For just the second time since she released The Tortured Poets Department in April, there’s a name besides Taylor Swift at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Post Malone’s country music turn F-1 Trillion debuted in the No. 1 slot for the week ending August 22, moving 250,000 album-equivalent units in its first week of release. Led by the Morgan Wallen-assisted single “I Had Some Help” and his Blake Shelton collab “Pour Me A Drink,” Malone’s genre exercise notched the second-biggest debut for a country album in 2024, behind Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter.
TTPD fell two slots to No. 3 with Chappel Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess climbing into the second spot. The only other release that’s managed to knock Swift’s 11th studio album off its perch since spring was Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) in June. The Detroit rapper’s latest quickly fell from that spot, with TTPD regaining the pole position the following week.
Malone (real name Austin Post) collaborated with Swift on TTPD’s opening track “Fortnight.” Swift praised Malone’s new album after he played it for her on the set of the “Fortnight” music video, in which they both star.
“Was lucky enough to hear this amazing music on the set of the ‘fortnight’ video when Austin played it for me,” Swift, 34, shared via her Instagram Story earlier this month, alongside a behind-the-scenes photo of the pair. “It’s incredible how versatile his artistry is. And just the most down-to-earth guy alive.”
Malone, 29, was equally effusive about Swift after their collaboration, saying that she was a “once in a lifetime” talent via Instagram in April.
“I am floored by your heart and your mind, and I am beyond honored to have been asked to help you with your journey 🥹,” he shared. “I love you so much. Thank you Tay 💕.”
While he clearly has the ability to sell albums at their level, Malone says he has no interest in becoming a pop star of Swift and Beyoncé’s caliber. (Malone also collaborated with Beyoncé on the Cowboy Carter track “Levii’s Jeans,” Both he and Beyoncé, 42, had topped the country charts as genre outsiders.)
“I can’t even imagine being at their level — it must suck,” Malone told The New York Times on August 8. “That’s so much pressure.”
