Travis Scott‘s Cactus Jack record label has penned a letter to Billboard to dispute his No. 2 debut on the latest album chart.
Scott’s Days Before Rodeo, originally released for free in 2014, saw its commercial release late last month. Though a decade old, it came within a few hundred units of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 this week – just behind Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet.
But on Friday (September 6), Vulture obtained a letter from Cactus Jack Records that was sent to Billboard and its data provider Luminate, where they contested the placement and alleged the data for this week was “unreliable and incomplete.” According to the label, a portion of sales were left out of the tally and would have put him at the top spot.
In a bid for No. 1, Travis released multiple deluxe editions of the tape just before the tracking period ended on August 29 – a move Carpenter called him out for.
A last-minute surge in orders led to delays, with about 1,000 units not counted — an amount that ultimately would have made a difference in the winner. Initially, Cactus Jack wasn’t concerned, as early numbers were showing him with an 11,000-unit lead over Carpenter. However, once indie retail sales were reported, the “Espresso” singer overtook him.
The letter from Cactus Jack additionally claims Carpenter’s indie sales were over-weighted, giving her the No. 1 spot with 362,000 units, just ahead of Scott’s 361,000. The label also alleged a conflict of interest with a former Island Records employee at Luminate and requested reconsideration of Travis’s uncounted units.
Luminate stands by their tally, however, telling Vulture in a statement: “We are confident that our numbers are correct in accordance with our processes and methodology.”
The first bonus Travis Scott dropped in his bid for No. 1 is titled Days Before Rodeo – Live from Atlanta: Chopped & Screwed – Vault 1 & 2 and features previously unheard snippets from the tape’s recording sessions as well as the recent anniversary performance Scott put on in Atlanta.
He then announced three deluxe versions of the mixtape, each featuring two new songs and all available exclusively through his website.
Carpenter then took to X to comment, writing: “This is for Nicki,” a reference to Scott beating out Nicki Minaj to number one in 2018 with his Astroworld album.
Minaj was famously beaten to the top of the Billboard 200 in 2018 by Scott with her not taking second place well, accusing the “Goosebumps” rapper of gaming the system with his bundle offers.
On Queen Radio, she ranted: “What we’re not gonna do is have that Auto-Tune man selling fucking sweaters. Telling you he sold half a million albums, because he fucking didn’t. You stupid fuck. You got your fucking homeboy talking for you and you got your girlfriend selling tour passes. Stop it. Knock it the fuck off.”
