DJ Khaled 'wants to sue' Billboard after album fails to reach number one

Roisin O'Connor

DJ Khaled is reportedly considering legal action against the Billboard Chart over claims that 100,000 sales of his album Father of Asahd were unfairly disqualified, preventing him from achieving the number one spot. 

The producer has made no secret of the fact that he is furious at missing out on topping the charts, with Tyler, the Creator’s critically acclaimed album IGOR taking number one instead. 

In a since-deleted Instagram post he ranted about “mysterious s**t” in apparent reference to Tyler’s music, claiming: “I make albums so people can play it and you actually hear it

“You know, driving your car you hear another car playing it, go to the barbershop you hear them playing it, turn the radio on and you hear them playing it, it’s playing everywhere.”

Billboard had reportedly agreed to count downloads from Khaled’s “bundle deal” of an energy drink package but later backtracked, arguing there were “anomalies” in the figures.

Bundle deals, which offer album downloads alongside merchandise, are a standard but controversial industry practice used by artists to boost sales.

A DJ Khaled source told Page Six: “When Khaled’s team tried to appeal, Billboard refused to budge.” 

The source alleged the situation was more unfair because Tyler, the Creator’s bundle deal figures were included in his total sales.

Billboard announced on 30 May that Tyler had debuted at number one with 165,000 albums sold, while Khaled had 137,000.

Billboard has yet to make an official statement on the matter, but reports suggest the company found “strange anomalies in the data”, and that the decision was based on chart rules following discussions with Khaled’s management, Sony Records and Nielsen.

“We dispute (Billboard’s) decision on behalf of DJ Khaled and, frankly, every artist who is forced to navigate bundling an album download with an inexpensive item that still effectively represents their brand,” Desiree Perez, chief operating officer at Khaled’s management company Roc Nation, told the New York Times over the weekend.

“It’s confusing and demeaning to the art.”

"We’re obviously not fans of bundling, nor should anyone who cares about artists making music.

"But our hands are being forced by Billboard’s desperate, last-ditch effort to keep streaming from eliminating what’s left of music downloads.”

Billboard has announced that it has reviewed its rules allowing artists to bundle albums with merch, and will outline a new policy for 2020.

The Independent