Started from the bottom, and now we’re here! Everyone’s favorite candlemaker, Drake is set to receive the ‘Artist of the Decade’ award at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), beating out Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, and even ex-girlfriend Rihanna for the trophy. Considering how he whisked lyrical rapping and singing on the hottest beats to his natural star power, the 34-year-old was definitely an industry force to be reckoned with throughout the 2010s.
Drake’s first debuted on the Billboard charts in 2009 after the release of his mixtape that included his smash hit “Best I Ever Had,” signifying his big break that quickly garnered him a massive following and landed him a label deal with Universal Motown Records. After this grand entrance, he went on to score nine number one albums on the Billboard 200 (including his first full-length studio album Thank Me Later), 33 Top 10 songs in the Billboard Hot 100, 18 number one hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and 69 Top 10s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. And of these stacked accomplishments, The Controlla singer has had six number one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and 10 number one albums on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. According to Billboard, this musical prowess and sustained ascendancy over the charts is the edge that allowed him to receive the coveted honor among the top artists that are ranked by their activity on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and the Billboard 200 albums tally. In addition, social media data and touring revenue from Billboard Boxscore during the decade were also factored into the judging.
Reigning as the BBMA’s most decorated artist with 27 awards in total, Drake also holds the record as the only solo male artist to spend more than 50 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the first artist to launch three songs in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously, and the artist with the most songs to make the chart (232). As if it couldn’t get any better for the incomparable musician, Drake is also a finalist for the award show’s top Hot 100 artist alongside Pop Smoke, The Weeknd, Da Baby, and Dua Lipa. The BBMAs will air live on Sunday, May 23, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
