Much like last year, 2016 is (and continues) to be) the year Drake killed the game. With so much to prove coming off a controversial 2015, The Boy, as he is often referred to, sought revenge and conquered much of 2016, thus treating the year like his own personal bucket list. Victory was had, accolades were collected, and moments were made — aplenty.
Picking up where he left off in 2015, a huge year that saw him debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 twice (If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and What a Time to Be Alive), Toronto’s resident 6 God kept the perpetual steam blowing as he added more notches under his belt via album sales, record-shattering stats, and then some.
This week Spotify named Drake as the most streamed artist on its platform with a whopping 4.7 billion streams. The total, presented by Spotify, shows a 2.9 billion jump from the rapper’s accumulated streams last year (1.8 billion). Also factor in the blockbuster release of Views, his appearance on Rihanna’s record-breaking “Work,” the global takeover that was “One Dance” and an upcoming another album “playlist” in the works called More Life, and you’ve got just about 12 months of Drake domination.
So as he continues to silver surf his way through the game and remaining dates of the calendar year, let’s take a look back at all that Drizzy has accomplished throughout 2016 — his revenge era.
Views… The Biggest Album of the Year
On April 29, Drake released Views exclusively on Apple Music and within weeks the LP, which was originally titled Views From the 6, went from collecting a stunning 1.04 million equivalent album units in its first week (852,000 in traditional album sales) to overshadowing previously-established best frames of artists like Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, and Kanye West.
13 weeks. That’s how long the album stood atop the Billboard 200 album chart, earning the title for longest run at No. 1 on the tally since the Frozen soundtrack in 2014. It also maintained the most weeks at No. 1 for an artist since Adele’s 21. The album notched 13 nonconsecutive weeks in the penthouse and at one point returned to the top slot after a seven-week break, which, according to Billboard, is the longest gap between weeks at No. 1 for an album in over three years. In addition, the last album by a rapper with more weeks at No. 1 was Eminem’s Recovery, which tallied seven nonconsecutive weeks in 2010. It’s also the most weeks atop the list for a man since Billy Ray Cyrus’ Some Gave All ruled for 17 straight frames in 1992. Knocking out Eminem, Adele, Kanye, Disney’s Frozen, the Biebs, and Kanye — Drake conquered on all grounds.
Views also broke the one-week streaming record on a platform. The songs on the album were streamed a record of 245.1 million times in the U.S. in its first week. It is his sixth straight No. 1 project to debut atop the chart after last year’s double whammy of What a Time to Be Alive and If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.
UPDATE (December 5): Drake’s Views has officially reached the quadruple platinum mark, all in under a year. The RIAA confirmed four million copies of the album has been sold in the U.S. This is the only album released in the year to ever pull off this feat.
First Artist in a Decade to Score No. 1 Album/Song for Over Three Weeks
Within the first three weeks of Views‘ release, Drake led both the Hot 100 (“One Dance”) and Billboard 200 to become the first artist to tower over the charts for three straight frames since Adele did so for six consecutive weeks with “Hello” and parent album 25, respectively. The last male to lead the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 concurrently for at least three weeks before Drizzy was 50 Cent with “Candy Shop” and its parent set The Massacre.
Beating Elvis Presley for Most Songs on the Hot 100
Quickly after Views‘ chart-topping debut, Drake landed 20 songs on the Hot 100, which became a new record for the chart. The achievement included 18 of his 20 songs featured on the album (minus “Hotline Bling” and “Summer’s Over Interlude”). The two records included “Summer Sixteen” and Rihanna’s “Work,” altogether posting 126 Hot 100 songs. The number surpasses Elvis Presley’s 108 songs to earn Drake the No. 3 all-time record. The OVO Sound captain/Young Money representative trails only six songs behind his boss Lil Wayne’s total of 132. The cast of Glee leads the pack with 207 songs.
Beating Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP for most weeks at No. 1
In addition to all the records the album shattered (see above), Drake’s Views overshadowed sales for Eminem’s 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP. After cruising past nine straight weeks atop the chart, Drizzy beat out the album for most weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 to earn third place for most weeks at No. 1 by a rap album. The two other spots are held by Vanilla Ice with 1990’s To the Extreme (16 weeks) and MC Hammer’s 1990 album Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em (21 weeks).
Notched his First Hot 100 No. 1 With “One Dance”
Scoring the first Hot 100 hit in his career, Drake’s “One Dance” took music by storm with a whopping 10-week stay atop the chart. It also held the No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart for 15 weeks, becoming the longest-running U.K. No. 1 Single in 22 years — beating out Whitney Houston’s smash “I Will Always Love You” and tying Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around.”
“One Dance” also made history on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it reigned for a record 18th week (on the chart dated Sept. 17), a first since Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” featuring T.I. and Pharrell led for 16 weeks in 2013. In third place is Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You,” which ruled for 15 weeks a decade ago.
“One Dance” is the Most Streamed Song in Spotify History
The Views smash is also the most streamed song in Spotify history, surpassing 880 million streams. The single beat out Major Lazer, DJ Snake, and MØ’s banger “Lean On,” which had 526 million plays. Per Spotify, Drake’s entire discography on the music platform has more than 8 billion total streams.
Breaks Michael Jackson’s 32-Year-Old American Music Awards Record
Drake surpassed Michael Jackson’s American Music Awards nomination record this year, landing 13 nominations in categories such as Artist of the Year and Favorite Album, among others. MJ previously held the title with 11 nominations in 1984 — Thriller era.
‘Views Is First Album to Hit 1B Apple Music Streams
Becoming the feather in the cap of Apple Music, Drake’s year of domination continued with a milestone that featured 1 billion streams on the platform — a first.
Record Holder for Most No. 1’s on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs Chart
Thanks to “Too Good,” featuring Rihanna, Drake totaled a record 17 No. 1’s on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart. Second on the list is Puff Daddy, who holds 10 songs. Drake also earned a record 53 top 10 hits on Hot Rap Songs. Behind him is Lil Wayne, who ranks at second with 42.
Longest Control (among solo males) of the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 — Simultaneously
“One Dance” and Views combined to give the rapper the longest control over both the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 for nine weeks. In doing this, he passed Michael Jackson’s seven-week run of “Billie Jean” and Thriller leading both charts simultaneously in 1983. Per Billboard, this is second only to Whitney Houston’s 12-week stretch, which she earned with “I Will Always Love You” and the soundtrack to The Bodyguard.