Kanye West‘s Bully has made a decent splash on the Billboard 200 despite the whirlwind of controversy leading up to its release.
The album has debuted at number two on the chart after earning 152,000 equivalent units in its first week, according to Billboard. Of that figure, 96,000 came from streaming (98.43 million on-demand official streams) while 56,000 comprised of traditional sales.
Ye was denied the top spot by K-Pop sensation BTS, whose 10th album ARIRANG earned 187,000 equivalent units in its second week following its blockbuster debut atop the Billboard 200 with 641,000 units.
Bully ends Kanye’s 21-year streak of number one solo albums, becoming just his second solo LP to miss out on the Billboard 200 top spot since his 2004 debut The College Dropout, which also peaked at number two.
At least this is one interpretation of the numbers.
Gamma., the company founded by former Apple Music exec. Larry Jackson that distributed Bully, has claimed that the album actually earned over 200,000 equivalent units in its first week, which would be enough to dethrone BTS and secure the number one spot.
On its Instagram Stories, Gamma. posted a “full seven-day sales and consumption” breakdown claiming that Bully generated a total of 200,997 units.
Neither Billboard nor Luminate, the data company that powers the Billboard charts, have yet responded to Gamma.’s claims.
Despite the album already featuring a generous 18 songs, there may be more where Bully came from.
In a separate Instagram Story, Gamma. teased an upcoming expanded edition, writing: “Bully deluxe on the way.”
Further details, such as a release date or number of bonus songs, have yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, Kanye West’s recently-announced headlining sets at London’s Wireless Festival in July are drawing plenty of scrutiny due to his past antisemitic behavior.
In recent days, a number of major sponsors have pulled out of the festival, including Pepsi, Paypal and drinks giant Diageo.
Even Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and London mayor Sadiq Khan have protested the move, with the former saying it is “deeply concerning” that the controversial rapper has been booked to perform “despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.”
Ye, who recently performed two sold-out shows at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in support of Bully, is due to headline all three nights of Wireless Festival.
