In Numbers: The groundbreaking career of Drake
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In Numbers: The groundbreaking career of Drake

Toronto rapper Drake is one of the most decorated artists in hip hop. With four Grammy awards, 13 BET awards and a whopping 34 Billboard awards, the Young Money artist has broken all kinds of musical records. In fact, for the 2010s, Drake was awarded the accolade ‘Billboard Artist of the Decade’, beating pop-music powerhouses such as Rihanna and Adele. 

During the 2010s, Drake was unstoppable. With four Grammy awards, 13 BET awards and a whopping 34 Billboard awards, the Young Money artist broke all kinds of musical records and was even awarded the accolade ‘Billboard Artist of the Decade’.

The rapper (real name Aubrey Graham) has not only a massive discography but also a hefty filmography, as before becoming a rapper, he was an actor. As an actor, Graham played the role of Jimmy Brooks in the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi.

However, choosing to focus on music full-time, Graham released his mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006. He quickly followed up with Comeback Season in 2007 and So Far Gone in 2009. With so much buzz surrounding him, he got signed by Lil Wayne to Young Money.

Since then, Drake has gone on to release so much quality, and in this article, we’re going to break down the facts and figures to present you with his career in numbers.

Drake’s solo albums:

Across his 13-year career, Drake has released seven studio albums, three compilation albums, four extended plays and seven mixtapes. Drake has had eleven number-one albums on the Billboard 200 (including compilation and collaborative albums).

Drake’s highest-selling solo album is his 2016 album, Views. This was his fourth full-length album and spawned an array of Top 40 hits, including ‘Pop Style’, ‘One Dance’ featuring Wizkid and Kyla and ‘Hotline Bling’ which has been certified Diamond by the RIAA. Views sold 852,000 copies in its first week and is six times platinum.

Drake’s most streamed song:

As a lead artist, over his 13-year career span, Drake has released a total of 142 singles. However, his most streamed song of all time on the prevalent music streaming service Spotify is ‘One Dance, the second single from his fourth album Views. The single, as of 2022, has been streamed approximately 2.1 billion times.

As a featured artist, Drake’s most streamed song is ‘Wild Thoughts’ by DJ Khaled. The 2017 track from DJ Khaled’s album Grateful was a hit and has been streamed approximately 929.3 million times.

Drake’s biggest video on YouTube:

Drake’s most viewed video on YouTube as a lead artist is the music video for his hit track ‘Hotline Bling’, which was released as the lead single for his 2016 album Views. The video has approximately 1.8 billion views.

The rapper’s most viewed video as a featured artist is the 2020 Future music video for his track ‘Life Is Good’. The video has been viewed over 2 billion times.

Drake’s net worth

Since his emergence on the scene in 2009, Drake has formed his own record label, OVO Sound, which features artists such as Partynextdoor, Majid Jordan and Popcaan, all of whom have thrived on the label. The rapper also hosts his own festival, OVO Fest, which sees the Candian curate and present a special lineup of artists annually in Toronto.

In collaboration with Beats1 radio, the rapper also developed OVO Sound Radio station. As of 2022, the rapper is worth $260 million.