There’s been a shift on the charts.
6ix9ine’s Dummy Boy appears to have risen to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, bumping Travis Scott’s Astroworld from the top spot. Billboard had previously announced that Astroworld was No. 1, selling 71,000 equivalent album units, following a tight race with 6ix9ine, whose Dummy Boy opened with 66,000 equivalent album units based on just three days of activity.
According to Nielsen Music, who tracks sales, the standing will be reversed. They attributed it to a discrepancy in reporting and are in the process of reissuing the charts.
“Our team has done a deep dive and found the cause of the initial discrepancy,” Nielsen’s
Drew Bennett tells HITS Daily Double. “We’ve since then reprocessed the jobs necessary and re-finalized the charts. As a result, 6ix9ine’s Dummy Boy will be moving to #1… Our team is working quickly to identify the root cause of this discrepancy to ensure that we get it right the first time.”
Earlier in the week, Travis celebrated his return to No. 1 with Astroworld. Since then, Billboard’s article and tweet have been removed. However, Scott still has the No. 1 single on the Hot 100 with “Sicko Mode” featuring Drake.
His label Epic Records reportedly plans to challenge the reversal.
UPDATE: After a tight race, Billboard has awarded the No. 1 album to Travis Scott’s Astroworld, while 6ix9ine’s Dummy Boy remains No. 2.
“In a historically close race, after a rigorous review of the process and the methodology by which the No. 1 ranking on last week’s Billboard 200 album chart was awarded to Travis Scott’s Astroworld, we concluded that no correction was warranted,” a spokesperson for Billboard tells TMZ.
Astroworld was named No. 1 for the last week in November, but Nielsen Music said there was a discrepancy and launched an investigation. Billboard now says there was no need for a recount, and is sticking by its original reporting.