On last week’s Billboard 200 albums chart, Travis Scott’s recently re-released mixtape “Days Before Rodeo” made an impressive leap from No. 106 to the top spot. The project broke records along the way, becoming the biggest week in vinyl for a rap album since Luminate started tracking in 1991.
But a week later, “Days Before Rodeo” had what may be the biggest drop from No. 1 in Billboard 200 history, falling entirely off the tally nearly five weeks after it hit DSPs to honor the 10th anniversary of its initial release. (Billboard did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for confirmation.)
The explanation for the drop-off is relatively simple. Its massive surge last week can be credited to the pre-ordered vinyl editions finally shipping to customers, giving it a significant sales boost. It clocked 156,000 equivalent album units in the United States, with vinyl sold exclusively in Scott’s webstore accounting for 149,000 of its 150,000 traditional album sales. Without subsequent vinyl sales or even a streaming boost, the album’s equivalent units decreased significantly this week, prompting its plummet from the top.
Last week’s vinyl shipping made “Days Before Rodeo” the top-selling album of that week, and logged the sixth-largest week for vinyl across all genres. The mixtape also had the largest jump to No. 1 since Tyler, the Creator’s “Call Me If You Get Lost” got a similar bump from 120 to 1 in 2022 following its vinyl release. Vinyl for “Days Before Rodeo” came in standard in deluxe vinyl variants, as well as two box sets and two Fan Packs.
After its re-release on Aug. 23, the mixtape debuted at No. 2 with 361,000 units, largely boosted by digital album sales. “Days Before Rodeo” initially came out in Aug. 2014 as a free prelude to his debut album “Rodeo,” which arrived the following year.
The last time an album had such a sizable slide from No. 1 was after Bon Jovi’s “This House Is Not for Sale” returned to the top spot in 2018 thanks to a concert ticket-album bundle. “This House,” which was released two years prior, took a tumble the following week, falling back down to No. 169.
Read the full article here
