SZA 'SOS' Dominates Billboard 200 But Still Failed To Lynch Christmas Hits on Hot 100

SZA's "SOS" just secured its second week atop the Billboard 200 albums charts. After debuting at No. 1 last week, SZA's recent project was successful after its highly-anticipated release this December 2022.

However, because of the Christmas season, the Billboard Hot 100 was still occupied by perennial holiday hits, which gave the songs from SZA's new album, "SOS'" songs, a hard time reclaiming that No. 1 position.

According to Luminate, SZA's sophomore album, "SOS," earned an additional 180,000 equivalent album units in the United States at the end of the December 22 charts. Out of the 180k, Streaming units make the most out of it with 179,000, while album sales account for just a thousand.

On its debut, the project launched with a staggering 318,000 album-equivalent units, making her release the third biggest album by a female this year. Taylor Swift emerged victorious with the release of "Midnights," after it launched with more than 1.5 million album-equivalent units. Beyonce's "Renaissance," on the other hand," scored 332,000 album equivalent units.

Swift's "Midnights" is mighty at No. 2 for the second week since SZA dethroned her. A huge chunk of this week's sales was attributed to Vinyl purchases made through the holiday rush. With 68,000 vinyl records set, this week accounted for the third biggest Vinyl week for 2022. Swift and Harry Styles, respectively, ruled the first and second spots.

While SZA remains unmatched on the Billboard Hot 100, she still could not topple the holiday hit that is Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You." The perennial hit has blocked SZA's "Kill Bill," which sat at No. 2 on its debut and is now sitting at No. 3 in its second week.

Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," was successful in lynching SZA on the second spot as it bumped the revenge anthem to the third spot despite ruling Billboard's Streaming Songs Charts.

The reception and review of SZA's new album had been nothing but positive.

NME gave the album five out of five stars. Noting that SZA commanded the album to be "cohesive, organic and like every skip into a new genre is completely justified for each track." The publication also said that "SOS is "a phenomenal record that barely puts a foot wrong and raises the bar even higher than she set it before."

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