It was nine weeks at the top of the Billboard charts for Drake, but thanks to a roaring return to the shelves by Blink-182, there won’t be a tenth.
California, Blink’s first album since 2011, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 this week, ending an epic run by Drake, who saw his Views album fall to #2 for the first time since its April 29 release. How does Drake’s 9-week reign match-up against similar runs in rap history? Only Vanilla Ice (To the Extreme, 16 weeks) and MC Hammer (Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em, 21 weeks) have done better. In addition, since Drake’s debut in 2009, only Taylor Swift, Adele (twice) and the Frozen soundtrack have eclipsed 9 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200. Needless to say, Drizzy is in exquisite company.
As far as the Billboard Hot 100 goes, however, Aubrey is still on top. “One Dance” is yet again the #1 song in America, besting Justin Timberlake‘s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” and Calvin Harris/Rihanna‘s “This Is What You Came For,” which has rocketed up to the top 5 at #4 this week. That makes 9 weeks at #1 for “One Dance,” tying Rihanna’s “Work,” which featured Drake, for the best #1 run of Drizzy’s career. (It’s worth noting that 8 of those weeks have been consecutive.) What makes this run even more interesting, is the fact that it’s come without the release of an official music video for the song, which is generally one of the facets of a song’s release that helps it maintain a stay at a high position on the charts. Undoubtedly, “One Dance,” which has been out since early April, will be breathed new life once the video is released, as is generally the case with most Drake videos (see: “Hotline Bling”).
All eyes are on ScHoolboy Q this week, thanks to his Blank Face LP, which was released on Friday. BFLP is the second major label release of Q’s career, and a stellar follow-up to his critically-acclaimed debut, Oxymoron, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2014. Q was joined by a plethora of guests for his sophomore effort, including Miguel, Jadakiss, Kanye West, Justine Skye and more, but that alone might not help his sales prognosis much. BFLP is on pace to move just under 60,000 equivalent album units in its first week, a significant drop off from Oxymoron‘s first-week showing of 138,000 first-week albums sold (streaming units weren’t yet included in first-week totals when Oxymoron dropped). Still, Q should be encouraged by the fact that his fan base is eating this album up, and that by all indications he’s here to stay.
Other interesting notes from the Hot 100: D.R.A.M. appears destined for the first Top 40 hit of his career with “Broccoli,” his jovial Mary Jane tribute with Lil Yachty. After a slow start–the song was released in early April–it’s currently flying up the charts, and shot up another 5 spots this week to land at #43, just outside that coveted Top 40 range. Believe it or not, despite its popularity and Beyoncé‘s co-sign, D.R.A.M.’s breakthrough hit “Cha Cha” never touched the Hot 100, so congrats to the Virginia native on his recent successes.
In addition, after an impressive run with Ty Dolla $ign on “Work From Home,” Fifth Harmony is back at it again with the successful Hip Hop collab, thanks to “All In My Head (Flex)” featuring Fetty Wap, currently sitting at #37, up 3 spots from its #40 finish last week. Drake’s got another song in the top 25 with “Too Good,” his dancehall collab with Rihanna off Views (#22), and Wale‘s “My PYT” is slowly but surely making its way up (#74). Fetty Wap, 2015’s chart killer, seems to have at last a modest hit on his hans with “Wake Up,” which just hit the halfway point this week (#50), and Logic‘s surprise mixtape, Bobby Tarantino, now has a Hot 100 song to call its own, as “Flexicution” has snuck in at the century mark (#100).
