Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Debuts at No. 1 with Biggest Week of 2021
Drake is a certified chart-topper.
The Toronto rapper earns the biggest week for any album in over a year as Certified Lover Boy debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The long-awaited project, which was released on Sept. 3, opens with 613,000 equivalent album units, the biggest week for an album since Taylor Swift’s Folklore launched at No. 1 with 846,000 units in August 2020.
Of the 613,000 equivalent album units, 562,000 are from streams of the album’s 21 tracks, which equals 743.67 million on-demand streams, while album sales comprise 46,000. In its first day, CLB broke the record for single-day streams on both Apple Music and Spotify.
Additionally, CLB is Drake’s 10th No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and marks the largest week for a rap album or album by a male artist since his own Scorpion in July 2018.
Drake dethroned Kanye West’s DONDA, which previously had 2021’s biggest week when it opened at No. 1 with 309,000 units. DONDA falls to No. 2 in its second week with 141,000 equivalent album units.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Doja Cat’s Planet Her dips 4-5 (49,000), The Kid LAROI’s F*ck Love falls 5-8, and Rod Wave’s SoulFly rounds out the top 10 with 30,000 equivalent album units.
Billboard 200 Top 10
1. Drake – Certified Lover Boy – 613,000
2. Kanye West – DONDA – 141,000
3. Iron Maiden – Senjutsu – 64,000
4. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour – 61,000
5. Doja Cat – Planet Her – 49,000
6. Morgan Wallen – Dangerous: The Double Album – 40,000
7. Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever – 39,000
8. The Kid LAROI – F*ck Love – 39,000
9. Imagine Dragons – Mercury – Act 1 – 31,000
10. Rod Wave –SoulFly – 30,000