Drake has surpassed 220 million certified single units, per the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
As TMZ reported earlier this week, a recently shared screenshot from the “Summer Games” sequel denier showed that OVO Sound president Mr. Morgan had shared the news with him directly.
“Drake now has 223m RIAA Digital Certified Song Units as a lead artist,” a screenshot-captured message read. “First artist to cross 200M in RIAA history.”
The wording of this figure caused some confusion on social media, with some appearing to conflate albums and singles in various figures-focused arguments. To be clear, the official RIAA site's Top Artists (Digital Singles) section lists Drake in the top spot with 227 million certified units. He's followed on that list by Rihanna and Eminem at 166.5 million certified units and 166 million certified units, respectively.
In terms of albums, Drake—listed at 42.5 million RIAA-certified units—has quite a way to go to best The Beatles' 183 million units.
At the time of this writing, the RIAA has not shared a public statement. Complex has reached out to a rep for comment. This story may be updated.
Recent days have indeed seen Drake receiving a number of new RIAA certifications for both singles and albums. The new round of certifications dates back to Oct. 24, with three Drake releases—Thank Me Later, “Laugh Now Cry Later,” and “Wants and Needs”—all adding new levels of platinum to their name. More than a dozen additional releases also received fresh certifications.
The RIAA feats arrived amid Drake's celebration of his 37th birthday, which Lil Yachty rang in with a series of photos showing the 6 God before he "got fly."
Earlier this week, Jessica McKinney ranked all of Drake's No. 1 hits, starting with 2020's early pandemic track "Toosie Slide." See the full ranking here.
