Ever since Drake released his fourth studio album, Views, in April, the Toronto rapper has been breaking sales records and dominating the charts.
In addition to debuting at No. 1 on Billboard and selling more than 600,000 copies on its first day, now Views has become the first album to achieve one billion streams on Apple Music.
Apple Music awarded Drake with a plaque, which he posed next to in an Instagram photo on Sept. 26.
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Drake is the first artist to reach the milestone, so the celebratory plaque was signed by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who thanked the rapper for driving traffic to the streaming service. (For those less literate in “streaming” technology, earning one billion streams means that all the songs on Views were streamed, in total, one billion times.)
Apple Music, which launched in June 2015, is only 15 months old.
As the streaming platform continues to grow and as streaming becomes increasingly popular, more artists will reach this milestone. But Drake will always be the first.
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When Apple Music first launched, the brand signed Drake to an endorsement deal reportedly worth $19 million.
Views was certified triple platinum by RIAA last month after hitting the three-million mark in sales. Currently on his Summer Sixteen Tour, Drake released his 20-minute short film, Please Forgive Me, early Monday morning. It was originally supposed to be released on Sept. 30.
The film, available on Apple Music, is directed by Anthony Mandler and features music from Views.
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