Drake, reigning on singles chart, announces album

Drake did not reveal an exact release date or other details. © AFP/ROBYN BECK

Hip-hop superstar Drake teased a new album Monday, all but certain to prove a major commercial success as he dethroned himself on top of the singles chart.

The Toronto artist posted on Instagram a picture of himself with his back to the camera sporting a jacket that read “Scorpion” and “June 2018.”

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Drake, who separately put out a picture of a necklace with a scorpion pendant, did not reveal an exact release date or other details.

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He has often played with the traditional album format, instead putting out sprawling song collections marketed as mixtapes.

But one consistency in his prodigious output has been commercial achievement.

His song “God’s Plan” topped the US singles chart for 11 weeks — until being dethroned Monday by another of his songs, “Nice for What.”

His latest song was streamed in the United States more than 60 million times and downloaded 88,000 times in the week through Thursday, tracking service Nielsen Music said.

Drake, 31, has roots as a rapper but has increasingly gone in a pop direction and incorporated the infectious beats of Jamaican dancehall, most notably on his hit “One Dance,” which is the second most-streamed song ever on Spotify. MKH

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