Let’s party like it’s 2015. And 2018. And so on, because we begin to lose count: Drake once again secured the No. 1 spot for most streams in a year with a stunning 6,7 billion (!) streams in 2022. Just to put this in perspective:
If you add those numbers to the record-breaking 50 billion Spotify streams he had already stacked up throughout his career in 2021, this means that every human being on this planet must have streamed seven Drake songs in their life. Including your unknown neighbour across the street (and her new-born baby too). Including Drake’s longtime enemy Pusha T. Your grandmother too. And how about your weird uncle that only shows up on Christmas (and always drinks way too much)? Yup: He must be a Drake fan – because numbers don’t lie.
Numbers games aside, it takes nothing away from the fact that the man born Aubrey Drake Graham has already secured himself a spot in seemingly every recent discussion about hip-hop’s all time greats even though he only turned 36 years old today. And while his title of most streamed artist of the 2010s doesn’t automatically equal ‘best lyricist’, ‘greatest performer’ or ‘classic rap album’, let that sink in:
Even 14 years after he first introduced his mix of introspective lyrics vs. braggadocio to a bigger audience with his “So Far Gone” mixtape, that man’s relevancy is not only not declining, but still growing bigger and bigger. How many careers can you think of in hip-hop that have been both critically acclaimed and/ or commercially succesful that deep in their career? To keep up, you will have to bring out the likes of LL Cool J, Jay-Z and Dr. Dre. We guess that qualifies as ‘all time great’. That upcoming collab album with 21 Savage probably won’t help to decrease the 6 God’s influence either.
In case you’re in festive mood, head to BSTN for the birthday boy’s latest collaborative pieces by NOCTA x Nike – including the Hot Step Air Terra.
