Sabrina Carpenter is proving her staying power, as her latest album Short n Sweet continues to dominate the Billboard 200 chart for a second week in a row. Despite tight competition, the 25-year-old pop star has secured her place at the top, but not without controversy brewing in the background.
It all began last week when Sabrina claimed the No.1 spot after a fierce race with Travis Scott, who had just released an anniversary edition of his critically acclaimed mixtape, Days Before Rodeo. The margin between the two artists was razor-thin, with Billboard reporting that Sabrina edged out Travis by fewer than 1,000 equivalent album units.
The competition between Sabrina and Travis has sparked a heated debate, one that has led Travis Scott’s label, Cactus Jack Records, to question the integrity of the Billboard charting system. Over the weekend, a letter from Cactus Jack to both Billboard and Luminate— the company responsible for tracking chart data— surfaced online, creating a stir in the music industry. In the letter, Travis’s team claimed that they were robbed of a No.1 debut.
According to the letter, the label believes that roughly 1,000 units of sales for Days Before Rodeo were not counted in the final tally. This discrepancy, they allege, was enough to skew the results in Sabrina’s favour. The letter criticised the charting process, calling it “unreliable and incomplete,” and challenged the accuracy of Billboard’s data.
“This was never about Travis versus Sabrina— it’s about the integrity of the process and the questionable tactics used in U.S. charting,” a representative for the rapper declared in a statement to Rolling Stone. “This could happen to any artist.” The label’s frustration stems from the belief that their artist was unfairly disadvantaged, and they’ve called for greater transparency in how chart data is calculated.
On the other side of the dispute, both Luminate and Billboard have stood firm in defense of their methodologies. A representative from Luminate told Vulture, “We are confident that our numbers are correct in accordance with our processes and methodology.” Billboard echoed this sentiment, with a spokesperson telling Rolling Stone, “We stand behind our chart data and methodology.”
Despite the controversy, Sabrina Carpenter’s fans are celebrating her continued success. Short n Sweet has solidified her presence in the pop world, and she’s shown no signs of slowing down. With hits like “Nonsense” and “Feather” driving her album’s popularity, it’s clear that Sabrina is connecting with listeners in a major way.
Meanwhile, Travis Scott has seen a significant drop on the charts in his second week of tracking. After debuting at No.2, Days Before Rodeo has now fallen out of the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. While the anniversary edition of his mixtape still generated significant buzz, it seems that the momentum behind its initial release has waned.
