Regardless of quality or production value, Drake has reached a point in his career where any music he releases will amass millions of streams. While he makes it look easy, climbing to this status is something very few artists do.
Drake proved this last summer, when he released his studio album Certified Lover Boy within days of Kanye West’s Donda album. While they were both the two highest anticipated albums of the year, and dominated the charts, Drake’s album simply operated at a higher level.
For nearly two months after its release, CLB hovered around the No. 1 and No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 chart after debuting at No. 1. Within a month of the release, CLB earned RIAA Platinum status.
Now, less than half a year later, the album has doubled that achievement, reaching 2x Platinum status. Chart Data announced that this is the first album in the rap category from 2021 to gain this status: “@Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’ has now sold over 2 million total units in the US. It’s the only 2021 rap album to reach this milestone.”
The only other rap album from 2021 in the top 10 for sales numbers is The Kid LAROI’s project F**k Love, according to Billboard. So, while 2021 was a year that gave us albums from Kanye, J. Cole, Tyler, The Creator, Vince Staples and many more iconic hip-hop figures, pop artists like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Adele still eclipsed most of them in sales.