A hotly contested race for the number one album in the US this week was held between two drastically different albums from artists in contrasting stages of their stardom. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet” and Travis Scott’s “Days Before Rodeo” went to the wire to decide who would take the number one spot on the charts.
In the end, it was Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet” which ended up just barely taking the win selling 362,000 copies while Scott’s Days Before Rodeo sold 361,000.
“Short n’ Sweet” is Carpenter’s first top 10 album debut and was met with wide critical acclaim taking the summer by storm. The albums rollout included multiple hit lead singles, including “Please Please Please” and “Espresso” peaking at number one and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively.
Carpenter’s ability to alternate between themes of self-reflection, romance and empowerment, all over glamorous and polished production, was widely showcased on this album as she owns her time in the spotlight.
On the other hand, Scott’s “Days Before Rodeo” took a much different route to the highest points of the charts this year. Originally released in 2014 as a mixtape, “Days Before Rodeo” is one of Scott’s first official projects and helped propel the artist into the stardom that we see him take on today.
As part of the mixtape’s 10 year anniversary, Scott decided to re-release the project but this time on all digital streaming platforms as it was not released formally on digital service providers in 2014. Die hard fans of the Houston native, celebrated the release as they listened to the project and rediscovered the early works that led them to fall in love with Scott’s work.
“Days Before Rodeo” serves as a very influential piece of work as a popular trap album that set the stage for the growth of the genre in the second half of the 2010s. Stand out tracks such as the psychoactive “Drugs You Should Try It”, and “Backyard” showcase the album’s ominous production and Scott’s signature spacey vocals. The track “Skyfall” was produced by Grammy nominated producer Metro Boomin and holds an exceptional feature from Atlanta rapper Young Thug.
Both “Short n’ Sweet” and “Days Before Rodeo” recorded record breaking first week sales in 2024. Scott’s mixtape which sold 361,000 copies is the highest selling rap album of the year, which is impressive given its lack of commercial push being a re-released project.
“Short n’ Sweet” solidifies Carpenter as one of the biggest pop artists of the year as she continues to reach new heights in her popularity.
The two artists while in very different stages were thrust into one of the tightest sales races in recent history.
