Scorpion attacks the charts.
Drake’s latest album officially debuts at No. 1 the Billboard 200 with the largest overall week of 2018 for any album. The 25-track set album opens with 732,000 equivalent album units for the week ending July 5. Of that number, 160,000 were traditional album sales, according to Billboard.
Scorpion becomes Drake’s eighth consecutive No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. His only project to miss the top spot was his debut EP, So Far Gone, which peaked at No. 6 in 2009.
The Toronto rapper ties Kanye West and Eminem for the second-most No. 1 albums among hip-hop acts in the history of the Billboard 200. Only JAY-Z is ahead of them with 14 No. 1s.
Additionally, Scorpion sets a one-week record for largest U.S. on-demand audio streams for an album ever with 745.92 million. In just three days, Drake beat the previous record held by Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys, which earned 431.3 million streams over seven days.
It also makes history as the first album to be streamed 1 billion times globally in a single week. Additionally, Drake has the most RIAA certifications of any artist in history with 142 million digital single sales to date.
Billboard 200 Top 10
1. Drake – Scorpion – 732,000
2. Florence + The Machine – High as Hope – 84,000
3. Post Malone – beerbongs & bentleys – 72,000
4. Gorillaz – The Now Now – 63,000
5. XXXTentacion – ? – 62,000
6. Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy – 47,000
7. Juice WRLD – Goodbye & Good Riddance – 39,000
8. Beyoncé and JAY-Z – Everything Is Love – 37,000
9. Panic! at the Disco – Pray for the Wicked – 35,000
10. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction – 33,000