More Life might be taking a backseat till 2017, but Drake has other music to be proud about as his single “One Dance” became the first song to hit a billion streams on Spotify.
The honor came Friday (Dec. 16) following other accolades like his eight Grammy nominations for the 4x platinum album, Views. The uptempo-afrobeat inspired track which features Wizkid and Kyla Reid did hint at a music video in June from a sound engineer, Matika Music. However, it never saw the light of day.
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Despite the visual not getting released, that didn’t stop fans from playing it out of every aux cord that exists on the planet.
Speaking with Billboard on Friday, Spotify’s global head of creator services Troy Carter gave props to the entertainer for honing in on the art of streaming and his creative ear. “Drake doesn’t lock himself into an album cycle,” Carter said. “When Drake wants to put out music and he feels like it’s ready, Drake puts out music. So it’s not the typical, ‘I’m gonna put out two singles, then launch my album, then go on tour, then wait two years and go back in the studio and release this music.’ I think he really has captured that rhythm of how fans want to consume music. They want to listen to the Views album, but when he comes out with “Fake Love” or any other song, they want that, too, and they don’t want to have to wait for a year and a half for it. I think he really has great instincts for it and it’s working.”
Back in April, British singer Kyla told The Fader her work with Drizzy was bigger than a sample. “I feel very blessed, It was very much on the cards at the beginning of the conversation,” she said. “They were like, ‘How would Kyla feel to be a feature?’ They explained that Drake had a third verse but he really liked my part in it and he didn’t really wanna take it out. It was more than a sample. So I grabbed it with both hands and was like, ‘Yes, please!'”
Take a bow, Drake. You’ve earned it.
Jam out to “One Dance” for the gazillionth time, here.