Drake and Future have shared a highly successful — and occasionally fraught — working relationship throughout the years. The two rappers have collaborated on dozens of songs, and their joint album What a Time to Be Alive conquered the Billboard 200 more than a decade ago.
Their friendship appeared to fracture after Future included Kendrick Lamar on “Like That,” from We Don’t Trust You. Lamar’s verse helped ignite the rap battle that ended with “Not Like Us,” a Billboard Hot 100 champion that later won Record of the Year at the Grammys.
Drake and Future have seemingly reconciled since then, but the superstars continue to compete for chart records. As Future dominates with his latest album, The Real Me, Drake prevents him from adding another pair of No. 1 hits on several Billboard lists.
Drake Blocks Future From Two New No. 1 Hits
Tracks from The Real Me invade nearly all of Billboard’s hip-hop and rap rankings this week. Future scores a dozen or more placements on some lists, including the Billboard Hot 100, which is open to songs from every genre.
The rapper rules several albums charts, including the Billboard 200, Top Streaming Albums, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums rankings. When it comes to individual tunes, though, Future narrowly misses out on landing any new champions – and he barely fails to control either the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs and Rap Streaming Songs charts.
“Janice STFU,” the biggest hit from Drake’s Iceman, holds at No. 1 on both rosters. The two rankings focus on the most-streamed songs in America within their respective fields, with the first covering both R&B and hip-hop and the second narrowing its focus to rap. Drake’s smash has now led both for nine weeks and has yet to vacate the summit after debuting in that spot nine frames ago.
Future Debuts “California Girls” at No. 2
On both streaming-only rosters, Future’s “California Girls” opens in the runner-up position. The track misses out on becoming another champion for the hip-hop musician by only one space as Drake refuses to step aside.
Streaming activity largely powered The Real Me to No. 1 on several Billboard rankings. Future fills more positions on both the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs and Rap Streaming Songs charts than any other artist this frame, but even such enormous consumption totals were not enough to push “California Girls” past “Janice STFU.”
Future Has Several Several Smashes Miss No. 1 by One Space
The debut gives Future another No. 2 hit on both charts. He has now accumulated eight runner-up smashes on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs ranking, while “California Girls” becomes his milestone tenth track to stall in second place on the Rap Streaming Songs tally.
Future Has Racked Up Nearly 80 Streaming Chart Top 10s
Future has already collected five No. 1 hits on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart. He claims one additional leader on the rap-only counterpart, bringing his career total to six on that list. Several of Future’s champions on those rankings feature Drake. “Wait for U,” which additionally credits Tems, and “Way 2 Sexy” with Young Thug have both led the charge on the two streaming tallies.
“California Girls” also adds to his enormous number of top 10 smashes. Future has now reached the highest tier with 68 songs on the broader R&B and hip-hop roster and with 78 cuts on the Rap Streaming Songs chart.
Drake Remains Far Ahead of Future
Future’s career sums are historic, but Drake remains far ahead of his sometimes collaborator. The Canadian superstar has racked up 29 No. 1 hits and 140 top 10s on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart. His totals on Rap Streaming Songs are nearly as impressive. Drake has conquered that ranking with 23 tracks, while 145 of his releases have entered the top 10.
Future Controls Most of This Week’s Rap Streaming Chart
Future debuts 12 songs on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart this frame. He launches 10 tracks on Rap Streaming Songs. That may be a smaller total, though the latter ranking includes only 15 positions. That means Future controls two-thirds of the entire rap-only roster with brand-new cuts from The Real Me.
Drake lands three songs on the broader R&B and hip-hop tally and two on the rap list. Several of his recent wins disappear, pushed out by Future’s debuts.