When will we see a rapper go platinum first week again?



It could definitely happen. Just needs to be an artist that appeals to pretty much every subgenre of rap (and pop for that matter) and have an insanely hyped marketing push for the release along with a perfect release window. Alot of things have to align perfectly but it's possible.

Drake is the name on everyone's lip. Kendrick Lamar too. Drake's got pretty  close with Scorpion, I honestly think he could do it if he announced a retirement album or something that would generate huge hype. Drake didn’t go platinum first week with Scorpion. Drake had God’s Plan & Nice For What as singles, which were inescapable throughout the first half of 2018. His beef with Pusha T was still fresh in everyone’s mind leading up to the release of Scorpion and fans were eager to hear if he would address him on the album. Spotify literally made Drake the face of every Spotify playlist the day it dropped to promote the album. And the entire album was a double album composed of 25 tracks to BOOST his streaming numbers. 

Even with all of those factors combined, Scorpion sold 732K first week. Don’t get me wrong, those are amazing numbers. But for Drake’s standards, who was the biggest artist in the entire world in 2018, he should have easily gone platinum.

There are 20 albums that have gone platinum in a week: 

1. Adele - 25

2. *NYSNC - No Strings Attached

3. Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP

4. Backstreet Boys - Back In Blue

5. Eminem - Encore

6. Eminem - The Eminem Show

7. Britney Spears - Oops!... I Did It Again

8. Taylor Swift - 1985

9. Taylor Swift - Reputation

10. Taylor Swift - Red

11. 50 Cent - The Massacre

12. Backstreet Boys - Millennium

13. Lady Gaga - Born This Way

14. Usher - Confessions

15. Garth Brooks - Double Live

16. Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

17. Taylor Swift - Speak Now

18. Norah Jones - Feels Like Home

19. Lil Wayne - Carter III

20. Drake - Views

As for Drake, people say he didn't make platinum with Scorpion because he didn't drop any physicals nor did any merch bundle. He also didn't do a press run. If he did those he will most definitely could have etched out a 1M first sales week. Scorpion has the highest streamed first week of all time by a mile!

Post Malone? Post could potentially do it, but he’d have to switch things up. He hasn’t broken 500K yet, but maybe he could if he would drop a smash that was very much hip hop, and then a second single that’s more pop oriented, to kind of pull both fan bases in. He’s got crazy longevity, his singles always hold in the top 10 really well. Circles holds the record by a good margin for most time in the top 10 (I think it’s like 10 months). Hollywood's Bleeding had a pretty good rollout, with Circles/Goodbyes/Sunflower/Wow all being huge songs. 
 
But things will change after October, Billboard won't count merch/tour bundles and will make it almost impossible to achieve. Even Drake can not do it!.

Going Platinum by RIAA is possible in the first week because pre-released singles count for certification. That is why Scorpion was certified Platinum the day of release, Hollywood's Bleeding also had 1M+ from pre-released singles, Future's 'High Of Life' was certified Gold the day it was released this year (mostly because of 'Life Is Good' success)

Out of rap, the only artist that will get 1M+ is Adele. Adele hasn't released anything in 5 years and she's a good candidate. Drake possibly can't do it and Eminem can't do it anymore. Eminem doesn’t promote his albums anymore or do singles before his albums and even if he did, he still wouldn’t scratch it. Well, maybe if he announces a retirement album, then he would. Also Billie Eillish, maybe.

As it stands, Adele is leagues above Drake in first week sales she's probably going to pass the mark. In rap, Drake is the one if anyone is probably going to pass the mark, as rules will be changing soon in October.

Posted by Kompleksanda
Follow me everywhere @kompleksanda

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