Over the weekend, Nicki Minaj tweeted a set of accusations and explanations, detailing why she believed her Queen album (released August 10) did not hit #1 in its opening week. In addition to claiming that Travis Scott had unfairly beat her out for #1 by bundling album and ticket sales for his impending tour, Minaj accused Spotify of overturning a promotional campaign she had set up with the streaming service that was set to begin two days before her album release. Minaj wrote that Spotify “told [her] they’d have to teach[her] a lesson” after she unveiled her own Beats 1 radio show and played music from Queen “10 minutes” ahead of release on the Apple-run platform.
Today, Spotify released a statement denying the rapper and singer’s claims. As Variety reports, a representative for the streaming service wrote: “Spotify supported Nicki Minaj with a Times Square billboard, a host of the largest playlists, New Music Friday and the new music release shelf. Her song ‘Bed’ actually saw an increase based on the promotions put behind the campaign. The company continues to be big fans of Nicki.”
According to Billboard, Minaj’s album earned 185,000 album units in its first week, while Scott’s Astroworld album moved 205,000. This marks Astroworld‘s second week at #1.
