Kris Wu Removed from iTunes Top Rankings After Being Accused of Using Bots
By Ryan General
Songs from Chinese rapper Kris
Wu, a former member of the popular Korean-Chinese boy band Exo, has just released his new album “Antares” last Friday, managing to edge out both Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga off the U.S. top spots upon launch.
Over the weekend, songs from the album took up six spots in the top seven songs in the iTunes’ US chart, eclipsing Grande’s new single “Thank U, Next,” which debuted in the fourth spot a day later.
Grande’s track managed to move up to the second spot behind Wu’s “November Rain” by Monday.
Controversy erupted on Twitter after some Western fans, who might not be familiar with Wu’s career, accused the singer’s camp of using bots to push his tracks higher on the charts.
Wu, who boasts 45 million followers on Weibo, has a huge following in Asia where he is recognized as a pop-rap phenomenon.
A post supposedly from Grande’s manager, Scooter Braun, also accused Wu and his management of using bots to manipulate the iTunes sales charts. Braun would later claim the tweet sent under his name was not real.
While both of the tweets have since been deleted, screenshots of posts have already been circulated on social media, according to the South China Morning Post.
Some have pointed the blame to Wu’s fan clubs who have been found on Weibo rallying fan members to purchase songs multiple times to help boost the album’s rank.
However, as one fan pointed out, the sales should still count as valid as it is normal for some fans to sometimes make multiple purchases to support their idol.
“The sales results could be very authentic. It is normal for Kris’ fans to make purchases several times per person to support their idol. They can afford it,” a fan surnamed Hu told the Global Times.
Some Wu fans found the accusation to be ridiculous and unfounded as no evidence have been forwarded so far.
“It’s low key xenophobic to accuse a Chinese artist of cheating with no evidence and disregarding his large fan base in his home country, “ Twitter user Parisweenter wrote.
“You simply can’t see a non-western person succeed especially if your it hurts your western favorite.”
Feature screenshots via iTunes
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