A true testament to the phrase “started from the bottom now we’re here”, rap icon Drake, after years in the music industry, has unlocked yet another level of success in his career with his crowning as Billboard’s Artiste of the Decade.

According to a Billboard statement released on Tuesday (May 11), the God’s Plan singer will receive its Artiste of the Decade Award during the 2021 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) set to take place on May 23.

As per the statement, the Billboard Artiste of the Decade award is bestowed on an artiste who ranks best given their “activity on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and the Billboard 200 albums tally, as well as social media data and touring revenue from Billboard Boxscore, during the decade”.

The 34-year-old rapper, who currently holds the title of most awarded artiste in the show’s history — having collected 27 awards to date — has scored eight No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has achieved nine No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart (the most of any artiste over the past decade).

The Hotline Bling singer celebrated the Artist of the Decade honour in a series of posts on his Instagram Stories, saying he was “high on life”. 

“Today was one of those days it doesn’t feel real…waking up to artist of the decade then having dinner with my idol @ronaldisley and listening to the stories behind every song that shaped my love for emotional music and created my formula for a lot of my writing… high on life right now my g’z.”