Drake hit #1 with Scorpion

First posted 2/14/2021.

Scorpion Drake

Released: June 29, 2018 Peak: 15 US, 15 RB, 13 UK, 15 CN, 13 AU Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.3 UK, 5.82 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks, Disc 1: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Survival (7/14/18, 17 US, 15 RB, 18 CN) Nonstop (7/14/18, 2 US, 2 RB, 4 UK, 1 CN, 5 AU, 0.6 million) Elevate (7/14/18, 14 US, 13 RB, 15 CN) Emotionless (7/14/18, 8 US, 7 RB, 5 UK, 13 CN, 12 AU) God’s Plan (1/19/18, 1 US, 3 RR, 1 RB, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, sales: 15.3 million) I’m Upset (5/26/18, 7 US, 6 RB, 37 UK, 5 CN, 17 AU, 0.2 million) 8 Out of 10 (7/14/18, 21 US, 16 RB, 19 CN, 27 AU) Mob Ties (7/14/18, 13 US, 12 RB, 11 CN, 28 AU, 0.2 million) Can’t Take a Joke (7/14/18, 18 US, 16 RB, 16 CN, 26 AU) Sandra’s Rose (7/14/18, 27 US, 21 RB, 28 CN) Talk Up (with Jay-Z) (7/14/18, 20 US, 17 RB, 17 CN, 33 AU) Is There More (7/14/18, 36 US, 25 RB, 38 CN, 67 AU) Tracks, Disc 2: Peak (7/14/18, 38 US, 27 RB, 37 CN, 58 AU) Summer Games (7/14/18, 28 US, 22 RB, 27 CN, 52 AU) Jaded (7/14/18, 32 US, 24 RB, 36 CN, 64 AU) Nice for What (4/6/18, 1 US, 1 RB, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, 6.73 million) Finesse (7/14/18, 42 US, 30 RB, 39 CN, 57 AU) Ratchet Happy Birthday (7/14/18, 51 US, 35 RB, 43 CN, 73 AU) That’s How You Feel (7/14/18, 37 US, 26 RB, 34 CN, 62 AU) Blue Tint (7/14/18, 30 US, 23 RB, 30 CN, 66 AU) In My Feelings (7/10/18, 1 US, 1 RB, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, 14.8 million) Don’t Matter to Me (with Michael Jackson) (7/6/18, 9 US, 8 RB, 2 UK, 4 CN, 3 AU, 0.4 million) After Dark (with Static Major & Ty Dolla $ign) (7/14/18, 41 US, 28 RB, 40 CN, 63 AU) Final Fantasy (7/14/18, 56 US, 37 RB, 52 CN, 84 AU) March 14 (7/14/18, 57 US, 38 RB, 54 CN, 87 AU) Total Running Time: 89:44

Rating: 3.512 out of 5.00 (average of 28 ratings) Quotable: -- Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Scorpion marked Drake’s eighth consecutive release to top the Billboard album chart. It gave him three #1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. Combined, “God’s Plan,” “Nice for What,” and “In My Feelings” gave the Canadian a record 29 weeks on top within one calendar year. “I’m Upset,” “Don’t Matter to Me,” “Nonstop,” and “Mob Ties” were also released as official singles. The album features guest spots from Jay-Z, Ty Dolla $ign, Michael Jackson, and Static Major – the latter two posthumously. In addition to the seven singles, all 18 of the other cuts from the double album charted. Thanks to Billboard’s policy of tracking digital sales, big albums by big-name artists tend to land all or most of their cuts on the chart in the album’s first week of release. As a result, Drake became the first musician to debut four songs in the top 10 in one week. He also had seven songs in the top 10 simultaneously, making Scorpion only the fourth album to land seven top 10’s. WK Drake covers familiar ground such as “claustrophobia caused by his fame, complications of relationships, and boasting about his rise from an ‘underdog’ to a prominent figure in music.” WK As All Music Guide’s Tim Sendra said, “the 25 songs go back and forth over the same lyrical territory and the monochromatic trap beats drag along slowly behind…It’s a one-trick record…by an artist who’s so deep into the self-obsessed, self-pitying rut he created for himself that he can’t see daylight anymore.” AMG Pitchfork’s Jamieson Cox said, “Whether it’s 2011 or 2018, you’re getting the same guy: anxious, calculating, and self-obsessed with a golden ear and a fondness for terrible punchlines.” WK All Music Guide’s Tim Sendra said Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph characterized the first disc as a “sharply focused hip-hop album, with Drake delivering eloquent zingers” and the second as a showcase for his “sensitive R&B loverman.” WK Alex Petridis of The Guardian said the album “is frequently fantastic” but “there isn’t quite enough strong material here to support its gargantuan running time.” WK Roisin O’Connor of The Independent described the album as “oddly erratic…exhausting and, ultimately, messy.” WK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Drake AMG All Music Guide review by Tim Sendra WK Wikipedia

Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, m.A.A.d City released

Good Kid, m.A.A.d City Kendrick Lamar

Released: October 22, 2012 Peak: 2 US, 11 RB, 16 UK, 2 CN, 23 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.3 UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: hip-hop

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter’s Daughter Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe (3/18/13, 32 US, 9 RB, 4x platinum) Backseat Freestyle (10/22/12, 29 RB, 79 UK) The Art of Peer Pressure Money Trees (with Jay Rock) Poetic Justice (with Drake) (1/15/13, 26 US, 8 RB, 2x platinum) Good Kid M.A.A.D City (with Mc Eiht) Swimming Pools (Drank) (7/31/12, 17 US, 3 RB, 57 UK, 99 CN, 67 AU, 4x platinum) Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst Real (with Anna Wise) Compton (with Dr. Dre) Total Running Time: 68:23

Rating: 4.339 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings) Quotable: “Lamar is the James Joyce of hip-hop” – professor Adam Diehl, Georgia Regents University Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: All Music Guide’s David Jeffries called this the “biggest debut since [Nas’] Illmatic.” AMG It wasn’t really Lamar’s first outing. His Section.80 was independently released through Top Dawg Entertainment in 2011. A series of mixtapes followed which caught the attention of Aftermath and Interscope, leading to a major label record deal. Thanks to “cool and compelling lyrics, great guests,…and attractive production” AMG Good Kid, m.A.A.d City “would be a milestone even without the back-story.” AMG The album is Kendrick’s “story of growing up in Compton, surrounded by gunfire, gang warfare, police brutality, drugs, liquor, dead friends.” RS’20 He had “a film director’s eye for narrative but the voice of a poet;” RS’20 this was “like a West Coast answer to Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets.” RS’20 “It spawns a kind of elevated gangsta rap that’s as pimp-connectable as the most vicious Eazy-E, and yet poignant enough to blow the dust off any cracked soul.” AMG Lamar “goes for emotional detail instead of gangsta bravado.” RS’20 XXL’s Jaeki Cho called the album “one of the most cohesive bodies of work in recent rap memory.” WK It was “potent and smart enough to rise to the top of the pile” AMG both commercially and critically. It sold 242,000 copies in its first week and debuted at #2 on the Billboard album chart. It also landed four Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year and was named to many end-of-year lists, topping lists from BBC, Complex, New York, Pitchfork. WK In 2014, the album was studied as part of a Georgia Regents University composition class alongside works such as James Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man. WK PopMatters’ David Amidon said the album offers a “sort of semi-autobiographical character arc.” WK Exclaim!’s Del F. Cowie says the album follows a transformation of Lamar’s character “from a boisterous, impressionable, girl-craving teenager to more spiritual, hard-fought adulthood, irrevocably shaped by the neighbourhood and familial bonds of his precarious environment.” WK That environment is Lamar’s native Compton. He has a “Springsteen-sized love for the home team,” AMG but is willing to address his “city’s plagued condition” WK and “harsh realities” WK through songs about “economic disenfranchisement, retributive gang violence, and downtrodden women while analayzing their residual effects on individual and families.” WK Swimming Pools (Drank) is a “cautionary tale” AMG about addiction which is “as hooky and hallucinatory as most Houston drank anthems.” AMG It “breaks off into one of the chilling, cassette-quality interludes that connect the album, adding to the documentary or eavesdropping quality of it all.” AMG “Soul children will experience déjà vu when Poetic Justice slides by with its Janet Jackson sample sounding like it came off his Aunt’s VHS copy of the movie it’s named after.” AMG The closing Compton is a “journey through the concrete jungle” AMG which “is worth taking because of the artistic richness within, plus the attraction of a whip-smart rapper flying high during his rookie season” AMG which also features Dre “in beast mode.” AMG “Any hesitation about the horror of it all is quickly wiped away by Kendrick’s mix of true talk, open heart, open mind, and extended hand.” AMG Notes: The deluxe edition added bonus tracks “The Recipe” with Dr. Dre, “Black Boy Fly,” and “Now Or Never” with Mary J. Blige. The iTunes deluxe edition also added “Collect Calls” with Kent Jamz and the single version of “Swimming Pools (Drank).” The Target deluxe edition and UK deluxe edition each included the first three tracks plus “County Building Blues” and the Black Hippy Remix of “Swimming Pools (Drank).” The Spotify deluxe edition included the first three tracks plus a Black Hippy Remix of “The Recipe” featuring Black Hippy.

