Drake, The Weeknd Rule On US Billboard Charts

By Karen Bliss

Toronto is sitting atop Billboard’s Hot 100 single chart and top 200 album chart this week.  Drake’s Toosie Slide single and The Weeknd’s After Hours album hold the No. 1 spots, for the week dated April 18.  It’s not the first time two Canadian artists from the same city achieved that milestone, but in the past decade it has been basically the same few artists mixed and matched: Drake, The Weekend, and Shawn Mendes.

The week of Oct. 10, 2015, The Weeknd’s Can’t Feel My Face was No. 1 on the Hot 100, while Drake with American pal Future had the No. 1 spot with their What A Time To Be Alive mixtape.  Three years later, the week of June 9, Drake’s had the top single with Nice For What, while Shawn Mendes’ self-titled album was No. 1.   A year later, the week of Aug. 17, Shawn Mendes and Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello hit the top place with their song Senorita, and Drake’s Care Package was No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 Album Chart.

There have been other times Canadians from different parts of the country have topped Billboard’s singles and album charts, and, on occasion, it’s been the same artist, like the past two weeks when The Weeknd reigned both with Blinding Lights and After Hours.

In 2012, for the week of July 7, Mission, BC native Carly Rae Jepsen achieved No. 1 with her single Call Me Maybe, while Stratford, Ont.’s Justin Bieber had the No. 1 album with Believe.

In 2016, Drake, who was killin’ it with his album Views, had the No. 1 song, One Dance, with WizKid and Kyla, and the top spot on the album chart.

In 2017, the week of Aug. 19, Bieber enjoyed the No. 1 spot as a guest on Luis Fonsi’s smash hit Despacito, alongside Daddy Yankee, and Montreal’s Arcade Fire had the No. 1 album with Everything Now.

In 2018, Drake also made history with his long-running No. 1 album, Scorpion, and the single In My Feelings held the pinnacle position for a number of weeks that summer.