Drake is Throwing Shade at Taylor Swift, This is Why It Matters

Drake seemingly threw shade at Taylor Swift on Monday after her song Anti-Hero held on to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 — blocking any of the rapper’s tracks on his latest album with 21 Savage from taking the top slot.

The Facts

• Drake took to Instagram to celebrate the success of his latest album Her Loss. The rapper reposted a screenshot of the Billboard Hot 100, which showed that his tracks with 21 Savage held every spot between No. 2 and No. 9.
• However in the screenshot, Drake covered Swift’s name, as well as her song Anti-Hero, at the top of the chart with a series of emojis which included a tub of popcorn, a yoga pose, smoke, a head massage, a face with sweat, and a magic eight ball.
• Drake did not hide Sam Smith’s and Kim Petras’ names in the chart. Their single Unholy holds the No.10 spot.
• Vinylz, Drake’s and 21 Savage’s producer on their track Rich Flex, then posted on his Instagram story that “The world knows what the real #1 song is.. #Rich Flex.. No tricks on this side.”
• Drake has allegedly unfollowed Swift on Instagram too.

Context

• In late October, Swift made Billboard Hot 100 history by becoming the first artist ever to claim every top 10 spot, with tracks from her latest album, Midnights.
• In doing so, Swift surpassed Drake, who had held the previous record with nine of the Top 10 songs for a week in September 2021.
• However while Drake and 21 Savage never nabbed the number one spot, their album Her Loss did dethrone Swift’s Midnights, which spent two weeks at the top of the albums chart.

Why it’s important: The power of streaming music today means that multiple singles by the same artist can be propelled into the top 10 at once.

This means that more artists may be accused of mass-releasing in the U.S. as it becomes increasingly common to see the same singers occupy all the top chart slots at one time.

But: Swift’s fans thought Drake’s shade was petty and characteristic of how women’s success is belittled in the music industry.

• In response, Swift’s critics suggested that she had strategically released several remixes of Anti-Hero to make sure she kept the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
• However, Swift’s supporters pointed out that Drake allowed his previous album Certified Lover Boy to be streamed without ads for its first week of release to make sure he would get to number one too.

Fun Fact: After 16 of the 17 songs on Ed Sheeran’s 2017 album, ÷, charted in the Top 20 in the UK, rules were introduced that mean that only the three most popular songs of any album are now eligible for the UK’s singles chart.