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by David Jeffries RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 10/13/2020; last updated 4/22/2022.

Drake’s Take Care debuted at #1

Take Care Drake

Released: November 15, 2011 Charted: December 3, 2011 Peak: 11 US, 112 RB, 5 UK, 11 CN, 15 AU Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.6 UK, 6.92 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Over My Dead Body Shot for Me (12/3/11, 100 US) Headlines (8/9/11, 13 US, 16 RR, 2 RB, 57 UK, 18 CN) Crew Love (with the Weeknd) (7/30/12, 80 US, 9 RB, 37 UK, 80 CN) Take Care (with Rihanna) (11/19/11, 7 US, 8 RR, 26 RB, 9 UK, 15 CN, 9 AU) Marvins Room (6/28/11, 21 US, 7 RB) Buried Alive Interlude (by Kendrick Lamar) Under Ground Kings We’ll Be Fine (with Birdman) (12/3/11, 89 US) Make Me Proud (with Nicki Minaj) (10/16/11, 9 US, 47 RR, 1 RB, 49 UK, 25 CN, 95 AU) Lord Knows (with Rick Ross) Cameras/Good Ones Go Interlude Doing It Wrong The Real Her (with Lil Wayne & André 3000) Look What You’ve Done HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right) (with Lil Wayne) (4/24/12, 62 US, 20 RB) Practice The Ride Total Running Time: 80:18

Rating: 3.855 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “After the huge commercial and artistic success of…Thank Me Later, Drake threatened/promised that his next album would be a straight-up R&B record that forsook rapping for vocals. The plan fell through, but his 2011 album Take Care has the feel of a late-night R&B album, full of slow tempos, muted textures, impassioned crooning, and an introspective tone that is only rarely punctured by aggressive tracks, boasts, and/or come-ons.” AMG “Success hasn’t done much to improve Drake’s mood, as he details his failures at love, his worries about living a hollow life, and his general malaise.” AMG With Take Care, the Toronto MC establishes “his image as the Champagne Papi who can always find a way to overshare, whether in the club or the bedroom. Drake covers both seductive R&B finesse and hip-hop swagger.” RS’20 Noah “40” Shebib, Drake’s longtime producer and partner, handled most of the production work. “He surrounds Drake’s voice with murky beats, layers of dusky synths, and moody guitars that fit…perfectly; the two work together to create a thick mood of melancholy. When other producers take over, there is a definite shift in mood. Boi-1DA gives Headlines a jaunty synth line that Drake matches with his strongest rap. T-Minus brings some booty bass to the thoughtfully sexy Nicky Minaj feature Make Me Proud, Just Blaze builds Lord Knows around some majestic samples that let Drake brag like a boss, and Chase N. Cashe take things one step further toward R&B by creating a late-night after-hours club feel on the bittersweet Look What You’ve Done (which features a phone message left for Drake by his grandmother).” AMG Marvin’s Room is the showstopper – late at night, Drake drunk-dials his ex to figure out what went wrong (‘I’ve had sex four times this week, I’ll explain / I’m having a hard time adjusting to fame’).” RS’20 “The album's most unique track, Take Care, features Jamies Smith of the xx working with Shebib on an (almost) uptempo, (almost) danceable song that has a typically great vocal from Rihanna. The super-moody collaboration with the Weeknd on Crew Love is another highlight, though it does point out the problematic fact that the Weeknd beats Drake out in the vocal department. The collabo with the predictably brilliant André 3000 and Lil Wayne also point out Drake’s shortcomings as a rapper. Though he drops the occasional line that dazzles (‘All my exes live in Texas like I’m George Strait’), Drake is a middle-of-the-pack rapper at best.” AMG “His true strength, as Take Care proves over and over, is his willingness to delve deeply into his emotions and the ability to transmit them in such a simple and real fashion that it’s easy to connect with him even if your life isn’t filled with glamorous exes, hangs with Stevie Wonder (who adds some harmonica to Doing It Wrong), and gold owls. It’s an important achievement, and his success might mean that the world was ready for the first emo rapper. Thank Me Later hinted at it, but Take Care makes it plain,” AMG showing “that Drake is always best when he bares his feelings in the spotlight.” RS’20 “Don’t play it at your next house party or DJ night; save it for later when you need something to get you through the rest of the night .” AMG Notes: The iTunes edition of the album included “The Motto” and “Hate Sleeping Alone” as bonus tracks.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Drake AMG All Music Guide review by Tim Sendra RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” WK Wikipedia First posted 4/21/2022.

