Billboard Bursts the Brat Bubble, Again

If you live online, or in spaces where pop music is regularly played and/or discussed, or in Bushwick, then Charli XCX is the biggest star in the world. But this week’s Billboard album charts are good reminder that the real world hasn’t been painted brat green. In the lead-up to this week’s chart release, the narrative seemed to coalesce into there being a battle between country boy Jelly Roll and club rat Charli. TikToks abounded, articles got written, Azealia Banks tweeted about it, etc. Due to the release of the Brat remix, it was the album’s best week yet, scoring 105,000 equivalent album units, and it still just matched its peak of no. 3, per Billboard. Now, that’s nothing to sneer at, and it’s certainly the best charting of Charli’s career. However, not only did Mr. Roll handily take the No. 1 slot with 167,000 equivalent album units, but Rod Wave took second place with 127,000 EAUs. “What?” said most of the attendees of the Sweat Tour. “Isn’t she everywhere, so Julia, etc.?” Well, Brat has not produced a single top-10 hit yet — at least Charli can remain the underdog.