
Drake
Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage
Drake Rides 'Scorpion' To Eighth Straight No. 1, Earns 2018's Top Week
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.