Travis Scott’s first week numbers for his sophomore album Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight were only 88,000 for the first week. They were indicative of his place in hip-hop; acknowledged, but not eminent enough to truly make an impact. But now, with the release of ASTROWORLD, things have changed. Travis managed to move 553,000 in the first week of sales, giving him the second highest first week opening of this year.
This is immense for Travis. He’s finally in the big boy league now, aligning himself with names like Drake and J. Cole when it comes to rappers that can do numbers. This is a seldom feat; most artists aren’t able to move more than 100,000 first week. But with Travis being able to move such a high number of units, it means that next time, it’ll be easier. He finally has a fanbase that’s interested in investing its money into his artistry.
So what changed?
On first glance, it has to be his association with socialite Kylie Jenner. Travis has become America’s favorite celebrity boyfriend who happens to be one of the most respected artists in the game. His rapping capabilities have never been the sharpest, but his ability to create genius music has saved him time and time again. Now, the world knows exactly how good he is.
In the future, just as with other artists who hit amazing sales figures, Travis will only go up from here. Whether he goes platinum first week next time, who knows. But him being able to hit this milestone on his third album says a lot. It’s only up from here for Travis.