Drake undergoes major purple patch in US

Drake has set two new chart records in the United States. Aside from taking #1 place on the album chart (with Views) and #1 on the singles chart (with One Dance, featuring WizKid and Kyla), he has also landed 20 titles on the Billboard Hot 100.

As a result, Drake now has a total of 123 Hot 100 entries in America. He overtakes Elvis Presley at third spot. At the top of that list is the cast of Glee with 207 entries and Lil Wayne with 130.

The previous one-week record holder by one artist was Justin Bieber with 17 last December from the Purpose album. Before that it was Drake himself, last year with 14, equalling The Beatles’ achievement in April 1964.

The Beatles held their achievement for over 50 years. For that week in April (ending the 11^th) they not only had the first two spots with, respectively, Can’t Buy Me Love and Twist And Shout, but also occupied the entire Top 5 – which Billboard confirms has never been matched by an artist. 

Drake’s achievement is primarily through streaming, with Views exclusively for a week on Apple Music (and its songs were streamed a record 245.1 million times in the U.S. – and 250 million times worldwide) and iTunes (garnering sales of 1.04 million in five days, the only album to go over 1 million in 2016) before it was extended to other services and released on physical format.

Apple had marketed the album by moving fans into one spot. Over the past few months, Drake used his Beats 1 radio show OVO Sound to promote the album and preview some of its tracks. It was advertised on iTunes’ home page and during the National Basketball Association’s playoff games. 

Views went on to sell 632,000 copies in the first 24 hours. It’s interesting that many Drake fans waited to purchase the album rather than subscribe to Apple Music to get it for four dollars less. 

His label Republic/Universal Music also ensured its staff monitored services like YouTube that Views videos were not being illegally uploaded by fans.