninth K-pop song to top the chart, and the first ever by a girl group. The previous eight were all by BTS or BTS members. Across all genres, it marked the first No. 1 by a girl group in 24 years, since Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” in 2001. Aside from their three hits, no girl group had scored a No. 1 throughout the entire 2000s. Back in the 1990s, groups like TLC, Wilson Phillips, and Spice Girls delivered 12 No. 1s. Huntrix has revived a legacy many thought had disappeared.
That same week, “Golden” drew 32 million streams, topping the Streaming Songs chart for a third straight week. Just three weeks earlier, it had passed 20 million, so the growth was explosive. It also set a new record as the track with the largest streaming growth for six consecutive weeks, since entering the Hot 100, breaking the record set in 2017 by Migos and Lil Uzi Vert’s “Bad and Boujee” with five straight weeks. Hitting 30 million streams usually is only seen in the first week of a blockbuster release, when demand surges explosively, like Playboi Carti’s “Evil J0rdan” or Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae’s “What I Want.” One of the rare cases of a track gaining enough momentum after release to pass 30 million was Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther.” The impact has been compared to Netflix hitting a Super Bowl halftime-level home run.
In the fourth week of August, “Ordinary” rebounded to 24 million streams and scored its 10th week at No. 1, thanks to its continued strong radio performance and being part of a remix with Luke Combs that premiered at Lollapalooza. “Golden” held at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and stayed No. 1 on Streaming Songs with 33 million streams, extending its run to four straight weeks. Meanwhile, the soundtrack’s other tracks surged: “Your Idol” jumped from No. 8 to No. 4, “Soda Pop” from No. 14 to No. 10, and “How It’s Done” from No. 19 to No. 14. On Streaming Songs, “Your Idol” crossed 20 million for No. 3, with “Soda Pop” and “How It’s Done” landing at No. 5 and No. 6. That gave the soundtrack two tracks in the top five, surpassing Encanto. Having three songs in the Hot 100 top 10 put it ahead of both Encanto and Barbie—which each put three songs in the top 20—but also marked the first soundtrack since 1997’s Batman & Robin to do so. The commercial peak of soundtrack albums began with Saturday Night Fever in 1977, reached new heights with Purple Rain in 1984 and The Bodyguard in 1992, and burned brightly one last time at the end of the 1990s.
So, what comes next? First, “Golden” is almost certain to return to No. 1; the question is how far its streaming can rise, how long it can hold that level, and whether it can enter the Radio Songs chart. Second, can “How It’s Done” enter the top 10? If it does, KPop Demon Hunters will have four top 10 hits, one of the rarest records in the history of hit soundtracks. Third, how will this entire run interact with Sabrina Carpenter’s new album Man’s Best Friend? Its lead single, “Manchild,” already debuted at No. 1 in June with 27 million streams.
Tyler, the Creator’s DON’T TAP THE GLASS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the first week of August. It became his fourth straight No. 1 album, following IGOR (2019), CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST (2021), and CHROMAKOPIA (2024). The weekly total reached 197,000 units, easily topping the 142,000 units of Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem, which had led the chart for the previous nine weeks.
Tyler announced the new album on July 18 and dropped DON’T TAP THE GLASS just three days later, on Monday, July 21. Since Billboard’s tracking week runs from Friday through Thursday, the album took No. 1 based on only four days of sales and streams. Interestingly, just one week earlier, JackBoys and Travis Scott’s JACKBOYS 2 also debuted at No. 1 with just five days counted after its Sunday release. Both albums relied more on album sales than streaming to secure the top spot. For JACKBOYS 2, 160,000 of its 232,000 units came from sales. For DON’T TAP THE GLASS, sales made up 128,000 of its 197,000 units. Still, a shorter tracking period does not mean weak streaming. Both albums surpassed 90 million streams and secured the No. 1 spot with ease.