Eminem’s Recovery debuts at #1

Recovery Eminem

Released: June 21, 2010 Charted: July 10, 2010 Peak: 17 US, 116, 15 UK, 17 CN, 19 AU Sales (in millions): 4.9 US, 1.03 UK, 10.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Cold Wind Blows (7/10/10, #71 US) Talkin’ 2 Myself [w/ Kobe] (7/10/10, #88 US) On Fire Won’t Back Down [w/ Pink] (7/10/10, #62 US) W.T.P. Going Through Changes Not Afraid (4/29/10, #11 US, #70 RB, #5 UK, #11 CN, #4 AU, sales: 11.94 million worldwide) Seduction No Love [w/ Lil’ Wayne] (7/10/10, #23 US, #59 RB, #33 UK, #24 CN, #21 AU, sales: 4.2 million worldwide) Space Bound (6/18/11, #34 UK, #51 AU, sales: 2.2 million worldwide) Cinderella Man 25 to Life (7/10/10, #92 US) So Bad Almost Famous Love the Way You Lie [w/ Rihanna] (6/20/10, #17 US, #29 A40, #7 RB, #2 UK, #17 CN, #16 AU, sales: 15.87 million worldwide) You’re Never Old [untitled hidden track] Total Running Time: 76:56

Rating: 3.988 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings) Quotable: Eminem “hasn’t sounded this unfiltered and proud since The Marshall Mathers LP.” – David Jeffries, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “This lean, mean bipolar machine began life as Relapse 2” DJ, a sequel to Eminem’s 2009 album Relapse. However, “when Shady decided he wasn’t really Shady at the moment and that he was no longer keen on Relapse” DJ he went with this collection that “features more introspective and emotional content than its predecessor.” WK Critic Robert Christgau says this is Em at “his most confessional” WK and, as Eminem himself says “on Talkin’ 2 Myself – it became Marshall Mathers time again.” DJ In its debut week, Recovery sold over 700,000 copies, making Eminem the first artist in Soundscan history to have four albums debut at such lofty heights. WK Lead single, Not Afraid, became only the second rap song to debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. WK Love the Way You Lie, which featured Rihanna in a song which referenced her own recent trouble in an abusive relationship, debuted at #2 and went on to #1. From a critical standpoint, “it becomes obvious that Eminem’s richest albums aren’t necessarily his most structurally sound, which isn’t much of a surprise when considering the rapper’s full-on embrace of flaws and contradictions.” DJ “This results in an album where a shameless but killer Michael J. Fox punch line (‘The world will stop spinnin’ and Michael J. Fox’ll come to a standstill’ from Cold Wind) is followed by a song with another, less effective MJF joke (‘Make like Michael J. Fox in your drawers, playin’ with an Etch-A-Sketch’), although that song is the lurching heavy metal monster Won’t Back Down with P!nk, and it could be used as the lead-in to ‘Lose Yourself’ on any ego-boosting mixtape.” DJ “Following an apology for your recent work with a damnation of critics and haters is just sloppy; taking off the skits and then overstuffing your album by a track or two is undermining what’s good; and the beats here are collectively just a B+ with only one production (the so good So Bad) coming from Dr. Dre. Add to that the detractor idea that being privy to the man’s therapy sessions just isn’t compelling anymore and the only persuasive moments remaining are the highlights, but fans can feed on the energy, the renewed sense of purpose, and Marshall doing whatever the hell he wants.” DJ This includes “shoehorning a grand D12-like comedy number (W.T.P., which stands for ‘White Trash Party’) into this emotionally heavy album. It’s fascinating when Em admits ‘Hatred was flowin’ through my veins, on the verge of goin’ insane/ I almost made a song dissin’ Lil Wayne’ and then ‘Thank God I didn’t do it/ I’da had my ass handed to me, and I knew it’ before sparring with said Weezy on the Haddaway-sampling No Love.” DJ “When the recovery-minded Going Through Changes gets back on the wagon by sampling Black Sabbath’s very druggy ‘Changes’ it’s a brilliant and layered idea that’s executed with poignant lyrics on top. Add the man at his most profound…and his most profane (‘You wanna get graphic? We can go the scenic route/ You couldn’t make a bulimic puke on a piece of corn and peanut poop’ from On Fire)…and the fans who really listen are instantly on board.” DJ Certainly there was some criticism of the album. Andy Gill of The Independent said there is “nothing here quite as engaging as” Em’s previous albums WK and Pitchfork Media’s Jayson Greene said that “for the first time in his career, he actually sounds clumsy.” WK Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune said the album was “brutally short on hooks and, most of all, fun.” WK Still, Eminem received plenty of praise for the album. Entertainment Weekly’s Simon Vozick-Levinson says, “Eminem’s lyrical craftsmanship is second to none…and there are flashes of new maturity.” WK Of similar sentiment is USA Today’s Steve Jones comments that the album is “a strong return to form.” WK “It may be flawed and the rapper’s attitude is sometimes one step ahead of his output, but he hasn’t sounded this unfiltered and proud since The Marshall Mathers LP.” DJ As Rolling Stone’s Jody Rosen said, it is Eminem’s “most casual-sounding album in years.” WK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Eminem DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Rihanna DJ David Jeffries, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 1/26/2011; last updated 4/30/2022.

