ENTERTAINMENT
DJ Khaled threatens to sue Billboard
Popular American music mogul, DJ Khaled is considering a lawsuit against the Billboard chart over claims that 100,000 sales of his album “Father of Asahd,” were unfairly disqualified from achieving the number one spot.
The DJ, who is also a record executive, songwriter, record producer and media personality, was furious that his album came in at number two to Tyler, the Creator’s “IGOR,” taking number one instead.
In a since-deleted instagram post, the DJ 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 energy drink package, but later backtracked, disqualifying Khaled’s entire sales from the promotion, arguing there were “anomalies” in his figures.
A DJ Khaled source told Page Six that, “When Khaled’s team tried to appeal, Billboard refused to budge.” The source said the situation was all the more unjust because Tyler, the Creator’s bundle deal figures were included in his total sales.
The source further described the situation as 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 is 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.
DJ Khaled reportedly has a current networth of over $50 million and is a recipient of several awards and nomination including: Grammy Award for Best Rap Album (2017),MTV video Music Award for Video of the year9 2017), Billboard Music Award for Top Rap Song (2018) and others.