Drake, SZA, and NBA YoungBoy have all landed among the highest selling artists of 2023, according to Chart Data.
Drake landed at number two on the list, selling almost 10 million albums. SZA was number five in the US, accumulating almost five million sales. YoungBoy was number six with the same units as SZA, selling 4.2 million albums.
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The Weeknd also made the top 10, selling 3.9 million units. He landed at number seven on the list.
As might have been expected, Taylor Swift topped the list with a staggering 19 million albums sold. The number is more than double her sales totals from 2022.
Drake and SZA have been in the news recently for other reasons, as the 6 God recently took to social media to pressure the TDE crooner into releasing new music.
Drake urged her to release a song she teased years ago that has yet to be released officially on streaming platforms.
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Taking to his Instagram Story earlier this month, Drizzy shared a screenshot of the New Jersey singer’s unreleased track “Joni” that a fan has posted to SoundCloud.
“My [goat emoji] pls drop this,” he wrote.
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“Joni” was written from the perspective of singer Joni Mitchell and first teased during an interview in early 2020. The following year, SZA dropped a two separate versions of the song on SoundCloud and Instagram respectively, telling fans that its album version would include a feature. However, she has since removed both tracks from her online profiles and has never released the song officially.
SZA and Drake recently collaborated on the 2023 song “Slime You Out,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release. However, the singer initially thought Drizzy was trying to sabotage her on the joint project.
During an interview with The Wall Street Journal in October, the 34-year-old explained that she initially sent Drake a demo recording of her part on the song, intending to re-record it for the finished product. After sending him a more polished version, however, the Canadian superstar still used her earlier recording on the final release.
“I just handed in the first draft to Drake, and he’s putting it on his album,” she recalled. “I’m scared because I handed in second vocals and he didn’t use that. And now I’m like, ‘Are you trying to sabotage me?’
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“I know that’s not true. I literally know that’s not true, but that’s how bad I feel about my first draft. When things come from an effortless space, I almost can’t enjoy it.”
