Rapper Kendrick Lamar. Photo via Shutterstock
All hail King Kendrick Lamar! Not only is the LA rapper’s new album To Pimp a Butterfly killing it with the critics, it has also broken the record for most global streams in a single day.
Lamar surprise-released the LP in the early hours of Monday (Ireland time), making it available to stream or download via iTunes a full week ahead of schedule.
According to digital music service Spotify, users streamed To Pimp a Butterfly more than 9.6m times on that first day of availability.
As pointed out by The LA Times, Lamar overtakes crooning Canadian rapper Drake and his recently released mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.
.@kendricklamar‘s #ToPimpAButterfly was streamed 9.6M+ times Monday. A new world record, K-Dot http://t.co/Fz66I8jZ2P pic.twitter.com/G8CzycJkPW
— Spotify (@Spotify) March 17, 2015
It’s been a busy time for Spotify, having recently introduced song lyrics to its service. Clicking the new ‘Lyrics’ button on the app’s play bar pulls up the text, which is powered by lyric catalogue Musixmatch. Users can also search and browse lyrics from Spotify’s top songs using the ‘Explore’ feature.
To hear To Pimp a Butterfly, click below. Seriously. I’m obsessed with this thing, in all its intricate-rhyming, saxophone-blowing, 2pac-resurrecting glory. I am powerless.
Kendrick Lamar image via Shutterstock
