Drake Sweeps Record 13 Billboard Music Awards
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He’s Jewish. He’s Canadian. And now he holds the record for most wins at the Billboard Music Awards in one year.
Multi-hyphenate rapper and producer Drake won 13 awards on Sunday at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, beating the previous record held by singer-songwriter Adele, who won 12 awards in 2012.
After walking into the event with 22 nominations, the performer clinched over a dozen, including the highly competitive categories including top artist, top male artist, and the awards for top rap album and artist.
Though arguably any awards ceremony in which Beyonce receives the same number of trophies as 21 Pilots (5 each) is not one that can claim to have a relationship with reality, Drake’s wins are still historic. He celebrated his successes with a series of acceptance speeches, one of which involved inviting over twenty people to the stage, including his father and rappers Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj.
In the same speech, which was also the one accepting his new record, Drake’s mic was turned off after saying, “You know, someone wise once told me, life is like toilet paper. You’re either on a roll or—“ Jamie Primeau for Bustle points out that this is a real quote, and that it continues, “or you’re taking sh*t from some a**h*le.” In which case—where is the award for the Billboard live censor who had this quote memorized, realized it was being deployed, and instantly cut off the mic?
Drake also had kind words for the vanquished Adele, who he told to “hold tight, because when a new thing drops you’ll be back to get the record back.”
The televised event, which, like a strange dream was co-hosted by Ludacris and Vanessa Hudgins, included many other priceless moments. Celine Dion’s performed “My Heart Will Go On” in honor of the 20th anniversary of the movie “Titanic”, Miley Cyrus showed off her new single “Malibu”, and Cher accepted a lifetime achievement award. The 71-year old noted in her acceptance speech, “I wanted to do what do since I was 4 years old and I’ve been doing it for 53 years. And I can do a five-minute plank. Just saying.”
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