The Billboard 200 chart is dated Saturday each week and typically published the Tuesday before, meaning the chart dated September 7 should’ve been posted on their website on Tuesday the 3rd, but it actually didn’t come out this time until Wednesday. While this was in part due to Labor Day in the US falling on the Monday, the main reason was the intense race to the top throughout the week starting August 23 between Sabrina Carpenter’s album Short n’ Sweet and Travis Scott’s mixtape DAYS BEFORE RODEO. The week’s chart was delayed in order to properly tally up and verify sales of the two albums, which were separated by a narrow gap of just 1,000 units.
But the results are in, and number one goes to Short n’ Sweet. At 362,000 units, it sold more in its debut week than all but two other albums so far this year: Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, at 2.6 million units, and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, with 407,000 units. Short n’ Sweet marks Sabrina Carpenter’s seventh album on the chart and her first number-one disc. It’s also Carpenter’s first time in the top 20, while her previous studio album, Emails I Can’t Send, peaked at number 23. Emails features radio-friendly hits like “Nonsense” and “Feather,” the latter of which became her first top-40 hit as she rose to prominence. Still, nobody could’ve predicted Carpenter’s latest release would find her rubbing shoulders with the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. When it came out two years ago, Emails sold 18,000 units in its first week—while her latest album moved over 20 times as many copies.
DAYS BEFORE RODEO by Travis Scott sold 361,000 units, making it number two for the week and the fourth-best debut of any album this year, as well as 2024’s best-selling rap album. All five of his solo albums have reached the top three on the Billboard 200, with three of them going all the way to number one. RODEO is the first proper commercial release of his 2014 mixtape, marking the 10th anniversary of the original by making the tracks available for sale and on streaming services for the first time.

Shaboozey’s single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” has now spent a total of eight weeks at number one. It’s been the biggest hit of 2024, and considering how far along the year is and the approaching holiday season, it’s likely to maintain that distinction. “Bar Song” still reigns supreme in terms of sales and airplay, and while it’s maintained solid streaming figures, competition from Sabrina Carpenter and Lady Gaga have moved it down to fifth for streams.

Shaboozey may have number one on lock, but things immediately lower down on the chart are starting to shake up. The song “Taste” off Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet debuted on the chart at number two, while her number-one hit single “Please Please Please” climbed from number nine to three and “Espresso” from seven to four, giving the singer a run on numbers two, three, and four. She’s only the eighth artist in history to have three songs in the top five simultaneously, with the first two women to achieve the feat being Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, and the list being rounded out by the Beatles, 50 Cent, Justin Bieber, Drake, and 21 Savage.
“Espresso” was Carpenter’s first hit to reach the top five, followed by “Please Please Please” and “Taste,” which hit number one and two, respectively—and now her first three top-five hits are in the top five simultaneously. It’s the kind of record that can only be achieved when every one of the songs receives a huge amount of attention all at once. She’s the second act in history and the very first solo artist to have all of her first three top-five hits simultaneously in the top five after the Beatles did the same in March 1964 with “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” and 
“Please Please Me” at numbers one, two, and four. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Fab Four kept it up for an impressive five weeks straight—a feat that wouldn’t be easy for anyone to pull off again.
Carpenter currently dominates the top three of the UK singles chart with the same lineup, making her the first singer to hold both that distinction and the number-one album in the UK simultaneously after Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles. She’s got the same number-one album and top three songs in Australia—the first time the charts there have been dominated in that way since Taylor Swift did the same back in April. Additionally, all 12 tracks from Short n’ Sweet are currently on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, with “Taste” at number two and “Lie To Girls” at number 41, they’re all in the top 50.

