Author: Lauren Alvarez / Source: Forbes
Travis Scott may have released his third studio album Astroworld four months ago, but the project reigns supreme on this week’s Billboard 200 albums chart.
The record earned 71,000 equivalent album units, and of those units, 31,000 were album sales in the week ending November 29, according to Nielsen Music. The set had already spent its first two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in August, and even went on to have the second-largest debut for an album in 2018 behind Drake — who had the biggest overall opening week of the year with his summer release, Scorpion.So, what makes La Flame’s hit record so notable if he already accomplished such a feat?
While the MC had quite the track record with his previous projects and his initial August release date, it must be said that dominating the Billboard 200 is not a simple task, seeing that many artists today are turning to merchandise/album bundles to increase their opening week numbers. The “Stop Trying to Be God” artist brilliantly navigated the system’s rules to successfully reap the benefits from the merchandise/album bundles, as Nicki Minaj critically pointed out on Twitter when she debuted at No. 2 against the Houston native. In its first week, Astroworld earned a total of 537,000 equivalent album units, and of that sum, 270,000 were traditional album sales. Though the bundles boosted album sales, the record remained stable on the albums chart and didn’t plummet after the introductory surge.
In fact, it stayed in the top 10 for the entirety of its seventeen weeks on the album listing.Consistency is often overlooked and one of the key factors to enduring a gracious career in the music industry, especially in a time when artists want the instant gratification of album sales following a project’s debut. Scott proves otherwise in this oversaturated market because he continues reinventing himself through various elements of his creative direction involving a massive tour, the limited availability of his personalized products and the extravagant undertaking of elaborate music videos. This edge has given him an advantage over other artists, especially in a week that consisted of competing projects that could have well had a chance at this week’s No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200.
After an announced delay, 6ix9ine dropped Dummy Boy on November 27, earning 66,000 equivalent album units — 10,000 of which were album sales — over the course of three counting days towards the week’s tallies. The controversial rapper could have earned inflated album sales, and possibly scored a No. 1 album if he delivered the project on the original date of release, November 23. A full tracking week would have been in his favor, but the Brooklyn rapper delayed Dummy Boy after getting arrested on Sunday,…
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