There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the release of Drake’s album Thank Me Later. The question remained whether his debut effort would live up to the hype. It is now safe to conclude that the answer is a resounding yes.
This Lil Wayne protégé blew the rest of the competition out of the water, including veteran artists Tom Petty and fellow Canadian Sarah McLachlan. Thank Me Later sold an impressive 462,989 copies. That totals more than the combined sales of the four other albums in the top five on the Billboard charts.
Granted, it isn’t the million copies Lil Wayne hoped Drizzy would sell but it is more than enough for Thank Me Later to enter the charts at number one. It also earns the distinction of being the highest selling debut album this year.
Drake has every right to be happy with the result. However, it is certainly understandable if he took a moment to ponder ‘what if’. Thank Me Later was leaked online two weeks before its planned May 15 release. We will never know how many copies Drake would have sold if that unauthorized release had not occurred.
Drake had his own "Bieber fever" moment while promoting Thank Me Later in NYC. The NYPD was forced to shut down his free outdoor performance at the South Street Seaport in Manhattan last Tuesday night (June 15) when some of the 10,000 fans on hand started to get violent.
The Canadian rapper issued a statement saying: "I am humbled by the crowd that showed up in support of my performance and the release of Thank Me Later. I love performing for my fans but unfortunately the show was cancelled by the NYPD due to overcrowding, leaving me without the chance to give my fans a real show. I’m thankful for the support that the fans have been giving me….I thank you now."