Drake received his flowers early Sunday night, May 23, when he was honored as the Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. He also took home the award for Best Streaming Artist.
“I’m really self-conscious about my music. I rarely celebrate anything, and just for anyone watching this that’s wondering how this happened, that’s really the answer,” the OVO Sound hitmaker stated during his acceptance speech with his son Adonis on stage with him. “It’s being so unsure how you’re getting it done that you just keep going in the hopes of figuring out the formula, feeling so lucky and blessed that the fear of losing it keeps you up at night.”
The prestigious Artist of the Decade award winner is determined by analyzing activity on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and the Billboard 200 albums, as well as other signifiers such as social media data and touring revenue. The Scorpion creator’s closest competition for the honor included Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, and Adele.
“I didn’t write a grandiose speech about how to make it work or what it took ’cause, to be honest, I don’t really understand it myself,” he added. “I just know that I’ve spent an incalculable amount of hours trying to analyze all the things I did wrong. But tonight, for once, I’m sure as hell we did something right.”
Pop Smoke and The Weeknd also cleaned up at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. The late rapper garnered five trophies and wins as his posthumous album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, brought home wins for Top New Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Male Rap Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Rap Album.
Canadian heartthrob The Weeknd was Sunday night’s big winner with 10 awards, solidifying his new reign at the top of the R&B kingdom. His list of awards included Top Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist and Top Male Artist.
Click over to the next page to watch Drake’s acceptance speech as well as young Adonis making his Billboard debut.