Kanye West's Graduation debuted at #1

Graduation Kanye West

Released: September 11, 2007 Charted: September 29, 2007 Peak: 11 US, 13 RB, 11 UK, 11 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.6 UK, 6.06 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Good Morning Champion (3/8/08, 99 RB) Stronger [with Daft Punk] (8/11/07, 1 US, 30 RB, 1 UK) I Wonder Good Life [with T-Pain] (9/22/07, 7 US, 3 RB, 23 UK) Can’t Tell Me Nothing (6/9/07, 80 US, 20 RB) Barry Bonds [with Lil’ Wayne] Drunk and Hot Girls [with Mos Def] Flashing Lights [with Dwele] (11/10/07, 29 US, 12 RB) Everything I Am [with DJ Premiere] The Glory Homecoming [with Chris Martin] (1/19/08, 69 US, 9 UK) Big Brother Total Running Time: 51:23

Rating: 3.960 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Kanye’s first album, The College Dropout “was one of the most anticipated debuts of the early 2000s.” AMG On Late Registration, his second release, he worked “extensively with multi-instrumentalist rock producer Jon Brion” AMG and people wondered If “Kanye’s hubristic tendencies would get the better of it.” AMG “With Graduation, there was Takashi Murakami’s artwork, a silly first-week sales competition with the decreasingly relevant 50 Cent, and chatter about synthesizers running wild. That was about it, but it all seemed loud and prevalent, due in part to a lack of high-profile rap albums released in 2007.” AMG “Graduation is neither as bold nor as scattered as The College Dropout, and it’s neither as extroverted nor as sonically rich as Late Registration. Kanye still makes up for his shortcomings as an MC and lyricist by remaining charmingly clumsy, frequently dealing nonsense through suspect rhyme schemes: ‘I never be picture-perfect Beyonce / Be light as Al B. or black as Chauncey / Remember him from Blackstreet, he was black as the street was / I never be laid-back as this beat was.’” AMG “The songs that are thematically distanced, introspective, and/or wary; there are many of them are, in turn, made more palatable than insufferable. That his humor remains a constant is a crucial aspect of the album, especially considering that most other MCs would sound embittered and hostile if they were handling similar subjects, like haters new and old, being a braggart with a persistent underdog complex, getting wrapped up in spending and flaunting, and the many hassles of being a hedonist.” AMG “Those who have admired Kanye as a sharp producer while detesting him as an inept MC might find the gleaming synth sprites, as heard most prominently throughout Flashing Lights and Stronger, to be one of the most glaring deal-breakers in hip-hop history. Though the synthesizer use marks a clear, conscious diversion from Kanye’s past productions, highlights like I Wonder, The Glory, and Everything I Am are deeply rooted in the Kanye of old, using nostalgia-inducing samples, elegant pianos and strings, and gospel choirs. So, no, he’s not dreaming of fronting A Flock of Seagulls or joining Daft Punk. He’s being his shrewd, occasionally foolish, and adventurous self.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: AMG Andy Kellman, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 12/24/2008; last updated 4/30/2022.