Future and Travis Scott have both earned places in Billboard 200 history—but for starkly different reasons.
Sunday (September 29) saw Future’s ‘Mixtape Pluto’ debut at number one on the albums chart, with 129,000 equivalent units in its first week, mainly from streaming. This makes Future the first rapper to top the chart three times in six months and the first act to do so since The Beatles nearly 60 years ago. Previously, Future hit the top spot in March and April with the collaborative albums ‘We Still Don’t Trust You.’
Reacting on Instagram Stories, Future exclaimed, ‘OOH SHIT! 3 #1s is Krazy work.’ His excitement is understandable, as ‘Mixtape Pluto’ is also his 11th number one album, putting him in elite company with Eminem, Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen, and Barbra Streisand. Only Drake, JAY-Z, Taylor Swift, and The Beatles have scored more.
While Future is riding high, Travis Scott isn’t faring as well. Scott’s ‘Days Before Rodeo’ bowed at number two in its first week after a commercial release in August, gathering over 360,000 equivalent units. Despite a contentious loss to Sabrina Carpenter, the project rebounded to number one in its fourth week thanks to unprecedented vinyl sales for a hip hop album.
However, this week, ‘Days Before Rodeo’ dropped off the Billboard 200 completely, making it the first album in history to fall from number one to off the chart within a single week. Despite this dip, Scott remains a streaming powerhouse, recently climbing to third place on Spotify’s list of most-streamed rappers of all time. With over 49 billion streams, he has surpassed Kanye West and is closing in on Eminem. ‘Sicko Mode’ collaborator Drake sits at the top with 103 billion streams across all genres.
While Future celebrates a record-breaking achievement with ‘Mixtape Pluto’, Travis Scott faces a historic slump with ‘Days Before Rodeo.’ Nevertheless, both artists continue to make significant waves in the music industry, proving their lasting impact.
