RS Charts: Drake Rules Again on Artists 500

Drake maintained his lead on the Rolling Stone Top 500 Artists chart, earning more than 130 million streams across his catalog last week. Drake regained the Number One spot in August after releasing “Laugh Now Cry Later,” which picked up more than 50 million streams opening week, powering the rapper past Taylor Swift on the Artists 500 chart. “Laugh Now Cry Later” was Drake’s most popular track again during the most recent tracking week, amassing an additional 31.9 million streams. 

Two rappers tailed Drake: Pop Smoke, whose catalog earned 116.2 million streams, and Juice WRLD, who amassed 110.5 million streams. Swift came in at Number Four, picking up 104.1 million streams last week. 

Those four acts represent an elite club of artists earning over 100 million audio streams a week. After Swift, there was a long fall to fifth place, which was held by Youngboy Never Broke Again; he pulled in 78.2 million streams. 

The Rolling Stone Artists 500 chart ranks the most-streamed artists of the week in the United States, taking into account audio streams across an artist’s entire catalog during the tracking period. The chart does not include passive listening such as terrestrial radio or digital radio. The Artists 500 is updated daily, and each week Rolling Stone finalizes and publishes an official version of the chart, covering the seven-day period ended the previous Thursday.

The K-Pop group BTS jumped from Number 58 to Number 19 on the Artists 500 following the release of “Dynamite,” their first single entirely in English. The track was co-written and produced by David Stewart. “I made that song out of my bedroom in my parents’ house; I didn’t do it in the flashy studio with a big console,” Stewart told Rolling Stone. “… It’s mind boggling to me that something so big can come from something so modest.”

The rapper Nas was also boosted by a new release. He wasn’t even in the Top 100 on the latest chart, but he climbed to Number 25 thanks to King’s Disease, amassing 36.5 million streams on his catalog overall. 

See the full Artists 500 chart here.