Kanye West Is On Drake's Tail After Hitting 1 Billion Spotify Streams In 2026

BY Gabriel Bras Nevares
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Kanye West On Drake Tail Hitting 1 Billion Spotify Streams 2026
Mar 16, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; American rapper Kanye West watches action between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics in the second quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images
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Drake already surpassed Kanye West by reportedly amassing over 2 billion Spotify streams so far in 2026, but Ye's next on the list.

When talking about hip-hop's biggest hitmakers in the 21st century, it's impossible to leave Kanye West and Drake out of the conversation. Although the two have a rocky history together as collaborators and enemies, they continue to top all other MCs in commercial areas such as Spotify streams.

According to Kurrco on Twitter, Ye has now surpassed one billion streams on the social media platform in 2026 alone, making him the second rapper to achieve this milestone. Drizzy claimed it first earlier in the year, and it only took him about 20 days. In fact, according to Drake Updates on Twitter, The Boy hit two billion Spotify streams last week. At this point, he might just hit three billion at an even faster pace.

But regardless of the comparison, this is a very impressive metric for the "Glow" duo, as we're only in the middle of February. It speaks to the longevity of their career's biggest hits and the hype surrounding their next musical moves. Kanye West is dropping his new album BULLY very soon, whereas anticipation continues to grow for Drake's solo studio comeback LP, ICEMAN.

Do Kanye West & Drake Have Beef?

However, Drake and Kanye West's shared commercial dominance has made fans bring up their turbulent relationship time and time again. They have been friends, enemies, back to friends, and so on for over a decade now. But recently, a clip from a leaked extended version of Ye's interview with Justin Laboy in early 2025 has fans reviving this conversation more consequentially.

Kanye West named Drake on his hip-hop Mount Rushmore, joining the following artists: Kanye himself, Future, Young Thug, Kendrick Lamar, and Playboi Carti. It's more than four, but his point got across.

This made many fans curious due to the Chicago superstar's retracted disses to his Toronto peer amid the latter's beef with K.Dot. After doing a "Like That" remix supporting the Compton lyricist, Ye turned around and dragged him through the mud in the aftermath.

The timing of this interview and all these beefs (including Kanye's issues with Pluto and Carti) is still unclear. As such, fans don't really know where things stand with the "Forever" collaborators right now, but it doesn't seem particularly combative right now.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.

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