While he did work with fellow Toronto laureate PARTYNEXTDOOR on 2025’s Some Sexy Songs 4 U, the general public has been waiting curiously for Drake to do something—anything—since his intensely public beef with Kendrick Lamar two years ago. After months of teasing his next album Iceman through Instagram posts and time-exclusive livestreams, Drake releases not one, not two, but three full-length albums: Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honour. There hasn’t been enough time to write reviews on all three albums so instead we’re collecting some general thoughts from the collection of work Drake has presented us.
Three albums, three lanes
Drake always starts his albums off with a rap song. Obviously. The album intro has traditionally been between four and five minutes long and full of Drake-isms and quotable lyrics. Usually, he and his producers will then follow up the intro with a poppier song and alternate from there on, lately leaning on pop. But Iceman is seventy percent rap from Drake. In a way we haven’t seen since before the astronomical success of Views, Drake is rapping for minutes on end. As the songs go by, you come to realise there are fewer hooks than ever and there is next to no singing. Instead of giving a little something for everyone on one album, singing Drake is on the other two albums—more-so on Maid of Honour than Habibti—leaving Iceman as the dedicated rap record. Maid of Honour is the closest thing Drake has come to a party album since Honestly, Nevermind and Habibti is more the album we have come to expect from Drake as of late.
Collaborators new and old
Another thing that separates the albums are the features and lack thereof. Iceman features frequent collaborators 21 Savage and Future, and newcomer to the Drake discography, Molly Santana. Aside from some adlibs from Quavo, the rest of the album is pure, unadulterated Drake. Habibti switches gears summoning PARTYNEXTDOOR from the depths of OVO for a spot alongside Sexxy Red in the album track-listing. Again, Drake compliments two previous collaborators with new ones Qendresa and Loe Shimmy. Maid of Honour is the most varied with Central Cee, Popcaan, Sexxy Red, and yet another two new faces: Stunna Sandy and Iconic Savvy. Producers are again familiar and new with names like Boi1da and Conductor Williams contributing. He must love artists with double letters in their names.
He isn’t over the beef
The one thing lingering over the entire main album is the beef with Kendrick Lamar. Iceman opener ‘Make Them Cry’ includes lyrics on the insecurity he felt afterwards, thinking that people thought that his music career was over and that there was no recovery. He raps about how people wanted to know how it felt and confesses that it felt like a part of him died. While hyperbolic for the sake of entertainment, it isn’t too far from the truth. Yes, Iceman has Drake rapping with a reinvigorated spirit, but it lacks the venom from the beef or the finesse he displayed all throughout the 2010s. ‘Make Them Pay’ features yet another jab at Lamar with a line about faking streams, but why continue this years later? The lack of finesse is also apparent on the accompanying albums as the lyrics throughout Maid of Honour are so hedonistic that it begs the question of why he chose images of his parents as the album’s cover. One of the highlights on Iceman is ‘Ran to Atlanta’, partially because it is a moment of energy from Drake but mostly due to the fact it features Future, as it was Future’s track that started the whole downturn in the first place. It lingers.
He can still make bangers
Drake released over two hours of music at once so, unsurprisingly, there was going to be a few moments that stood out more than the rest. Beef mentions aside, ‘Make Them Cry’ is still a great Drake opener and is in contention for one of his best openers this decade. The first part of ‘Ran to Atlanta’ flows so well and is definitely jumping onto hip-hop gym playlists. Personally, I enjoy ‘Shabang’ the most from Iceman as its production bounces along so nicely you don’t even question Quavo’s adlibbing. ‘Classic’ from Habibti has Drake singing so well it makes me wish he made the song two minutes longer. ‘Which One’ is still as much of a banger as it was when it released partway through last year and is the standout on Maid of Honour. ‘Firm Friends’ from Iceman maybe has the best writing across all three albums and makes me wish it was part of the AM/PM series of tracks he has had going on since the Take Care era.
That’s all I have without diving into each album in-depth. Another hiatus is presumably upon us after this substantial output, so go listen to what we have while he’s still active.
