On May 15, 2026, the most-streamed artist in the world released the most anticipated album of the year. Iceman is Drake’s first solo project since his feud with Kendrick Lamar in 2024, which made the album crucial to his career. This would either solidify his status as a legendary artist or prove he is just another passing star. From replaying “Hotline Bling“ as a kid to blasting “Her Loss” in the gym (check out How To Get Jacked), Drake has been my favorite artist for as long as I can remember, and I definitely have a lot to say about his new release.
To everyone’s surprise, Drake released three full-length studio albums on May 15: Habibti, Maid of Honor, and, of course, Iceman. This was incredibly shocking, especially as two of them were complete surprises, only being revealed at the end of the Iceman Episode 4 livestream an hour earlier. Iceman episodes were meant to reveal one of the album’s song each, Episode 1 revealing “What Did I Miss?,” Episode 2 revealing “Which One,” and Episode 3 revealing “Dog House.” However, on Episode 4, Drake decided to simply play out the entire Iceman project live before officially releasing it, and its two sister albums an hour later. The albums blew up when they were released, setting a record for the most streams on a song (“Make Them Cry”) and album in a single day, while also crashing Spotify. While some people were stoked that Drake dropped over forty songs, some people argued that he was simply stream-farming, and there was no need for this much music to drop in one day.
When I first heard the entirety of Iceman live, I wasn’t let down. I thought the album lived up to the hype that Drake built up for almost two years. The project started off with a strong intro and contained features from Future, Molly Santana, and 21 Savage. I thoroughly believed that this was a strong album, but many people didn’t agree. A common theme of the hate for Iceman was that it was mostly talking over a beat, with many joking that it felt like a “podcast with drums.” Iceman did have some bangers, but it was clearly meant to be a more lyrical album, with the majority of songs being similar to “8 AM in Charlotte,” “Middle of the Ocean,” or “The Ride.” The album’s songs are clearly made for him to put his thoughts into words, basically giving his fans a perspective on life through Drake’s eyes. I can see why a lot of fans were let down by this, but I actually think this was a better move than an album filled with pop hits. Having a more introspective album may be less appealing in the beginning, but in the long run, this would solidify the release as a genuinely meaningful one, instead of another industry-manufactured project.
Another controversial opinion I have is about 21 Savage’s feature on “B’s on the Table.” There were a lot of jokes made on TikTok regarding 21 Savage’s meaningless feature and how he shouldn’t have been on the album. I don’t think the song was bad overall, but I was upset that 21 didn’t do more. He has proven to be a strong feature in the past, who at times, outperformed Drake in his own song. This set a high bar for me, and I was expecting a jaw-dropping verse, only to hear 21 repeat the same, trance-like lyric in between Drake’s verses. Another thing I noticed is that Drake repeated many of his previous lines across this record, from various songs across his career. While on some songs these bars fit in and were a cool reference if you knew the original song, there were other songs where it felt kind of forced.
Drake also threw shots at various artists on this album, including Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, DJ Khaled, and, surprisingly, J. Cole. Drake called out J. Cole, saying “I love you ‘cause the history, but if we bein’ real I could never forgive you”, and “—- a big three anyway, there were too many chefs in the kitchen, it was a mess to begin with.” These shots felt unnecessary, especially since J. Cole was the only person who didn’t add to the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud that started in 2013 and escalated in 2024. Drake also took some shots at LeBron James, saying his whole career was made from switching teams up, similar to how James sided with Kendrick during their beef. While Drake is known to reference various people across his works, the disses on Iceman felt like he was holding on to past drama, like a sore loser trying to have the last laugh.
The album cover was also controversial, as he used Michael Jackson’s authentic glove. This received a lot of backlash, with people saying Drake was nowhere near the level of Michael Jackson. I personally don’t think that this cover was meant to compare the two, but rather to capitalize on the hype behind Michael Jackson, due to the recent release of the Michael movie. Critiques aside, I believe this was a very strong album, and it did live up to the hype that was built for it. I feel like Iceman just needs time, and once it marinates, it will live up to its name. Similar to how $ome $exy $ongs 4 U or For All The Dogs got hate at the beginning, but became known as strong projects months later, I feel like Iceman just needs a few months for people to start realizing the strength of this project. Not only is the production incredibly high quality, but Drake’s lyricism, versatility, and simply just the vibe of the album gave Iceman its place among the other albums released this year. In fact, I’d go as far as to say Iceman has the potential to be the album of the year, but only time will tell how well this album will age.
