It’s official — Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is the No. 1 album in the country, according to Billboard. CLB had a tremendous first week on the Billboard 200 chart. The music publication is reporting Drizzy’s sixth studio album has recorded “the biggest week for any album in over a year.”
The 21-track offering racked up a whopping 613,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week ending Sept. 9, according to MRC Data. The physical CLB CD is set to be released on Oct. 1, however the album still sold 46,000 digital copies and accumulated 5,000 track equivalent album units.
Drizzy’s latest album is his 10th No. 1 project, which makes the “Fair Trade” rapper just the eighth artist with at least 10 No. 1 albums in the Billboard 200 chart’s 65-year history. Billboard states CLB recorded the largest first week for a rap album since Drake’s Scorpion garnered 732,000 equivalent album units in 2018.
The Boy’s album nearly doubled the 309,000 units Kanye West’s Donda earned last week. ‘Ye previously held the crown for the biggest first week for an album in 2021. The two hip hop titans were involved in a spat leading up to their respective releases. Donda was slated to drop on the same day as CLB, however according to West, Universal Music Group put the album out without his approval.
CLB features verses from Young Thug, Lil Durk, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Future, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne, JAY-Z, and more. Drake described his own album as, “A combination of toxic masculinity and acceptance of truth which is inevitably heartbreaking.” He dedidcated CLB to his friend Nadia Ntuli and slain IG model Mercedes Morr, adding “RIP” and a heart emoji to the Apple music description. The project was executive produced by Drizzy, Noah “40” Shebib, Oliver El-Khatib, and Noel Cadastre.