music charts

Drake Enjoys Views at the Top of the Billboard 200

Drake Performs At The O2 Arena
Drake. Photo: Ian Gavan/2014 Getty Images

As anticipated, Drake’s Views will debut atop the Billboard 200 in impressive fashion: The mag’s site reported Sunday that the rapper’s fourth studio effort enjoyed a platinum first week, earning 1.04 million equivalent album units (852,000 of which were traditional album sales) and stealing 2016’s best first week feat from Beyoncé’s Lemonade. Views and its singles were also streamed a record 245.1 million times in the U.S., per Billboard, topping the roughly 100 million plays Justin Bieber’s Purpose material amassed last year. The album, which got a wider release May 6, is Drake’s sixth straight project to hit the charts in the top slot, following such past successes as What a Time to Be Alive, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Nothing Was the Same, Take Care, and Thank Me Later. Lemonade moves down as the chart’s number two, while Prince’s Purple Rain and Best Of records take numbers three and four. “One million sold in one week. I am beyond grateful for this milestone,” Drake wrote via Instagram over the weekend. “Thank you for listening.

Drake Enjoys Views at the Top of the Charts