It’s official, Drake and Michael Jackson are now on the same level, at least in one category.
On Monday, with the announcement of Drizzy’s amazing collaboration with J. Cole, “First Person Shooter,” taking the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, the 6 God now has the same amount of number-one hits as the King of Pop (13).
Now, the only three artists that have more number-one hits are Rihanna, Mariah Carey, and The Beatles.
On top of securing another smash hit, Drake also secured seven out of the 10 spots in the Billboard Hot 100, with Doja Cat, Taylor Swift, and SZA taking the other three slots.
To no surprise, Drake was also well aware of the feat he just accomplished and made sure that everyone in the world knew. On Instagram, he shared an edited selfie of Michael Jackson wearing an OVO hoodie.
The caption read, “Mooooooooood.”
On his IG story, he also shared multiple photos of himself wearing a sparkly MJ-inspired glove while out at dinner, ensuring that everyone is aware that he’s up there with the King of Pop.
But while we are excited that Drake can now mention himself in the same sentence as MJ, I’m more happy for J. Cole, who earned his first number-one hit with his amazing feature on “First Person Shooter.”
Even though the song is officially Drake’s, it might as well be Cole’s, who by far had the best verse on the song (and the entirety of For All the Dogs for that matter). He had previously been close, charting as high as second for his collaborations with 21 Savage and Lil Durk, but with the help of Champagnepapi, he was able to catapult the North Carolina MC to the top spot.
While Drake and MJ now share common ground, I’m not sure that this puts the rapper next to Michael when it comes to their overall standing in music history.
Yes, Drake has accomplished a lot and deserves his recognition, but MJ is still in a sphere all his own. While they both have the same number of top hits, the quality of MJ’s is unmatched. We’re talking about some of the most legendary songs of all time such as, “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Rock With You,” “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” and “Black or White” just to name a few.
Drake deserves his flowers, but I don’t want to hear any of the “Drake is better than MJ” talk on my timeline. We can appreciate Drake without making ignorant statements.