While only selling 823 physical copies of his album, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie has reached the top spot on the Billboard 200 with Hoodie SZN. According to The New York Times, that aforementioned figure coupled with 83 million streams was able to shoot up to the No. 1 slot. On the digital aspect, by tying together the number of streams and downloads of certain songs, the 20-track project also garnered “58,000 equivalent album units in the U.S.” Billboard reports.
Hoodie SZN initially entered the Billboard 200 at the second spot but later sat atop the roster in the following weeks. The feat has been made possible since outlets like Billboard and RIAA considered streaming as part of album/sales stipulations in 2014. According to Complete Music Update, “1,500 on-demand streams is the same as ten download track sales,” meaning it’s equivalent to a single album sale.
While spectators believe that artists can manipulate the streaming system by putting out longer albums, others believe it’ll prove to be beneficial in the long run. In an article published by Rolling Stone, music industry power players discussed streaming’s pitfalls and benefits when it concerns putting out super long albums. “I don’t think it’s a sales trick as much as [a response to] audience behavior,” said Daniel Glass, Glassnote Records’ president. “Hip-hop has been more in touch with their fans than anybody in the last few years.”
On that same topic, A Boogie discussed with VIBE why he decided to record a bevy of tracks for his project. “This one is 18 tracks compared to my usual 12 to 13. It’s long, so I wasn’t going to drop anything after this for at least half a year so fans can really let the music sink in, but then I thought about it,” he said. “I said, ‘Hell no, I’m dropping every quarter.’ I got enough music to drop all of that sh*t. I pick and choose what I want to put on what. Instead of just dropping a single, I like putting projects together.”
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