Eminem’s position within the zeitgeist seems to shift every few years. He was once regarded as a twisted genius and rap luminary, but the critical opinion has shifted as the genre changes and he remains the same. His last few albums — Revival, Kamikaze, and most recently, Music To Be Murdered By — were frequently met with the “old man yells at cloud” meme. Most people don’t want to hear Eminem joke about domestic violence or his plans to “rape the alphabet.”
But some people do! His new album was ranked among the top 20 best-selling physical media on Amazon ($AMZN) upon its release last month, and its standing has only improved. After Eminem gave a surprise performance at the Oscars on Sunday, Music To Be Murdered By jumped from number 4 to number 2. But he still has some competition.
That’s right, James Taylor and BTS, the legendary folk-rocker and the massive Korean boy band, are teaming up to take on Eminem. BTS’s new album, Map of the Soul: 7, hasn’t even been released yet, but its pre-sales put it at number 1. Same with Taylor’s American Standard, which comes out later this month. It's worth clarifying that the above chart is organized by ranking, so the higher the data point sits on the graph, the lower the ranking.
Only time will tell if Music To Be Murdered By can continue to kill Amazon's charts.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Snowflake data turns into an avalanche as startup hits jumbo-unicorn status
- Here's how Uber is scaling into new industries
- Asana has IPO potential but there's a big legacy player looming over the workforce management space
