Travis Scott blew minds last month when he became one of the first rappers to perform a virtual concert in a video game — a move that may open the door for future opportunities for other entertainers. His innovative “live” appearance in the popular online multiplayer game Fortnite is paying off on the back end, boosting his best-selling 2018 album Astroworld back into the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart.
While the album has barely fallen off since its No. 1 debut in August 2018, hanging around at No. 30 last week, in the wake of Travis’ Fortnite concert, the album picked up 28,000 units and jumped over 20 spots to land back at No. 9 in its 91st week on the chart.
.@TrvisXX’s ‘ASTROWORLD’ re-enters the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 at #9 in its 91st week on the chart following Scott’s virtual #Fortnite concert series.
It rises from #30 with 28,000 units moved. pic.twitter.com/mRmsTW1i1a
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 4, 2020
Rumors of the event began circulating when Travis in-game avatar leaked online a few weeks ahead of the concert. While some fans speculated that it meant Travis’ avatar would become a playable character, anticipation soared when Epic Games announced that Travis would “perform” a concert in a one-of-a-kind live event, debuting a new song during the concert to sweeten the deal. The developer also made the Travis Scott avatar available to players along with emotes based on some of Travis’ notable performance moments, including the meme of him holding a mic stand over his head with pyrotechnics in the background.
The livestream broke Fortnite‘s online engagement record, which helps explain why Astroworld received a boost: Travis likely made a lot of new fans that night — fans who would have wanted to get caught up on his back catalog.
Listen to Travis’ new track which debuted during the stream, the Kid Cudi collaboration “The Scotts,” above.
