Sabrina Carpenter and Travis Scott squared up for a largely unanticipated duel for the top spot on the Billboard 200.

Fuelled by the breakthrough success of the smash hit ‘Espresso’ and Hot 100 #1 ‘Please Please Please,’ Pop darling Carpenter had largely been considered a shoo-in for #1 with her ‘Short n’ Sweet’ album.

However, Houston Hip-Hop heavyweight Scott mounted a somewhat of a surprise push for the 10th anniversary of his mixtape, ‘Days Before Rodeo.’ Specifically with the release of ‘Days Before Rodeo – Live from Atlanta: Chopped & Screwed – Vault 1 & 2′ – featuring a companion live LP and previously unheard material.

The MC sold the set exclusively via his web store and served up vinyl bundles, exclusive merchandise, and other limited-edition items.

It made for a tight race and a photo finish.

Full story below…

With the final numbers tallied, Carptenter’s 6th LP ‘Sweet’ triumphed to clench the #1 spot on the coveted count.

The feat was achieved with the following first-week US sales:

‘Short n’ Sweet’

362,000
[Sales Plus Streaming]
*****
184,000
[Pure Sales]

Streaming comprised a notable slice of the sales pie, with 184,000 equivalent units coming courtesy of the 233 million streams of the album’s 12 tracks.

‘Days Before Rodeo’ – fuelled by huge pure sales (thanks to savvy bundling) very narrowly stormed in at #2 with just 600 copies less:

‘Days Before Rodeo’

361,000
[Sales Plus Streaming]
*****
331,000
[Pure Sales]

Though missing out on the top spot, there is still plenty to celebrate for Scott. For, ‘Days Before Rodeo’ delivered the second-biggest sales week of 2024 and is bested only by the the 1.91 million launch Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’

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