Drake has become the artist with the most No. 1 albums in the history of Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, claiming the record outright with his 18th chart-topper.
The Toronto rapper reached the milestone as HABIBTI returned to the top following the October 2 release of HABIBTI (FOMO), a deluxe edition featuring four additional tracks. The album climbed from No. 35 to No. 1 on the chart dated October 17, according to Billboard, earning 71,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the October 2-8 tracking week. That represented a 506 per cent increase over the previous week.
The achievement breaks a three-way tie between Drake, Future and the Temptations, who had each accumulated 17 No. 1 albums on the chart. The Temptations first reached that total in 1966, making their long-standing record one of the chart’s most enduring milestones.
The new ranking puts Drake ahead of JAY-Z, who has 14 No. 1 albums, followed by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, with 13. R. Kelly has 12, while Eminem and Lil Wayne have 11 apiece.
HABIBTI originally debuted at No. 2 in May, behind Drake’s own ICEMAN. The deluxe edition’s four new songs are “Solar Eclipse,” featuring Don Toliver; “Quebec”; “Cold Shoulder,” featuring Don Toliver and Yebba; and “Classic Pt 2.”
Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart launched in January 1965. Its current methodology combines album sales, streaming activity and track sales to measure the most popular releases in the genre.
Sharon at Back to the Beginning Oliver Halfin
