Do you remember Days Before Rodeo by Travis Scott? It went head-to-head with Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet on the September 7 chart and narrowly settled for second place despite selling 360M equivalent album units. The pre-ordered physical albums which took two to three weeks to ship, weren’t counted as part of the albums sales, which only tallied the albums that have already been shipped. After three weeks, however, Days Before Rodeo rose to the top.
Its weekly album sales was 156K units, and the sales for the vinyl edition sold on the official website alone was 149K units. This is the highest ever weekly sales for a rap album. Even across all genres, it is the sixth most sold album since 1991. (Nielsen SoundScan (currently known as Luminate) started tracking sales data in 1991. This company’s data formed the foundation for Billboard chart rankings.) There are no plans to retail release the physical albums other than selling them off his official website, therefore there is no telling how much more albums could have potentially been sold.
Days Before Rodeo is Travis Scott’s fourth album to top the sales chart. After debuting no. 2 on September 7, it subsequently fell to no. 30, then no. 106, then shot back up to no. 1 on the fourth week of its release. The only other case that rocketed this quickly to the top was Tyler, The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost, which jumped to no. 1 from no. 120 in 2022. The late vinyl release was the main factor in this case as well.
Also, there are only two albums that hit no. 1 that didn’t debut on the top spot. The other one is Toby Keith's 35 Biggest Hits. Since the star’s death in February, his greatest hits album that peaked at no. 2 in 2008 rose to no. 1 with 66K units sold. Days Before Rodeo isn’t a completely new release either - it is a mix tape that was released in 2014 but was officially released and charted for the first time recently. Before Toby Keith, the soundtrack to Encanto debuted at no. 197 on December 2021 and rose to no. 1 the following year. This means that it had been near impossible to top the Billboard 200 chart unless it debuted on the top spot.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet ranked no. 1 for three consecutive weeks then dropped to no. 2. It is still doing fairly well, selling 108K units over the week and topping the Top Streaming Albums Chart for four consecutive weeks. Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess did better with 64K units but remains no. 3 like last week.
There is no change in no. 2 through no. 6. No. 2 is Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion (72K units), no. 3 Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (57K units), no. 4 Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (52K units), no. 5 Taylor Swift’s TTPD (51K units) and finally no. 6 Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft (47K units). The metrics for all albums fell from 3 to 16% from last week’s. There were changes in ranking from no. 7 to no. 9, but the overall performance seems to be somewhat sluggish. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd released a new album for the first time in nine years - Luck and Strange, which debuted no. 10. This was the highest-ranking debut. It sold 30K albums, which hit no. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart.
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” topped the chart for its 11th week and continued to hold its record for the longest no. 1 run in 2024. Track sales dropped below 10K units, and ranked no. 3 on the Digital Song Sales chart. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” dominated the Digital Song Sales chart for 13 weeks, and never dipped below no. 2 since May 11. The streaming and radio records fell some but still maintained its top spots in both charts. There have only been 30 songs that topped the Hot 100 chart for 11 weeks. Looking at the yearly records, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” ranked no. 1 16 times in 2023, Harry Styles’ “As it Was” 15 times in 2022.
No. 2 and 3 remained the same from last week - Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” respectively. Records for both songs are far removed from “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and seems unlikely to dethrone it across all metrics including streaming, radio, and song sales.
But Chappell Roan's “Good Luck, Babe!” jumped from no. 4 to no. 7. Streaming rose 20% to leap from no. 8 to 5, album sales increased by 20% which leaped from no. 13 to 10. It looks like this rise in rankings is due to Chappell performing and winning the Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 11. But Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” performed better in terms of radio airplay among pop songs, dropping “Good Luck, Babe!” from no. 7 to 9. The streaming metrics for “Good Luck, Babe!” is enough to slingshot it to one of top 3 hit songs. Let’s see if its radio airplay can make one more leap.
Tate McRae’s latest release “It’s ok I’m ok” debuted no. 20 on the Hot 100 and no. 19 on the Global 200. She became one of the quickest rising next generation stars after “Greedy” hit no. 3 on the Hot 100 and her album Thank Later hit no. 4 on the Billboard 200 last fall. The Think Later World Tour that began April this year just finished its European and North American leg, successfully completing over 50 concerts, and will move onto Asia after October. “It’s ok I’m ok” off her third album made a stable debut across the U.S. and global charts, making Tate McRae the next pop sensation.
She started off as a professional dancer who gained recognition after appearing on an American reality TV show. Canadian-born Tate started dancing at six years of age, training in Jazz centered on ballet and contemporary dance, and won many awards. She started gaining a steady following in the North American dance world from her teens after receiving more awards. Her real breakthrough came in 2016 at age 13 when she appeared in So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation aired on Fox TV and became the first Canadian to compete in the finals.
In 2017 she posted her own songs on YouTube, out of which “One Day” went viral. She was able to put on a performance with professional dance chops, which she was already known for, and now she confirmed that she had musical talents as well. It is no surprise that she signed on with a major label and began her career as a pop star. History already proved to us that energetic dance moves that easily transcend the language barrier paired with pop music spells success, and we watched history repeat itself when Tate McRae produced her first global hit with “You Broke Me First” in 2020. It won’t be long until we get to see the next chapter of Tate's journey.
oJimin’s Muse rose to no. 95 on the Billboard 200. He is no. 65 on the Artist 100 chart. “Who” is no. 30 and no. 24 on the Hot 100 and Streaming Songs charts respectively. It is no. 13 on the Global 200 and no. 11 on the Global Excl. U.S. charts.
Megan Thee Stallion and RM's “Neva Play” ranked no. 79 on the Hot 100, no. 53 on the Global 200, and no. 52 on the Global Excl. U.S.
BOYNEXTDOOR's 19.99 debuted no. 40 on the Billboard 200, and no. 4 on the Top Album Sales charts. They re-entered the ranks at no. 24 on the Artist 100. It is their third time to be charted, ranking the highest this time around. They also charted the Emerging Artist again, this time at no. 1.
Stray Kids’ Ate: Mini Album (EP) hit no. 90 on the Billboard 200, and no. 9 on the Top Album Sales chart. They are no. 35 on the Artist 100 chart.
LE SSERAFIM’s CRAZY (EP) ranked no. 127 and no. 13 on the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales charts respectively. “CRAZY” is no. 32 on the Global 200 and no. 22 on the Global Excl. U.S. charts. LE SSERAFIM is no. 53 on the Artist 100 chart.
ENHYPEN’s Romance : Untold ranked no. 199 and no. 12 on the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales charts respectively. They are no. 71 on the Artist 100 chart.
KATSEYE’s SIS (Soft is Strong) (EP) ranked no. 30 on the Top Album sales, and no. 5 on the Heatseekers Albums. “Touch” is no. 153 on the Global 200 and no. 125 on the Global Excl. U.S. charts. They ranked no. 7 on the Emerging Artist chart.
Tzuyu’s abouTZU: The 1st Mini Album (EP) ranked no. 27 on the Top Album Sales.
xikers ranked no. 26 on the Emerging Artist chart.
The rest of the K-pop records on the Global 200 are as follows.