Drake now claims the most No. 1 albums of all time among soloists — along with Taylor Swift — as Iceman launches atop the Billboard 200. LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 04: Drake attends the “Top Boy” UK Premiere at Hackney Picturehouse on September 04, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
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Whenever Drake releases a new album, it is all but guaranteed to debut atop the Billboard 200. The hip-hop superstar has ranked as one of the most successful artists of all time on Billboard‘s list of the most-consumed full-lengths, compilations and EPs in the United States for years now, and he regularly adds to his list of champions whenever he delivers something new.
Drake threw fans a curveball – two of them actually – when he released his album Iceman by dropping a trio of projects simultaneously. Of course, only one title can occupy the loftiest space at a time, and it is Iceman, the set that the Grammy winner has been promoting for months, that launches inside the penthouse.
As the highly anticipated LP arrives at No. 1, Drake breaks out of one historic tie and forms another, moving up on one of the most important all-time rosters.
Drake Debuts at No. 1 With Iceman
Iceman debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 463,000 equivalent units shifted. That sum is composed of both pure purchases and equivalent units made out of the nearly half-billion plays its songs racked up on platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify during its first week of availability, though the majority of that sizable figure comes from streaming activity. Iceman earns Drake his fifteenth career leader on the Billboard 200.
Here are all of Drake’s No. 1s on the chart.
- Care Package
- Certified Lover Boy
- For All the Dogs
- Her Loss with 21 Savage
- Honestly, Nevermind
- Iceman
- If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late
- More Life
- Nothing Was the Same
- Scorpion
- Some Sexy Songs for You with PartyNextDoor
- Take Care
- Thank Me Later
- Views
- What a Time to Be Alive with Future
Drake Passes Jay-Z on the Billboard 200
TOPSHOT – US rapper Jay-Z accepts the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award on stage during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024. (Photo by Valerie Macon / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
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With a milestone 15 No. 1s now included in his discography, Drake soars past Jay-Z to claim the most Billboard 200 winners among solo male artists and hip-hop musicians. Before Iceman arrived, the two rap powerhouses were matched for that honor, but now Jay-Z holds with his 14 while Drake advances.
Drake Ties Taylor Swift’s Historic Record
As Drake pushes beyond Beyoncé’s husband, he forms a match with Taylor Swift, who earned her fifteenth chart-topper last fall when The Life of a Showgirl kicked off its time at the summit. That title currently holds the all-time record for the largest debut of all time for any album, with just slightly over four million equivalent units moved.
The two now jointly claim the most No. 1s in history when looking only at solo acts. It will be perhaps years before either Swift or Drake challenge the musical act that sits in first place, the Beatles. The British pop-rock band racked up 19 leaders during its time together, and several after its split as well.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – NOVEMBER 01: EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO STANDALONE PUBLICATION USE (NO SPECIAL INTEREST OR SINGLE ARTIST PUBLICATION USE; NO BOOK USE). Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 01, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
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Drake Fills the Entirety of the Billboard 200’s Top Three
The biggest album in America at the moment is, by an enormous margin, Iceman, but Drake does not only appear at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In fact, he fills the entirety of the top three as all of his newly released projects earn lofty debuts.
Habibti opens at No. 2 with 114,000 equivalent units moved. Drake also sits in third place with Maid of Honour, which comes in behind Habibti by only 4,000 equivalent units.
Thanks to his trio of top performers, Drake reaches a milestone 20 top 10s on the Billboard 200. In addition to his new sets that enter just beneath the highest rung, he has previously cracked the region, but missed No. 1, with Dark Lane Demo Tapes, So Far Gone and the So Far Gone EP. Those projects peaked at Nos. 2, 5 and 6. Drake has never seen any piece of music reach the Billboard 200 and not find its way to the top 10.