As predicted, Drake's fifth studio album Scorpion has shattered streaming records just a few days after its release.
Shortly after it dropped on Spotify, the streaming service announced that streams were hitting 10m per hour. By the end of Friday 29 June, it had reportedly been streamed around 132m times, breaking Post Malone's previous record with his album Beerbongs & Bentleys by a whopping 50m streams.
A representative for Apple Music confirmed to Variety that the album broke its own single day streaming record, with more than 170m streams, meaning Drake had beaten his own previous record of 89.9m streams for the mixtape More Life.
Scorpion became the No.1 album on Apple Music's charts in 92 countries almost immediately upon its release, with all 25 tracks occupying the top 25 spots on Apple Music, knocking XXXTentacion's posthumous No.1 "SAD!" down to No.26.
Drake's labels - Republic, Cash Money and Young Money - appear set on breaking as many records as possible: Spotify subscribers noted how Drake's face was plastered across the covers of playlists on the service - even ones where his music did not feature - in a takeover called "ScorpionSZN".
Scorpion has received mixed reviews from critics, with many singling out a few standout tracks but also commenting how the album feels disjointed and too long at 25 songs.
The Independent awarded the record 3 out of a possible 5 stars and said it was "frustrating how Drake either doesn't understand or refuses to acknowledge that, more often than not, his releases are far longer than necessary".
"[Scorpion] is tailored for the streaming age; the tracks are designed to be lifted and applied to playlists for certain moods, rather than songs that flow and create one cohesive feeling... it really doesn't have much of a sting in its tail."
