Kris Wu’s Latest Album Sparks Controversy on iTunes

Kris Wu's Antares
Kris Wu's Antares (photo: Google Screenshot)
By Faith MagbanuaNovember 8th, 2018

Chinese-Canadian rapper Kris Wu has recently sparked a controversy on Twitter after he smashed Ariana Grande on the top charts of iTunes this week. 

However, some Ariana fans are not happy with the result.

After four of his songs gained the the top four places, Twitter users kept asking "Who is Kris Wu?" while Ariana Grande's debut, "Thank u, next," ranked fifth according to the reports made by Chinese entertainment news portal NetEase on Monday, November 5, 2018.

Wu had seven songs in the Top 10 of the U.S. iTunes.

His song entitled "November Rain" was purchased 14 million times in the span of 24 hours, or 1,750 times greater than "Shallow," a song by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, the report said.

"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 Beijing-based k-pop fangirl surnamed Hu told the Global Times on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Scooter Braun, Ariana Grande's manager, have allegedly questioned the authenticity of Wu's popularity, tweeting "he is using bots... they will handle it and we are not worried. It's unfortunate but you can't stop Ari," as seen in a screen grab circulated online.

Braun then tweeted on Sunday a reply to the allegation denying that he had ever made the post. "There is a fake tweet going around."

Meanwhile, relevant posts have been removed from Braun's Twitter page as of press time.

"Thank u, next" was #1 on the U.S. iTunes chart as of press time. Wu's songs were nowhere to be found among the Top 200.

"His fans support his new album to give him the best birthday gift, but it is really funny to be misunderstood as a robot," one of Wu's fans "YiXIAYE_" tweeted on Sunday.

Kris Wu was born on November 6, 1990, has 158,000 followers on Twitter and 44.7 million followers on China's Sina Weibo.

Also known as Wu Kris Yifan, the artist is a Chinese-Canadian actor, singer, and model. He is a former member of South Korean-Chinese boy band EXO and its subgroup EXO-M under SM Entertainment.

 

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