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Taylor Swift's 'folklore' flies to the top of charts, smashes records
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Taylor Swift at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, United States, on May 1, 2019. (REUTERS/Steve Marcus)
T
aylor Swift's newest album, "folklore", has definitely struck a chord with listeners, as it flies to the top of the charts after its release on July 24.
The album, which was announced on social media just hours before its debut, is breaking records left, right and center.
According to Forbes, the album had more than 80 million global Spotify streams on the day of its release, setting a record for biggest album debut for a female artist on the music platform. Swift beat out Ariana Grande's 2019 album, thank u, next, which debuted at 70.2 million streams.
Swift's indie-folk album also took the record for the biggest streaming debut of 2020 on Spotify. It overtook American rapper Juice WRLD's Legends Never Die, which had garnered 73 million streams within the first 24 hours of its debut just a fortnight ago on July 10.
Swift's album, according to The Hollywood Reporter, sold more than 1.3 million copies within the day of its debut.
On Friday, the 30-year-old singer wrote on Instagram: "Most of the things I had planned this summer didn't end up happening, but there is something I hadn't planned on that DID happen. And that thing is my 8th studio album, folklore."
She adds: "Before this year I probably would've overthought when to release this music at the 'perfect' time".
"But the times we're living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed. My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world. That's the side of uncertainty I can get on board with."
The album has gained its fair share of lore and speculation. One of her collaborators and "musical heroes" credited on the album, William Bowery, has been speculated to be an alias for Swift's brother or boyfriend.
It is also believed that folklore's 14th track, "betty", is dedicated to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' third child, whose name was previously a mystery.
Folklore is projected to become the biggest album debut of 2020.
This article appeared on The Straits Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
