Drake Was The Second Best Selling Artist Of 2023 In The US

BYLavender Alexandria2.0K Views
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Drake's Till Death Do Us Part Rap Battle Event
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 30: Drake speaks onstage during Drake's Till Death Do Us Part rap battle on October 30, 2021 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Only Taylor Swift sold more albums than Drake last year.

Drake's commercial success isn't even surprising to most people anymore. He's racked up nearly unrivaled success across streaming platforms and various Billboard charts. For more than a decade now he's been one of the biggest stars in music. So it's no surprise that in 2023 he was one of the most-listened to artists in almost every country in the world. That included the US where he dropped a number one album on the Billboard 200 with For All The Dogs. That album included numerous smash hit singles like "Slime You Out," "First Person Shooter," "Rich Baby Daddy," and "IDGAF."

When all of the numbers were tallied up Drake turned up as the second best-selling artist in the US in 2023. He totaled an astounding 10 million total units across streaming, radio, and album purchases. Unsurprisingly, he's second to the other biggest star in music Taylor Swift. Elsewhere on the list is Doja Cat who turned up as the best-selling female rapper of 2023. Check out the reactions various fans had to Drizzy's 2023 sales totals below.

Drake Tops 10 Million Total Album Sales

In recent weeks, Drake has been dealing with a strange beef with Yasiin Bey, former known as Mos Def. During a podcast appearance Bey was asked about Drizzy's music. He responded claiming that the music he makes is closer to pop than rap. It started quite a firestorm online as fans debated the merit of pop rap. Some other artists like NLE Choppa and Common came to his defense in the wake of the comments.

Eventually Drake himself responded. First he shared an interview snippet of Method Man talking about how hip-hop is for the culture. Then he followed up with a more direct attack calling Bey a "crackhead." Fan backlash against Bey got even more intense after a video of him performing at Paris Fashion Week made the rounds online. What do you think of Drake being the second best selling artist of 2023? Let us know in the comment section below.

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About The Author
Lavender Alexandria is a music and culture journalist based in Los Angeles, California. She’s covered dozens of musical genres and styles from the most mainstream to the most experimental and underground on her blog and accompanying YouTube channel that looks at music, pop culture, and Billboard charts since 2017: Lav’s Music Corner. Lavender has produced editorial and listicle content both in written and video form over the past far years and has also interviewed up-and-coming artists like Censored Dialogue. Her experiences covering culture have taken her from Hyperpop parties in LA to underground rap shows in Atlanta, to DIY punk shows in Charlotte. Lavender has also written for iHeartRadio, covering some of the biggest artists in Hip Hop such as Ice Spice, Drake, Doja Cat and Cardi B. She also has bylines with ScreenRant and continues to write for Ringtone magazine. Lavender is a lifelong Charlotte Hornets fan and her favorite rap artists include Clipping, Little Simz, Earl Sweatshirt, and Kendrick Lamar.
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