Taylor Swift ‘1989’ Knocked Off Top Album Spot By Drake

Taylor Swift may or may not be America’s sweetheart, but one thing is for sure: Swift no longer has the No. 1 album in America. According to Billboard, Drake’s surprise album is now at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart.

“Drake’s surprise album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart as expected, easily scoring the hip-hop star his fourth chart-topper. Industry forecasters had projected the set to sell over 500,000 copies, but it fell just short of that half-million threshold. Still, it’s a remarkable start for an album that arrived with no notice, was sold only through digital retail, is termed a mixtape by Drake (and not a proper studio album) and only had a little more than three days of sales powering its debut.”

Taylor Swift’s 1989 makes a steep drop to No. 5, but it isn’t as big of a deal as one may think. The album has already been No. 1 for 11 weeks and has outsold any internationally released album over the past year. However, Swift has recently faced some backlash for trying to sue everything and everybody for brand infringements. Taylor Swift’s legal team registered assorted lyrics, including “this sick beat,” according to the Guardian.

“While there are precedents in the world of celebrity and sport, Swift is the first musician to make a pre-emptive strike against opportunistic third parties. Trademarks are like copyright in battle armour. While not totally impervious to direct attack, their main function is to scare off anyone even thinking about mounting an attack.”

1989 could easily return to the top, especially since Swift’s latest single “Style” is rocketing up the charts. Taylor just released the video for “Style” and FDRMX gave it a great review.

“Overall, the music video is different to her other music videos. It seems she’s not only experimenting with her music, but with her music videos, too. The artsy feel to it reflects this experimental style she’s tried, and succeeded with, in her latest music video. The references of Harry Styles leave little to the imagination at whom Swift is criticizing, basing her entire song and music video on their brief relationship.”

Besides heading towards another No. 1 single, Swift is preparing for her 1989 tour. The “Shake it Off” singer will be playing several sold out stadium dates in Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and other cities. 2015 will definitely be the year of Taylor Swift.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]