The only album that could possibly beat this sales wise is Adele if that gets released, and honestly i’m not even sure 2021 Adele can do it.
Adele won’t the only artists outselling Olivia in 2021 are Taylor Billie Beyoncé and possibly Rihanna
I continue to be baffled by the degree to which y'all are underestimating Adele, but I don't think we need to relitigate that whole discussion again. We'll see what happens! I'm definitely excited to see what kind of numbers Olivia puts up. Also, I love Kacey, but I just do not see her challenging for the top of the 2021 charts. I know her star has increased a lot since Golden Hour, but that album only did about 50,000 in the first week, and didn't get anywhere near the top of the end of the year list. She's thus far almost entirely unproven as far as being able to chart songs on pop radio. Album of the Year win aside, I don't even think she's as big of a crossover star as, like, Chris Stapleton or Maren Morris, and neither of them would ever be in this conversation.
i agree mostly with kacey but there's a reason almost every publication seemed to have her at the top of most anticipated 2021 lists for like two years running. the hype going into this cycle isn't remotely comparable to that going into golden hour. it'll be smaller scale, for sure, but imo it'll be akin to the jump from red to 1989
Speaking purely from a merch sales perspective (which matters kind of a lot in the physical sales conversation due to the outsized role bundles play) there are quite a few artists in her current range, including Kacey. She has not in any way broken through to tier 1 (Taylor, Travis, Weeknd, Billie, Bieber) yet.
One of us has data and one of us doesn’t! They’re all going to be fine, not sure why this has been the main conversation of the thread for a week.
This is true, but Taylor already had number 1 hits and million-in-a-week sellers at that point. For all that Kacey is a critical darling, she’s never been a huge radio presence, which I think you need to be in this conversation. Kacey’s highest charting song so far topped out at 60. I’d love to see her land big a huge hit and gargantuan sales numbers, but I think it’s probably more likely that she does similar numbers to the last few Stapleton albums. That said, it all kind of depends on the first single and the energy that generates. As well as on how thorough a pop pivot we’re looking at.
Let’s just all agree that we need something to save us from the current top seller of 2021: Morgan Wallen.
Yeah, if Kacey comes out of the gate with the big feature song and it sticks she might be in a different conversation. I don’t think she’s geared to make “sticky” enough solo music for the pop charts (which is good from my POV, I love her style) but who knows! She’s working with a mix of old/new writers so maybe they’ve got something. She’s going to get a whole promo cycle to herself from the label after Billie is out.
I’m not totally convinced she’s going to abandon country entirely, either, though you may know more about that than me. Taylor and Maren really went pop, but Kacey’s first few records skew way more traditional than anything either of them ever did. It’s hard for me to imagine her making a 1989. But I’m excited to hear whatever she’s been working on!
I know it’s being positioned internally as her pop album but I’m with you. Hoping more Red than 1989.
Truly had no idea Dan from As Tall As Lions had his hands on this. I've always found their music to be kinda "unpredictable" as far arrangements go, if that makes sense at all? Be Here Now is the first thing that comes to mind. Deja Vu seems to have a few of those same qualities.