Billboard Answers Tekashi 6ix9ine's Chart Manipulation Accusations

After Tekashi 6ix9nine accused Billboard of manipulating the chart, the American music chart responded by explaining the charting process and laying down the figures in an article Monday, May 18.

The 24-year-old rapper released "GOOBA," his first single after being awarded an early prison release due to coronavirus risks. He had been highly positive that his new hit will debut right at the top of the US singles chart. However, as Billboard released the results on Monday, Tekashi 6ix9nine's new song fell a few notches short, debuting at No. 3, following "Say So" by Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj at No. 2, and "Stuck With U" by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber at No. 1.

A few days ago, he posted a video on Instagram with the caption "BILLBOARD DON'T LIKE TATTLETALES." He asked the media entity to explain to artists who never got the top spot because "you guys play favorites."

In a recent Billboard article, the music chart publisher explained their rules and processes and answered the accusations against them.

In its debut week, "Gooba" raked in a total of 55.3 million audio and video streams in the US, as reported by Nielsen Music/MRC Data and Billboard for the latest Hot 100 charts. Billboard answered the rapper's claims that not all streams of his new song were correctly tabulated by saying that the numbers seen by the public do not necessarily equate to their chart data computations.

Billboard gathers a "post-audit number" from individual data providers - these are data passed through filters such as location (Billboard counts only US-based streams), a minimum stream time, and the visibility of verifiable user information. For example, the views publicly available on any YouTube video displays the total global views passing a minimum playtime; Billboard only counts the streams generated from within the United States.

The media entity clarified that it applies to all songs from all artists. To better shed light on the issue, Billboard has reached out to the Google-owned content-streaming platform for additional comment regarding these "play statistics," such as those applied to the rap song.

Concerning the "Hot 100 forecast" previously shown by Tekashi 6ix9nine in his Instagram Live, Billboard said that it was not from them. The article explained that "Those with access to sales, streaming, and radio data from various sources often create their own chart models and update them at their own frequency."

Also, Tekashi 6ix9nine made claims in another Instagram video that "you can buy number ones on Billboard," explaining his team's supposed investigation on the matter. He alleged that "Stuck With U" put in 60,000 in sales last Thursday, saying that six credit cards were used to make the purchase.

The US charting authority denied these allegations, saying that their audits are conducted on purchase-level details and that excessive bulk purchases, such as those alleged by the rapper, are filtered out and removed from the final sales total. Billboard tapped Fame House/ Bravado for further comment on the supposed last-minute sales of "Stick With U." They also explained that the spike in the Grande-Bieber collab was most likely due to the release of their signed copies, available on both artists' websites.

As of this writing, YouTube and Fame House/Bravado have not yet responded to Billboard's requests. Meanwhile, Tekashi 6ix9nine took another jab at the media publication by posting a picture of himself holding six credit cards with the caption "Don't worry, we going #1 next time," with a card emoji and tagging Billboard.

Tags

Tekashi 6ix9ine, Billboard, Billboard hot 100, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber