Drake did just about everything an artist could do this year.
Some artists may have withered under the kind of pressure the rapper faced this year. Label woes, rap beefs, and a double murder could not slow the Toronto MC down this year.Â
Even though Drake’s label Young Money is locked in a battle with its distributor Cash Money, Drake appeared to be unfazed by the legal issues.
Drake released his surprise album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late with no promotion. And who needs that in this new era of the music business?
Surely not Drizzy.
The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart and broke Spotify’s first-week streaming record, by garnering almost 20,000,000 streams in three days. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late also set a Billboard record when all 21 of the songs occupied 50 of the spots on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts (42%).
In between all of this activity, Drake was embroiled in Hip-Hop’s biggest battle since Jay-Z and Nas went head-to-head in 2001.
After Meek Mill decided to call out Drake for not writing his records, Drake replied with two thunderous tracks “Back to Back” and “Charged Up.” Not only did he drop verses of Hip-Hop quotables that probably still haunt Meek, but Drake also managed to take much of the attention away from Meek’s critically acclaimed sophomore album Dreams Worth More Than Nightmares.
The feud even began to take its toll on ticket sales to Nicki Minaj’s Print” tour which featured Meek as an opening act.
Then came another surprise album. This time, Drake satisfied his fans’ hunger for his collaboration album What a Time to Be Alive with Atlanta rapper Future.
That album steamrolled the charts, landed at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart and once again, every song from the album landed on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
Not good enough for Drizzy. He linked with director X to make the most talked about video of the year for his single “Hotline Bling.”
The simple pastel imagery, silhouetted figures of curvy women, and Drake’s dancing were perfect targets for social media.
The video has produced countless memes that all serve as valuable promotion for the artists.
Presidential hopeful Donald Trump even got into the fray by parroting “Hotline Bling” during his appearance on “SNL.”
As he was dropping albums, and handling beef, he apparently manages to slang some as well. Drake found the time to romance tennis star Serena Williams, and the timing of the relationship was perfect. Serena was in the middle of trying to break a Wimbledon record, but Drake stole a lot of the spotlight just by showing up to the matches in London this past July.
Serena ended up losing to Roberta Vinci in an upset at the U.S. Open in September and Drake took some of the heat for that. However, the entire affair only helped raise drakes public profile.
Air Jordan 10 OVO |
In addition to his “Would You Like a Tour” and being on the road with Future to support WATTBA, Drake headed out on his “Jungle” tour this year. And he gathered artists like Kanye West, J. Cole, Big Sean, Travi$ $cott and Future to headline his OVOFest in his hometown of Toronto.
Hell, Drake even unwittingly managed to make Toronto city councilman Norm Kelly a household name thanks to Kelly’s unwavering support of the 6God.
On the fashion side of things, Drake launched several new pieces from his line OVO Athletics, and helped boost the career of Toronto designer Craig Green, by sporting his gear at Wimbledon. Oh Drake also dropped the limited edition OVO Jordan with Nike, which quickly sold out, designed for the Toronto Raptors and released a line with Mitchell & Ness.
However, fans can rejoice, because Nike just announced plans to restock the sneaker.
And even though some of his record label deals are in turmoil, Drizzy appears to be looking towards the future anyway. He signed a contract with Apple Music worth a reported $20 million.
And how could one consider himself successful without a parody app? That’s right, of all the things Drake accomplished in 2015 a new app dedicated to the rapper further solidifies his iconic status.
The app is titled “Drizzy’s Tears.” Users must attempt to wipe away a torrent of tears off of the rapper’s face.
So let’s give him some credit. Drake accomplished a lot in 2015. It will be interesting to see how he handles the new year.