But Drake is not a freak. I mean, he’s probably a freak, but his success is not accidental, anomalous, or random. He’s a career artist, and he now stands among giants. Look at these actual headlines!

“Views Is This Year’s Purple Rain” [Slate]

“Drake Is Now Officially As Popular As Michael Jackson Was During Thriller” [Vulture]

“Drake’s Views Is Already One Of The Biggest Hip-Hop Albums Of All Time” [Forbes]

Is that not remarkable? Is there a higher ceiling for him to shatter, or is he now simply left to build and scale his own skyscraper? Drake is inescapable, and in summer ’16, the media coverage devoted to VIEWS falls short only of the media coverage devoted to Donald Trump.

That being the case, it is a little … strange, I think, that we’ve all failed to properly recognize what is, in fact, the most noteworthy — the most remarkable — thing, statistically speaking, about VIEWS’ chart dominance and Drake’s unprecedented run.

And what exactly is the most remarkable thing about VIEWS?

Great question. First off, here’s what is not the most remarkable thing about VIEWS:

The most remarkable thing about VIEWS is not how many people are listening to VIEWS.

(Millions of people are listening to VIEWS. Tens of millions? Probably. Maybe. Let’s just say millions for now.)

The most remarkable thing about VIEWS is also not how people are listening to VIEWS.

(Streaming. Only streaming. God love it. Actual sales dropped 70 percent after week one, and then another 53 percent after week two, and then another 39 percent after week three, and they’ve mercifully sort of maintained a steady 20-percent-ish week-over-week decline since then.)

No, the most remarkable thing about VIEWS … is where people are listening to VIEWS.