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Music Articles

Meet the Most Listened to Artist on Spotify

Music
Mar 20, 2017

Meet the Most Listened to Artist on Spotify

WORDS BY: ARIELA KOZIN

GIF COURTESY OF: MAURO FERNANDES BORGES

If you know anything at all about Drake, you know this one famous lyric: “Started from the bottom, now we’re here.” Well, Drake, once a Canadian child star, is officially the most streamed artist on Spotify.

Drake’s surprise new album, More Life, gave the last push to 10 billion record-breaking streams on Spotify. There is no way to deny that he is no longer just a hip hop legend. Drake is now a pop superstar—and we’re not only referring to pop music as short for “popular” music either. We all think we know Drake as a top hip-hop artist, but what makes this album so damn good is that it throws away the rules the industry has taught us.  More Life is attracting music lovers ready to jump over genre lines because it explores everything from grime to reggae, all while tugging at the heart strings with lines like: “I cannot tell who is my friend / I need distance between me and them / Gonna have to teach me how to love you again.”

The icon spits fast lines on tracks like “Gyalchester” as smoothly as he sings on “Madiba Riddim.” Drake also shows his fine ability for curating up-and-coming talent. On most of this compilation, he actually takes a backseat more than a couple of times to let rookies like soulful Jorja Smith and Sampha step up center stage.

Given the amount of times we’ve already listened to the 22-track record, it’s won’t be long before his streams hit the 11 billion mark.