Drake Is the Most Streamed Artist of the Decade — How Many No. 1 Hits Has the Rapper Had?
Since 2010, singer and rapper Drake has released five albums and a mixtape totaling 111 songs. All of his albums have peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and he recently broke the Billboard Hot 100 record, previously held by The Beatles for over 50 years, for most top ten singles on the chart in a single year.
The way his music seems to blend to the next song seamlessly encourages listeners to keep listening, and several of his songs have gone viral due to dance crazes, helping him dominate the streaming era.
Now that this decade is coming to an end, Spotify named Drake the most globally streamed artist on their platform since 2010. How many number one hits does the rapper have?
Drake’s background
Born Aubrey Drake Graham on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Canada, the 33-year-old developed a love for acting in high school. At the age of 15, his friend introduced him to his father, an acting agent, who landed Drake a role as Jimmy Brooks on teenage drama series, Degrassi: The Next Generation from 2001 until 2007.
Towards the end of his acting career, Drake wanted to make music and dropped debut mixtape, Room for Improvement in 2006. He then released another mixtape, Comeback Season, in 2007, including popular single, “Replacement Girl,” featuring singer Trey Songz.
The song caught the attention of Jas Prince, who showed the song to Lil Wayne. Therefore, the famous rapper invited Drake to the Houston leg of his Tha Carter III tour. The two went on to collaborate several times before the Canadian rapper officially signed to Young Money Entertainment after releasing his 2009 mixtape, So Far Gone.
Drake released successful albums Thank Me Later and Take Care before officially founding his own label, OVO Sound. Drake has since dropped mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, as well as albums Nothing Was the Same, Views, and Scorpion.
The rapper also has several successful acts signed to OVO Sound, including PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, dvsn, and Baka Not Nice.
Spotify named Drake the most-streamed artist of the decade
The most-streamed artist on Spotify since 2010 is Drake, with Ed Sheeran, Post Malone, Ariana Grande, and Eminem rounding out the top five list. In this decade, the Candian rapper has released 179 solo songs on Spotify, and his record-breaking album Scorpio became the first to generate one billion streams in a week globally.
Additionally, Spotify highlights Drake’s top hits with their curated playlists and advertise his upcoming albums across their platform. His 2016 smash, “One Dance,” featuring Kyla and WizKid, is the second-most globally streamed song of the decade on Spotify.
How many number one songs does Drake have?
Drake’s first number-one single came from 2010 collaboration with Rihanna, “What’s My Name.” Even though all of his albums have peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, he didn’t receive his first number-one single until “One Dance” from his fourth album, Views (2016).
The Canadian rapper collaborated again with Rihanna in 2016 for their number one single, “Work,” from her album, Anti. Drake’s 2018 album, Scorpion, spawned three number one hits: “God’s Plan,” “Nice For What,” and “In My Feelings.”
While Drake also has several songs that have hit number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, he currently has six number-one Billboard hits.
