In the few years I’ve been on this earth there are some things that will always get on my nerves. One of these things, and the topic of this article, is the idea that an album selling a high amount must mean that the album is objectively good. I’ve heard plenty of times before, if go into the comment section of a post that is asking if a certain Drake album is better than another rapper’s, you’ll see a legion of Drake fans saying he sold more so ofc Drake’s is better. I’m here to say that line of thinking is completely wrong.
Now I’m not here to say that Drake albums are bad and people saying it’s good are wrong, music is subjective, and I think judging someone for what they enjoy is a shallow thing to do. My issue is with people who say the album is good and the only reasons they can say for why it’s good are taken from Billboard. It essentially means that you believe that the only good music out is whatever is topping the charts. I believe music should be so much more than that, it should be a personal experience. When you view sales as a measure of quality you miss out on some much great and challenging works of art because, a lot of the time, great art gets ignored.
I enjoy Drake, but I enjoy him because I enjoy most of his music from a personal level. Don’t follow things just because you can tell a lot of people already do. We don’t equate box office success to quality for movies, so why would we equate sales to quality for music? Be your own person and discover the art that resonates with you, find the art that inspires you.