Drake

Drake

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

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Drake Rides 'Scorpion' To Eighth Straight No. 1, Earns 2018's Top Week

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With his new album release, the biggest of 2018, October's Own has the view from the summit once again
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jul 9, 2018 - 12:02 pm

Released on June 29, Drake's 25-track Scorpion double album tops the Billboard 200 chart for July 14 at No. 1, Drake's eighth consecutive album to do so. Its debut week broke more records, including some of Drake's own, but his eighth No. 1 ties him with the Beatles, Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Scorpion sold 160,000 traditional albums in its debut week, but these were digital downloads only because the physical CD doesn't drop until this Friday July 13. Counting in track equivalents and album equivalents online, it moved 732,000 equivalent albums — the biggest week in 2018 for any album release.

On-demand audio streams from Scorpion topped 745 million, another No. 1 of all-time statistic, surpassing the 431 million streams in Post Malone's late April debut for Beerbongs & Bentleys. Globally, on-demand streams passed 1 billion — a first-ever record for any album.

Among the top 10 weeks for on-demand audio streams, Drake's 2016 album Views was bumped down to No. 7, ever, with 245 million. His 2017 More Life release is at No. 3 with 384 million, for its debut, as well as at No. 7 with 253 million in its second week on sale. We'll see what the physical CD's release does to Drake's numbers next week.

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Drake

Drake

Photo: Kevin Mazur/VF18/WireImage 

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Drake Is Headed To Europe In March & April For Assassination Vacation Tour

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GRAMMY-nominated "God's Plan" rapper heads abroad for a string of dates including six nights at London's The O2
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 22, 2019 - 1:13 pm

March and April will find 61st GRAMMY Awards nominee Drake in European capitals as his Assassination Vacation Tour, announced on Jan. 22, takes him across five countries including France, Ireland and the Netherlands. 

Drake's itinerary begins March 10–11 in Manchester, England followed by March 13, 15 and 16 in Paris, France. After three performances in Dublin, Ireland and three more in Birmingham, England, Drake begins six performances at London's The O2 on April 1. He'll play two nights in Belgium's Antwerp and close the tour in Amsterdam, the Netherlands with a three-night run, with the last show on April 26.

His latest album Scorpion was released in late June, 2018 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in July. Nominated for Album Of The Year at the 61st, the rap artist from Toronto earned a total of seven nominations this year.

Accompanying Drake on this tour of European capitals are Tony Lanez and an opening mix from BBC Radio 1 DJ Tiffany Calver. Tickets go on sale on Friday, Jan. 25 online.

Drake Rides 'Scorpion' To Eighth Straight No. 1, Earns 2018's Top Week

61st GRAMMY Awards
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Poll: Who Do You Think Voters Will Pick For Best Rap Performance?

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Cardi B; Drake; Kendrick Lamar with Jay Rock, Future and James Blake; Anderson .Paak; Travis Scott with Drake, Big Hawk and Swae Lee — who would you choose?
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Dec 12, 2018 - 10:24 am

The musical messages in the 61st GRAMMY Awards Best Rap Performance category examine life from many angles. Cardi B's romantic warning "Be Careful" lets potential partners know their love should be consistent, or else.

Meanwhile, in "Nice For What," Drake doubts assurances of support once it's time to come through.

And the team of Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake brought us "King's Dead," urging that presumptuousness is not advisable and giving a shout-out to Marvel's Killmonger.

Finally, Anderson .Paak's "Bubblin" celebrates a fountain of cash and its implications for living, and Travis Scott, along with Drake, Big Hawk and Swae Lee, takes us into "Sicko Mode": another dimension of playing for keeps.

Polls

Who Do You Think Voters Will Pick For Best Rap Performance?

Who do you think GRAMMY voters will choose for Best Rap Performance at the 61st GRAMMY Awards? Vote and tune to CBS Feb. 10 to see if voters agreed with your pick.

2019 GRAMMY Nominees Album Now Available For Pre-Order

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

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Cardi B, Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift Top 2018 Teen Choice Noms

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Voting is open now that the popular nominations have been announced
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jun 13, 2018 - 4:04 pm

The 2018 Teen Choice Awards announced many of their nominees on June 13, putting an array of America's most beloved entertainers up for popular voting that is now open and sure to be extremely viral.

For some quick tastes from the top categories, Choice Female Artist nominees are Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Demi Lovato, and Taylor Swift. This year's Choice Male Artists include Drake, Niall Horan, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran, and Louis Tomlinson. Those are great selections to choose from.

Voting is open either online via TeenChoice.com or by Twitter hashtag, one per Tweet by pairing a name with #ChoiceMaleArtist or #ChoiceFemaleArtist. The limit on enthusiasm is 10 votes per day, per category, for each platform user ID, a wrinkle some multiplatform fans are likely to use effectively. Among other things, for the musical artists, this really is a chance for their fan bases to show their love.

The competition in each category is interesting, for example Choice Latin Artist nominated J Balvin, Becky G, CNCO, Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi, and Maluma. J Balvin is super fresh, Becky G has many teens who identify with her, and Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi had last summer's biggest hit.

So the viral chase is on for fans to vote their Teen Choice Awards favorites up the ranks. On August 12 the winners will be announced live on Fox.

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Drake, 2017

Drake

Photo: Jesse B. Garrabrant/Getty Images

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Drake Reveals Upcoming Release Date For New Album, 'Scorpion'

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The GRAMMY-winning rapper has officially begun promoting his next album release
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Apr 16, 2018 - 3:55 pm

Fresh off of dethroning himself from the No. 1 slot atop the Billboard Hot 100, replacing his own single "God's Plan" with the smash hit "Nice For What," and becoming just the 13th artist in history to replace their own No. 1 single atop the chart, GRAMMY-winning rapper Drake has begun to drop hints about his forthcoming fifth album Scorpion.

Celebrating his chart win, Drake hopped on Instagram on Monday to drop some good news for all the fans who've been patiently waiting for the Toronto native's next official LP release sing 2016's quadruple-platinum-certified Views.

 JUNE 2018

A post shared by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on

 JUNE 2018

A post shared by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on

While the pair of IG posts, both captioned "JUNE 2018," are the first tease of the album's title and release date, Drake did drop some additional hints during his appearance at a Toronto Raptors game in March, telling the hometown crowd at halftime, "I love each and every one of you …I’m happy to be home. I’m working on this new album for the city."

Details on the specific date in June when Scorpion will drop are still forthcoming.

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