If You’re Reading This, Drake’s Album is No. 1

18 Feb, 2015

Drake’s surprise album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart as expected, easily scoring the hip-hop star his fourth chart-topper.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late moved 535,000 units in the week ending Feb. 15, according to Nielsen Music, with pure album sales comprising 495,000 of that figure — all from digital downloads.

Industry forecasters had projected the set to sell over 500,000 copies, but it fell just short of that half-million threshold. Still, it’s a remarkable start for an album that arrived with no notice, was sold only through digital retail, is termed a mixtape by Drake (and not a proper studio album) and only had a little more than three days of sales powering its debut. The new set was released in the evening of Thursday, Feb. 12 through Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records. The tracking week ended at the close of business on Sunday, Feb. 15.

A physical release for the album on CD or vinyl has not been announced.

If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late follows Drake’s three earlier No. 1-debuting albums, which also happened to be his first three full-length efforts: Thank Me Later (released in 2010), Take Care (2011) and Nothing Was the Same (2013).

Drake’s fourth studio album, Views From the 6, is due out later this year. It was announced last July.

Here are some notable facts and figures about Drake’s latest No. 1 album:

— If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late sold 495,000 copies in its first chart week, marking Drake’s third-biggest sales frame. Only the bows of Nothing Was the Same (658,000) and Take Care (631,000) were larger.

— If You’re Reading This logs the largest sales week for an R&B/hip-hop album since Beyonce‘s own surprise self-titled album debuted with 617,000 sold after a little more than three days on sale (in the week ending Dec. 15, 2013). The Beyonce set was released at 12 AM on the morning of Friday, Dec. 13. If You’re Reading This also nets the biggest week for a rap album since Eminem‘s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 bowed at No. 1 with 792,000 in the week ending Nov. 10, 2013.

— Drake’s opening is the second-largest sales week among all albums in the past year, behind only the debut of Taylor Swift‘s monster 1989 album (1.27 million in the week ending Nov. 2, 2014).

— In a little more than three days, Drake’s set has already sold more copies than any other album in 2015 except for Swift’s 1989 (which has sold 696,000 so far in 2015).

— Only two hip-hop acts have seen their first four full-length albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart: Drake and DMX. The latter did it with his first five studio projects between 1998 and 2003 (It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood, …And Then There Was X, The Great Depression and Grand Champ).

— If You’re Reading This is the 10th No. 1 album for the Cash Money label, and the seventh for Young Money. (Cash Money’s first leader was Big Tymers‘ Hood Rich in 2002, while Young Money’s was Drake’s own Thank Me Later.)

Billboard 

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