Antares (Chinese: 安塔爾) is the only studio album by Canadian rapper Kris Wu, released on November 2, 2018, through Ace Unit Culture Media.[1] The album was preceded by the singles "Deserve" featuring Travis Scott, "Like That", and "Freedom" featuring Jhené Aiko.[2][1] "Coupe" featuring Rich the Kid was released as an instant grat along with the album pre-order.[2] The songs "Tough Pill" and "Hold Me Down" are the only songs on the album to be featured in both English and Mandarin versions.[3]
Background
Along with the announcement of the album on the Complex radio show Open Late hosted by Peter Rosenberg, Wu stated on the show that he named the album for the star Antares, which means "heart of the scorpion", and in Chinese translates to "heart of the dragon".[4] Wu also set the release date for November 2.[5]
Chart manipulation accusation
Upon release in the United States, seven songs from Antares were in the top ten on the American iTunes Store, blocking songs like Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next", which was released the following day.[6] Wu was accused by Grande's manager Scooter Braun of using bots to boost his sales numbers. Braun later apologized via an Instagram post, stating after a conversation with Wu, that the irregulation in sales were most likely done through impatient Chinese fans using VPNs to access the album earlier.[7]Antares ultimately debuted at number 100 on the Billboard 200, earning 8,000 album-equivalent units, 5,000 of which were pure sales.[8]
^Kung, Tingyi (October 19, 2018). "無預警釋出！吳亦凡 Kris Wu 聯手 Rich The Kid 推出全新單曲《Coupe》" [No warning released! Wu Yifan Kris Wu teamed up with Rich The Kid to launch a new single 'Coupe']. Hypebeast (in Chinese). Retrieved October 20, 2018.
