Even with the media frenzy for Views having mostly subsided and the critics deeming it to be lackluster, Drake’s latest album continues to be a commercial blockbuster, with its songs now passing one billion steams in the U.S. alone, reports Billboard.
That breaks down roughly to every person in the country listening to “Hotline Bling” three times, or 50 million people listening to the 20-song project once.
Those numbers have helped keep the Toronto Raptors’ most famous fan at the top of the Billboard 200 chart for four straight weeks — the first time a man has done that since Michael Bublé in early 2012.
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The album couldn’t be unseated from the top spot by new entries from Ariana Grande and Blake Shelton, who came in at #2 and #3 respectively on the most recent countdown, bumping Beyoncé’s Lemonade into the #4 spot.
Views‘ staggered rollout has been a big factor in keeping the streams rolling in. Initially, the album was exclusively available for streaming on Apple Music, and it still managed to go platinum in its first week. On May 24, HipHopDX reported that the album’s wider release had helped it pass half a billion streams since its April 29 release, and now, just 10 days later, it has doubled that figure.
This is the second time Drake has passed this high-water mark, with his If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late 2015 release netting 1.06 billion streams in the U.S.
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Last month, Spotify announced Drake as their most streamed artist of all time, following up his title as the service’s most-streamed artist of 2015, and the honor for most streams in a week.
The Canadian rap superstar isn’t stopping there either, having just released a new song with DJ Khaled titled “For Free.”
