Drake Got More Streams In 2021 Than All Songs Released Before 1980 Combined

Drake is the king of rap streams, constantly ranking among the world’s most-streamed rappers. Drake’s name is often in the headlines, mostly for solid reasons. Drake has once again dominated the news as a result of his success. Drake had more streams in 2021 than all songs released before 1980. 

According to Billboard, the 6 God is not only resetting existing patterns on the streaming charts, but he’s also outperforming entire decades of music. In 2021, the OVO artist generated more on-demand streams in the United States than all pre-1980 records combined.

The study examined the 988.154 billion U.S. streams from 2021 and gave a decade-by-decade breakdown to demonstrate how older albums by new artists are becoming increasingly en vogue in terms of streaming metrics. Last year, the catalog industry accounted for over 70% of album consumption, defined as releases 18 months or older, yet 90% of those units came from albums published since 2000.

Only 0.6 percent of music released between 1950 and 1979 received streams, but Drake alone accounted for 0.8 percent of total streams in 2021, an incredible feat considering his first official mixtape was released more than 15 years ago and his ascent to superstardom began with So Far Gone in 2009.

Drake alone was responsible for 8.6 billion on-demand streams in 2021. In other words, he was responsible for one out of every 131 streams throughout the year. Drake released Certified Lover Boy in September 2021, which set single-day records on Apple Music and Spotify and helped him become Spotify’s streaming king of the year.

If OVO wants to be the king of streaming in 2022, it may face serious competition. Drake won the first ten weeks of the year with 1.4 billion on-demand streams, according to Chart Data, despite not releasing any new music.

NBA YoungBoy, who has 1.3 billion on-demand streams and a habit of releasing new projects on a near-monthly basis, is just behind Drake. In the future, Drake & YoungBoy both may give tough competition to each other. What do you think? For further updates stay tuned to Thirsty.

What’s your take on it? Sound it in the comments.