Drake to be Honored with the Billboard Artist of the Decade Award

Photo Credit: Drake/Instagram

There was a time where Drake was making hits, getting all the features but he was still getting bullied and teased in the hiphop community. Some didn’t see his rap-singing style as making him a legitimate rapper. Then there was Charlamagne making fun of his body. Well the hits never stopped and as Lil Wayne both had his label issues, prison and codeine addiction issues, Drake continued to rack up the hits, polished his image and made himself the envy of the hiphop community. Similar to when Timbaland hit the gym and wasn’t called fat anymore, that was the last part in solidifying his star status, that and the fact that he had viral dances for a number of his songs.

Fast forward to 2021 and over the past decade Drake has had the most No. 1s on the Billboard 200 (9) the most Top 10 songs on the Hot 100 (33), 6 No. 1s on the Hot 100, the most No. 1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with 18 and the only solo male artist with over 50 cumulative weeks at No. 1. Furthermore he has the most Top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (45), No. 1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (22), and top 40 hits on the Hot 100 (120).

Drake took all the criticism he received and made everyone respect him. His record breaking success is also a victory for black culture. Rap was once seen as a fad and something that Congress even felt the need to intervene in at one point in time but its staying power has more than proven itself. Rap has been the most listened to genre in recent years and now has shown to be the most popular genre of the decade by virtue of who has the Number One spot as the artist of the decade.

You can watch Drake get recognized as the Billboard Artist of the Decade May 23rd on NBC at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards.

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