The second album, Habibti, had a completely different vibe from Iceman. Habibti was a more melodic album, contrasting with the pure rap nature of Iceman. I always said Drake is a better singer than he is a rapper, but I don’t think this album shows that. The intro track, “Rusty Intro,” was disappointing and genuinely made me go listen to Maid Of Honor before coming back. Looking past the intro, however, the album is better than I expected. While it doesn’t really have Drake’s best melodies, I still think the album is worth listening to, and it definitely wasn’t bad. My personal favorite was “High Fives,” and a lot of people seemed to enjoy “Fortworth.” I think “Fortworth” was one of the best songs on this album, and one of the better songs across all three projects, but it sounded like a song from $$$4U. Drake has this habit of trying to recreate successful songs from his previous works. He does it well sometimes, like “Jimmy Cooks,” to “Rich Flex,” but sometimes it’s obvious he’s trying to manufacture another hit, like his feature on “Meltdown,” by Travis Scott, and, of course, “Fortworth.” Again, I think this was a really good song, but it just didn’t belong on this album. Another example of Drake attempting to recreate hit songs is all the Sexyy Red features, not only on Habibti, but also on Maid of Honor. Ever since the commercial success of the track “Rich Baby Daddy,” Drake has clearly been trying to recreate that viral sound with Sexyy Red, to no avail. Working with her once created a different vibe, which performed well, but I think that ship has sailed, and Drake has no business working with her anymore. His feature on “U My Everything” by Sexyy Red was clearly an attempt at forcing a viral song, and her features on Drake’s new albums have the same feel. Drake and Sexyy Red are two completely different artists who managed to create one solid track, but I don’t think they should be making music together anymore. At least, that’s my opinion.
There’s definitely a target audience for this type of music. The other features on Habibti were also disappointing. I would have bet money that we would see a feature from some of Drake’s more trusted collaborators, such as Young Thug, SZA, Travis Scott, and maybe another 21 Savage feature. There were even rumors of a hidden Weeknd feature. Upon opening the album tracklist, I discovered that the features were Qendresa, Sexyy Red, Loe Shimmy, and PARTYNEXTDOOR. I’m sure he had a reason for this, but I would assume that you shouldn’t experiment with features when you’re about to release your most anticipated album. Loe Shimmy sounded like NBA Youngboy if he were a mosquito, and I’ve never heard someone ask to play the new Qendresa. I think it’s safe to say that besides “Fortworth,” all three feature tracks are skips. Besides the three self-sabotaging tracks, I still think Drake did a solid job with this album, especially with songs like “White Bone” and “WNBA.” I don’t think this is Drake’s best melodic work, but I think it’s comparable to $$$4U in terms of how well produced it is. The production is really what saves this project, in all honesty, but I’d still say it’s worth listening to.
The final album, Maid of Honor, is arguably the most controversial one. Iceman was a rap album, Habibti was more melodic, and Maid of Honor is just manufactured radio hits. There is definitely substance to this album, but it’s clearly meant to be more TikTok sounds than actual music. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not what I expected from Drake. “Hoe Phase,” “Road Trips,” and the last five songs on the album are honestly pretty good, but the middle portion of the record is just disappointing. To start, Drake followed through with his idea of having ‘irrelevant’ features, such as Stunna Sandy, Popcaan, and Iconic Savvy. I can bet the average person hasn’t heard of these people. “Which One,” featuring Central Cee, was honestly one of the better songs on this album, which just shows the lack of strong features. As if one wasn’t enough, Drake had the audacity to add another Sexyy Red feature on “Cheetah Print,” and in comparison, at least the last one was listenable. Maid of Honor is fully carried by its production, and this is the album that brings the reputation of the three-album drop down. Drake only released two of the three singles he teased before the album; he didn’t release “Dog House,” but I feel like it would have gone well with Maid of Honor. There’s not much I can really say about this album, besides that it was honestly a letdown when there was so much potential. This is the only project of the three I would call “a bad album,” but I still think it has its strong points. Just like the other two, I believe it needs some time to marinate, and then it may earn its place in Drake’s discography.