To better grasp the competition between Short n’ Sweet and DAYS BEFORE RODEO and the dramatic final outcome, let’s delve into what unfolded over the week. Keep in mind that the chart dated September 7 draws on sales data from August 23 through 29. Travis Scott announced the immediate 10th-anniversary rerelease of RODEO on August 18—the weekend preceding the release of Carpenter’s new album, unexpectedly pitting her against a formidable foe.
RODEO was given its first digital release on August 23, available as two different versions: a standard edition with the 12 tracks available on the original, and an exclusive edition with five bonus tracks available only on Scott’s website. Both were available for $4.99, which is the lowest an album can cost in order to still have its sales count toward the Billboard 200. By August 27, as the period for chart calculations was nearing its end, it appeared that Short n’ Sweet could easily take number one, with strong streaming numbers and album sales to land between 100,000 and 200,000. Understandably, it would be tough for RODEO to attain really meaningful streaming figures given the age of the mixtape, even with Scott’s name attached. And yet, as the week wore on, RODEO was becoming a serious threat toward Sweet, contending for number one as sales surged.
Sweet was only available in its basic 12-track digital version to begin with, but as it became increasingly likely that RODEO might clinch number one, three additional versions were released in limited quantities towards the end of the week. The first deluxe edition, with the inclusion of bonus track “Needless to Say,” came out on the evening of the 28th. The following afternoon, a second new version came out, this time adding the track “Busy Woman,” which was then followed by a third special edition that evening, with a demo version of “Taste.” The three special editions were priced at $4.99 each and made available only until August 29.
Of course, RODEO wasn’t going to take that lying down. Scott put out five more versions of his album on August 29—the first, VAULT 1, was released in the morning, and by 11:30 that night on the US east coast, VAULT 4 was already out. Naturally, they were no longer available for purchase once the 30th rolled around. With such fierce last-minute competition, the Billboard chart had to be delayed. Unfortunately for RODEO, preorders couldn’t ship within that window, and so there were no CD or vinyl sales contributing to its sales figures. As shipping takes two to three weeks, it’s not an effective way to boost sales on such short notice.
Don’t get the wrong impression about this battle for number one, though. As is always the case when looking at the chart and the strategies behind it, while the latest trend is to sell limited edition digital copies, there’s more to the final outcome. Sabrina Carpenter’s short 12-track album clocked in 230 million streams—the fourth-most streams of any album’s debut week so far in 2024. Short n’ Sweet comes in several different versions: nine vinyls, five CDs, two cassettes, and four digital albums. Of the 184,000 albums sold, vinyl accounted for the majority—105,000 copies, the second-best figure among vinyl releases this year. CDs and digital copies came to 33,000 and 45,000 units, respectively. Vinyl sales are a good measure of fan dedication, and both it and streaming hold significant weight, making it impossible to take number one without both.

Jimin’s album MUSE is number 80 on the Billboard 200, while Jimin himself is number 51 on the Artist 100. His track “Who” sits at number 38 on the Hot 100 and number 36 on the Streaming Songs chart, as well as number 12 on the Global 200 and number seven on Global Excl. US.
Stray Kids’ EP ATE is number 50 on the Billboard 200 and number seven for album sales. The group is number 35 on the Artist 100.
ROMANCE: UNTOLD by ENHYPEN is currently at number 134 on the Billboard 200 and number nine on Top Album Sales, while the boys are on the Artist 100 chart at number 74.
Agust D’s single “The Last” debuted at number 12 on the Digital Song Sales chart as the singer returned to the Artist 100 at number 57.
KATSEYE’s first EP, SIS (Soft Is Strong), is number 14 on Top Album Sales and number four on Heatseekers Albums, while the girls are at number eight on Emerging Artists.
NMIXX’s third EP, Fe3O4: STICK OUT, debuts at number 15 on Top Album Sales and number 12 on Heatseekers Albums. The group has returned to Emerging Artists, now at number 13.
On the Top Album Sales chart, NCT 127’s sixth studio album, WALK, is number 32.
BTS’s song “We are Bulletproof: the Eternal” re-enters the Digital Song Sales chart and now sits at number 25.
Also on the Emerging Artists chart are Red Velvet at number 42, RIIZE at number 44, and LISA at number 49. The Emerging Artists chart is calculated the same way as the Artist 100 chart, but it only includes artists who have never ranked in the top 25 of either the Hot 100 or the Billboard 200.
Finally, Jung Kook’s single “Standing Next to You” has returned to the Global 200 at number 195. The chart currently has a total of nine K-pop songs on it, down from 10 last week. Here’s the breakdown: