Everyone has their tinfoil hats on but most people in the know would say that this era is by far the most trustworthy. The only thing for sure is that pre-soundscan is the least trustworthy. It was basically calling a few record stores and radio stations and asking their opinion on what sold and was played the most.
Again I’m not trying to discount Mike he was obviously as popular an artist as we’ve ever seen.
If anything some of this eras microwave #1s should be discounted when they’re on a hot album with a big guest and then drop off the charts immediately.