The same week Drake enters the top 5 of the Forbes top-earning Hip-Hop artists list, he can count on even more income. The OVO Sound/Young Money/Cash Money/BBK/Universal Republic Records artist released Views less than one week ago (April 29). In that time since, he has sold a staggering 1.2 million copies of the #1 album.
Notably, Drake is the first Rap artist since his mentor to achieve a seven-figure scanning first week. In 2008, Lil Wayne released his sixth album, Tha Carter III. Also a Cash Money/Universal effort, the LP scanned 1,005,545 copies in its first week. Drake, who released Views exclusively to Apple (whereas Wayne had CDs and digital offerings across multiple platforms) outsold his Rich Gang partner by nearly 200,000 copies.
At a time when platinum and gold certifications have now adjusted to include streaming services, Drizzy may be the shot in the arm to the commercial Rap/Hip-Hop industry model.
Views is Drake’s fourth studio album, and first solo studio effort since 2013’s Nothing Was The Same. That LP, in its first week, sold 658,000 units. In 2015, Drake released two commercial mixtapes, one of which (What A Time To Be Alive) was a collaboration with Future.
According to Pitchfork, tomorrow (May 6), will see the physical CD release of Views, as well as open digital retail. On May 13, the Apple exclusivity ends, and the 20-track album will be available on all streaming platforms.
Views features a Pimp C verse, as well as appearances by Rihanna, Future, and Drake’s own OVO protege, PartyNextDoor. Lil Wayne, who executive produced N.W.T.S., is not credited on the album.
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