Roommates, in the last few days there has been a lot of discussion regarding Billboard deliberately manipulating the charts so that certain artists hit number one, while others don’t. Ariana Grande decided to address the claims following her new number one debut with Justin Bieber on this week’s Hot 100 chart.
Throughout the years, several artists have accused Billboard of alleged fraudulent practices to ensure that certain artists achieve the number one spot. Although nothing really came of those past claims, things appear to be getting a lot more serious now, as even more artists continue with accusations. Ariana Grande was the latest to chime in—but in defense of Billboard and also throw a little shade to those who try to discredit her chart position.
Ariana posted the following message:
“thank u to everybody who supported this song, this cause and made this happen. we love uuuuu so much. ???? there’s so much to celebrate today. ???? however, i would like to say a few things. anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren’t the driving force in anything i do. i’m grateful to sing. grateful to have people who want to listen. grateful to even be here at all. i didn’t have a number one for the first five years of my career and it didn’t upset me at all because from the bottom of my heart, music is everything to me. my fans are everything to me. i promise i couldn’t ask for another f**king thing. so with this celebration today, i would like to address a few things which i don’t usually do (i don’t give my energy to drama or strange accusations normally but this has gone a little too far)…my fans bought the song. JUSTIN’S fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE). they are ride or die motherf**kers and i thank god every day that i have them in my life. not just when they fight for us to win (even when i ask them not to as i did this week) but because they’re some of the greatest people i know.”
She continued, adding:
“sales count for more than streams. u can not discredit this as hard as u try. to anybody that is displeased with their placement on the chart this week or who is spending their time racking their brain thinking of as many ways as they can to discredit hardworking women (and only the women for some reason…..), i ask u to take a moment to humble yourself. be grateful you’re even here. that people want to listen to u at all. it’s a blessed position to be in. i’ve had a lot of “almost number ones” in my career and i never said a goddamn thing because I FEEL GRATEFUL TO EVEN BE HERE. TO WANT TO BE HEARD AT ALL …. and you should feel that way too. congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. even number 3. ???? and thank u to @billboard for this honor. and thank u to everybody who helped us raise a lot of money for a very important cause this week. love u all a lot.”
As of right now, none of the recent artists accusing Billboard of manipulation have responded to Ariana’s post.
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