Just Weeks After Taylor Swift Tied Drake, He Beats Her Again
Drake is once again the king of the Billboard charts as he dominates the two most important rankings in the U.S., the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200.
Drake is, once again, the king of the Billboard charts, as he dominates the two most important rankings in the U.S., the Hot 100 (songs) and the Billboard 200 (albums).
As he returns to the summits on the latter tally, he makes history in several ways, including tying one of the most successful singer-songwriters of all time, who only very recently caught up to the rapper.
Her Loss, the new joint album between Drake and 21 Savage, opens at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard 200 chart with one of the largest debuts of 2022. The set easily claims the throne, launching with 404,000 equivalent units, according to Billboard. The title is the third leader for Savage and the twelfth for Drake, and its immediate warm welcome helps him move up once more on an important all-time ranking.
With another No. 1 album now included in his discography, Drake breaks out of a tie with Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, and Taylor Swift for the third-most Billboard 200 champions ever. Streisand and Springsteen haven’t accrued another No. 1 in some time (it’s been more than half a decade for both), but Swift’s winning streak is ongoing.
In fact, Swift matched with Drake when looking at the number of chart-topping albums both artists have collected throughout their careers, as her latest full-length Midnights opened with the biggest debut of the year just a few weeks ago. Midnights became Swift’s eleventh leader less than a month ago, and it helped her tie Drake, Streisand, and Springsteen. Now, she remains steady, while the Canadian hip-hop mogul continues his forward surge. As Her Loss rules, Midnights vacates the top spot for the first time, moving to No. 2 with another huge sales frame.
With a dozen No. 1 albums to his name, Drake comes in behind only The Beatles (19) and Jay-Z (14) on the list of artists with the most Billboard 200 rulers.
Amazingly, Her Loss is Drake’s second No. 1 album of 2022. His electronic dance-oriented Honestly, Nevermind debuted atop the Billboard 200 back in mid-June, bringing his career total up to 11 leaders. The Grammy winner dropped the full-length with little warning, and the rumor at the time was that he did so to get out of the way of Beyoncé, who released her own dance masterpiece Renaissance a little more than a month later.
Drake first reached the top spot on the Billboard 200 in 2010, and since then, he’s only missed the highest rung on the tally with one collection.
The rapper has conquered the chart with all of the following titles (some of which are albums, while others are classified as mixtapes, compilations, or playlist projects): Thank Me Later, Take Care, Nothing Was the Same, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, What a Time to Be Alive (with Future), Views, More Life, Scorpion, Care Package, Certified Lover Boy, Honestly, Nevermind.
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