This Is So Much Drake

It’s been three years since Drake’s last solo studio album, For All the Dogs, which is quite the break for one of the most prolific artists in music history. He broke the spell today by releasing three full albums: Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honour. In total, the trio of records amount to 43 new songs and about two and a half hours of new music from the rapper. He initially revealed the three albums in the fourth episode of his Iceman livestream last night. After premiering music videos that were part of the leadoff project, Iceman, he brought out three hard drives, and text on the screen read, “I made this so that I could make this.” The cover of Iceman, the only project that was confirmed before last night, features a single hand with a sparkly glove on the cover, referencing Michael Jackson. Habibti’s cover is a photo of a woman in a hijab, with only her eyes visible while the rest is covered by masking tape. And Maid of Honour has a photo of Drake’s mother overlaid with a photo of Drake smiling with his son, Adonis.

The first track off Iceman, “Make Them Cry,” directly addresses the elephant in the room: This is Drake’s first solo project since Kendrick Lamar KO-ed him in their rap beef in 2024 with his chart-topping “Not Like Us.” “With Dot back in 2024 was a big piece / So it’s like this shit is me but it isn’t me,” Drake raps on the track. “Y’all keep on asking me what it did to me, that’s what it did to me / When I dig deep, they say, ‘Dig deeper / Tell us how it felt to meet the Grim Reaper / This album better have some big features.’”

And, to be fair, it does. Iceman features Future, Molly Santana, and 21 Savage, while the other two records include Qendresa, Sexyy Red, Loe Shimmy, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Stunna Sandy, Central Cee, Popcaan, and Iconic Savvy.

It’s notable for Drake to drop three albums right now given his ongoing legal claims against Universal Music Group, which puts out both Lamar’s music and Drake’s. The albums were released under OVO Sound, which is under Republic Records, which is part of UMG. Some have speculated that Drake released three albums to get out of his current record deal early. “I’m better off independent, they should let him leave, yeah / ’Cause I just wanna be free,” he raps on the song “Make Them Pay.” He adds, “Swear my label gotta free me, baby,” on “Janice STFU.” Is Drake about to go indie?