Joe Budden says Megan Thee Stallion’s numbers have been manipulated
Joe Budden has hosted his own show since 2019, and he often has some unpopular opinions which cause controversy in the hip-hop community. That said, he regularly comments on the industry today, and he has commented on the structure of streaming numerous times.
Recently, Budden highlighted the success of Megan Thee Stallion’s new album, Megan: Act II, and while speaking about it, his co-hosts pointed out that its success was odd considering the quality of her new music and its lack of promotion and marketing.
Speaking about the importance of numbers to journalists and people looking for good music, Budden began, “The numbers, to me, act as the stock report. I big up Tyler because it’s not an artist thing. When we start talking numbers, we’re not talking artistry anymore. For me, I see the play on the blackboard, but the numbers is gonna tell what is and what’s not or why aren’t they being manipulated.”
He continued, “If we putting you on everything spoken. If we tapping you to host the awards, we giving you the commercials, we putting you everywhere feasible, somebody that spent something to do with this is gonna want to see a number come back. It tells a story.”
Budden then detailed how Megan Thee Stallion is most likely having her numbers inflated because, as someone privy to the business, he knows that streaming numbers don’t really reflect music quality or which artists are good overall.
After addressing Megan Thee Stallion, he spoke to contemporary MCs more broadly about the priorities of their labels, asserting, “Whoever is on your team is not looking for their payday from the music aspect of what’s going on.” He then proceeded to explain how, in the new age, Spotify and Apple Music numbers are simply a way for labels to prompt others to listen and signal to brands who their priority artists are.
Budden added, “Numbers are not a reflection of artistry and quality of music.” Still, he gave a shoutout to Tyler, The Creator, for his latest album, CHROMAKOPIA, which Budden admitted he really enjoyed.
Despite having a very average rollout, Megan Thee Stallion’s Act II, which arrived on October 25th with appearances from Flo Milli, Twice, Spiritbox, and RM of BTS, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and sold 64,000 in its first week.
Since its release, Megan has appeared and performed at a Kamala Harris rally and even sued the YouTuber Gramz for defamation and other charges.