http://gty.im/1025152404

Travis Scott performs onstage during the NBA 2K19 launch event.

By  VINCENT CHUA

Rapper Travis Scott’s album Astroworld debuted on top of the Billboard 200 chart, and is still at No.2, despite accusations his success was down to the high profile of his megastar girlfriend, Kylie Jenner.

Fellow rapper Nicki Minaj claimed his success came largely because Jenner promoted his tour packages to her 114 million Instagram followers. 

The inclusion of digital copies in his merchandise package – which include limited-edition merchandise and pre-sale tickets for the tour – contributed heavily to Scott’s opening position on the Billboard charts.

Minaj’s album Queen was released the week after Astroworld, but still placed second to Scott’s album. 

“I put blood sweat & tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her & Stormi. lol. Im actually laughing,” Minaj tweeted. Stormi is Scott and Jenner’s newborn daughter.

In its second week, Scott's album sold 205,000 equivalent album units (down from 537,000 in its first week), as opposed to Minaj’s 185,000 in her opening week on the charts.

The 26 year-old rapper released his third studio album in early August after two years of teasing snippets of his songs. Scott collaborated with fashion designers Virgil Abloh and Louis Vuitton for limited-edition Astroworld merchandise, which sold out within hours. A different item was available on Scott’s online store every day during the release week, including Astroworld hoodies, caps, and graphic-printed T-shirts.

Minaj took a similar approach by releasing seven different T-shirts by streetwear designer Don C, which came with a copy of her album Queen.

Dylan Burrowes, songwriter at Melbourne music collective Spectrum Sound, said he believed promotion was crucial in the music industry, as collaborations and merchandise enhanced the overall success of albums.

“It is necessary to stand out because anybody can make music these days due to the accessibility of recording equipment,’’ Mr Burrowes said.

“I’ve had experiences where we’ve done lots of work behind the scenes on songs, got it released on record labels, and it really didn’t do anything because there wasn’t a strong personal brand for the artist.”

“I’m not against [Travis Scott] hyping up the album in any shape or form because he has built a fan base around him through it, and without it there would be a serious disadvantage.”

Long time hip-hop fan Jonian Lim, said he thought the criticism of the hype trend was justified.

“What I hate about the big names in the rap industry is this tendency to collab with other artists solely for the hype,” Mr Lim said.

He said Scott’s previous album, Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, did not live up to expectations, even with the collaboration with rapper Quavo, best known for his affiliation with hip-hop group Migos.

“Astroworld is a great album, but albums hyped up like these aren’t necessarily always good.”