In fact, Tyler also released his previous album CHROMAKOPIA on a Monday. That project debuted with staggering numbers: 299,000 units, 210 million streams, and 142,000 in sales. The lower figures for DON’T TAP THE GLASS should not be read as a drop-off. CHROMAKOPIA was heavily promoted in advance, and because it arrived about a year later than his usual release cycle, expectations were higher than ever. By contrast, DON’T TAP THE GLASS arrived just nine months later and was seen as more of a side project within his catalog. Even so, Tyler’s fans showed no hesitation. Despite the weekend-skipping release date, they delivered with strong streaming and album purchases. The fact that every track from both albums entered the Hot 100 proves that full album streaming stayed strong.
In short, DON’T TAP THE GLASS shows how powerful the bond is between Tyler, the Creator and his fans. They are not swayed by surface factors like release timing or even by musical contrasts between a conceptual album like CHROMAKOPIA and a record that celebrates pure sensory pleasure like DON’T TAP THE GLASS. Tyler trusted that connection, and because of it, he was able to stock enough physical albums even on what was nearly a surprise release. He has become a new kind of pop star, one who no longer needs to rely on streaming algorithms or pre-order campaigns to dominate the charts.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s MASA debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 for the second week of August, with a weekly total of 49,000 units. Nearly all of that came from streaming: 69 million streams, equal to 48,000 units.
MASA marks his 34th entry on the Billboard 200, the most ever by a rapper. That surpasses E-40’s 33 and Snoop Dogg’s 30. YoungBoy Never Broke Again is only 25 years old. Thirty-four charting projects already? Yes. He first appeared on the Billboard 200 in 2017 with the mixtape AI YoungBoy, and in just eight years, he has built a monumental record. Even across all genres, to find artists with more Billboard 200 entries, you would have to look back to legends such as Prince, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Presley. And it is not just about the number of entries. MASA is his 16th Top 10 album, a tally on par with Jay-Z and Nas, both at least 25 years his senior, and the third-most among rappers in history. On the Hot 100, too, his presence is undeniable: in 2023, at age 23, he became the youngest artist ever to score 100 charting songs. Drake may symbolize the streaming era with 360 total Hot 100 entries, but he has been building that catalog since 2009.
This is possible because YoungBoy Never Broke Again follows a release strategy unlike most artists. Instead of releasing singles and albums over several months, he consistently drops album-length projects. To do so, he does not bind himself to the standard studio-album format. Of his 34 Billboard 200 entries, only eight are studio albums. Twenty are mixtapes, three are compilations, and three are EPs. Of course, this is not always the product of strategy or design. The artist himself has described this flood of releases as impulsive, even compulsive.
Still, not every artist can replicate it. Because what sustains his run is not sheer volume, but the solid support that comes from relentless music-making and constant engagement with fans. Compulsion or planning aside, without that foundation, the formula would not work.
In the first week of August, BTS’s PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE (LIVE) debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200. It is the group’s eighth top 10 album. The album posted a weekly total of 43,000 units, including 36,000 in album sales, which ranked No. 2 on Top Album Sales. It drew 6.6 million streams, equal to about 5,000 units. It is the second live album to reach the top 10 in 2025, following Taylor Swift’s Lover: Live From Paris, which peaked at No. 2 in January.
In the second week of August, TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Star Chapter: TOGETHER debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, marking the group’s seventh top 10 album. It earned 65,000 units, with 62,000 in album sales, enough to open at No. 1 on Top Album Sales. It collected 4.2 million streams, equal to about 3,000 units. That same week, Rosé’s Rosie returned to the Billboard 200 at No. 168, extending its run to 27 weeks. This sets a new record for the longest-charting album by a K-pop female group or solo act.
In the fourth week of August, Rosé’s APT. ranked No. 40 on the Hot 100 in its 39th week on the chart. It continues to hold the record for the longest-charting K-pop entry on the Hot 100 and is now on the verge of reaching the 40-week milestone. In the same week, KATSEYE’s Gabriela climbed to a new peak of No. 24 on the Global 200.