Drake tops the charts, sets records and sweeps away the oldies

It's Drake Week on the Billboard charts, as the rapper sets records for sheer quantity — including three albums debuting in the top three, led by ICEMAN at No.1.

On the Hot 100 singles chart, Drake posts 40 debut songs (an all-time record) among the 42 entries total that bear his name (ditto).And he extends all-time records for most-ever songs to crack the top 10, top 40 and Hot 100.Let's get a great big caveat out of the way upfront: When we talk about "all-time Billboard chart records," we are not — not — talking about "the biggest songs/albums/artists of all time." Drake has either set or extended a good many records this week, but most of them are based on a commercial music landscape that's only existed for a little more than a decade.

And, in that decade, you won't find many artists who've released more songs or albums in a single day than Drake did on May 15.Let's start with the albums.Drake has been teasing a new record called ICEMAN for ages now, but when it finally dropped, his new baby turned out to be triplets: three albums, titled ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR.

This week, they debut at Nos.1, 2 and 3, respectively — the first time any artist has ever posted all three of any week's top albums.But here, again, is where asterisks are due.

First off, how many A-list superstars have dropped three new albums on a single day? Two artists have simultaneously debuted at No.1 and No.

2 — Guns N' Roses, with 1991's Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, and Nelly, with 2004's Suit and Sweat — but there's not much precedent for a threefer like this.But it's also not really the first time the week's three biggest albums have belonged to a single artist.This gets a little weedy, but it's worth noting.

Prior to December 2014, the Billboard 200 was entirely based on sales; streaming wasn't incorporated into the chart's metrics.And prior to December 2009, the Billboard 200 didn't include "catalog albums" — as in, old titles that were sti...