U.K. MIDWEEKS: STORMZY VS. SWIFT

Stormzy is battling with Taylor Swift for the Official Singles #1 this week with his new track, “Vossi Bop” (Merky/Atlantic), currently ahead by a slim margin of 530 sales. Over on albums, Pink leads an all-new Top 3.

British rapper Stormzy returns with his first new music since 2017, his debut release through a joint-venture deal with Atlantic. "Vossi Bop" precedes an upcoming second album (date TBA) and a Glastonbury headline slot in the summer. Should the track maintain its lead, which is being won by streams with 4m listens so far, it will be Stormzy’s first #1 single.

Taylor Swift has the lead on downloads with “ME!” f/Brendon Uri (Virgin EMI) currently at 5.3k. She has one #1 single in the U.K. to date—“Look What You Made Me Do” reached the top in 2017.

On the Official Albums midweeks, P!nk is heading for her third U.K. #1 with Hurts 2B Human (RCA) now 12k combined sales ahead of the closest competition. That would be the third studio album from Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Balance (Island), at #2.

Marina is on track for her third Top 5 album with Love + Fear (Atlantic) at #3, and Bear’s Den are currently this week’s fourth-highest new entry with So That You Might Hear Me (Communion) at #5.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, The Cranberries could claim their best Official Charts placing in 22 years with In the End (BMG)—the group's final studio record featuring posthumous vocals from Dolores O'Riordan—at #6. Kiefer Sutherland is also pursuing a Top 10 slot at #8 with Reckless & Me (BMG).