Drake’s new album, Views, dropped on Friday and reportedly sold 630,000 units in its first day exclusively on iTunes. They’re projecting as low as 800,000 for a full week and, possibly, as high as over a million. Which could put him in Adele and Taylor Swift territory (as Duana purses her lips and tries to supress a smile, like a proud mother). Those kind of numbers just don’t happen very often anymore. So, yes, Drake is a very, very big deal. And he’s a big deal, especially, where I was born, where I live, in Toronto, right now in particular since Views is dedicated to Toronto, with our signature monument represented as the album art:

 

To the city I love and the people in it...Thank you for everything #VIEWS

A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on


You know what’s also so amazing about Drake though? How is he so great at getting memed? Hotline Bling was, arguably, the most memorable – and memorably memed – video of 2015. And now this shot of Drake sitting on the CN Tower is living on the internet too. For those of us from the 6ix, this one is probably the sentimental favourite:

 

#VIEWS

A photo posted by Jose Bautista (@joeybats19) on


“Going viral” is now an art form. People gather in boardrooms trying to figure out how. For Drake it seems to come so effortlessly. And yet. And yet. When it happens over and over again like this, it can’t just all be by accident. So can we call it a skill? If we call it a skill it means it’s not just talent, it’s not just musical ability, it’s also that he’s smart. He is one of the best at strategically using the tools of his time to complement his work.

This seems to be what Radiohead is trying to do right now too. Or maybe it’s the opposite. Reddit users noticed yesterday that Radiohead was deleting itself off social media. They’ve disappeared all their tweets. All posts have now been removed from their Facebook page. And their website started to slowly fade away, so that all that remains is white blank screen. On Saturday some fans received flyers that read:

Sing a song of sixpence that goes
BURN THE WITCH
We know where you live

WHEN will you know where I live though? WHEN is the album coming?

Attached - Drake at the Raptors game in Toronto last night.