Scorpion, Drake’s new record and his first ever double album, has generated a ton of conversation since its release on June 29. Even though there may be a bit of Drake fatigue, you wouldn’t know that by looking at the streaming numbers: On the July 14-dated Billboard 200 chart, Scorpion has claimed the top spot, giving Drake his eighth consecutive No. 1 album.
Scorpion earned 732,000 equivalent album units in the week ending July 5 (160,000 in traditional album sales), which is the biggest week for an album in 2018 so far, and the biggest week for an R&B/hip-hop album since Drake’s Views debuted with 1.04 million units on the May 21, 2016 chart. The record-breaking is even more impressive than that, though: Scorpion‘s songs generated 745.92 million on-demand audio streams, which is easily the most ever. Previously, that record was held by Post Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys, which had 431.3 million streams on the May 12 chart.
This means that every full-length album Drake has released in his career has peaked in the top spot on the charts. His eight consecutive No. 1 records ties a record that Kanye West recently also tied with Ye — The Beatles and Eminem have also had eight consecutive No. 1 albums,and Eminem’s streak is still active. This also puts Drake (and Kanye) behind only Jay-Z and The Beatles for the most chart-topping albums in Billboard 200 history (14 for Jay-Z, 19 for The Beatles).
Scorpion is out now via Young Money/Cash Money Records. Get it here.
