On Friday, May 15th, Popular rapper Drake has released his first solo project ever since the major beef in 2024. He dropped not just one, not two, but three albums in the same day. Did his 43 songs and over two hour runtime go down in history as a monumental success, or an immense failure?
Drake has been not one to shy away from controversy. He took part in one of the biggest rap beefs in history, battling with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar in 2024. These men despise each other, and it showed in the music they were dropping back and forth. Serious allegations came from the battle, and Kendrick Lamar walked away from the battle victorious, as his diss track Not Like Us became one of the biggest songs in the world, winning the grammy that year for best record of the year. Lamar jumped into superstardom, whereas Drake spiraled down. Drake and PartyNextDoor both dropped a collab album in 2025, which wasn’t very well received. People questioned what would happen to “the boy” and what his next album would look like. After many teases and a long wait, Drake delivered with his album, Iceman.
Along with Iceman, Drake managed to drop two other albums on the same day, Habibti, and Maid Of Honour. The speculation is that Drake strategically did this so he could get out of his deal with UMG, as he’s been experiencing problems with his label. After listening to all three albums, here’s my honest reaction to the new music.
Starting off with Iceman, the most anticipated album. Drake really delivered with all of these songs, as they were focused on him getting a lot off of his chest and his rapping was top-notch. The first 12 songs on the album all delivered, and had insane production and beats, along with great verses and bars from Drake. My personal favorite from the entire album was National Treasure, as that song just immediately grabbed my attention. The beat was amazing, and Drake had some great flows and lyrics the entire song. Another top song of mine was Ran to Atlanta, which features Future and Molly Santana. This was one of two songs on the album that had features, and both features had great parts in the song. Future and Drake always make great music together, and this was just another example. The beat switch was incredible, and all three artists gelled so well together and all were in a flow state. Other top songs include Make Them Cry, Whisper My Name, and Dust. Out of the 18 songs, I thought every one of them was pretty solid, and yeah there were stronger songs over others, but there definitely weren’t any bad songs that I couldn’t listen to. Jake Musselman, a Senior at BASH, stated that, “I thought the albums were alright, it was honestly not one of his best albums performance wise. I mean in my opinion, out of the 18 songs on Iceman, I liked 9 of them, so a 50% to me is pretty good.” Overall, I think Drake was rapping like the Drake of old, and it seemed he had a chip on his shoulder to prove that he still belongs at the top. I rate this album a 7/10.
Moving on to the second album, Habibti. If Iceman was all about the rapping ability and lyrics, Habibti was the more relaxed album, with some great RnB and soul songs. Top songs on the album for me include: Slap The City, High Fives, and Classic. I thought this album was a nice contrast to Iceman, and just like the latter, there really wasn’t a bad song on this either. There were some songs that were way better than others, but the album didn’t fall out of place, and every song had a place on this album. With only 11 songs, it wasn’t as good as Iceman, but wasn’t terrible either. I rate this album a 6/10.
Now, moving on to Maid Of Honour. Now this was the last album that I listened to, and I haven’t gone back and listened to it since, but I don’t know if that will change my thoughts on this album. With the theme of each album having different tones and feelings, this album was more on the club side, with songs that were made more for the ladies. This album wasn’t for my target demographic, and as such, I absolutely hated this album. I thought every song was super obnoxious and I couldn’t even be bothered to sit and listen through every song. The song Cheetah Print with Sexyy Red might’ve been one of the worst Drake songs I have ever heard. The song already wasn’t great, but then halfway through the song Sexyy Red decided to do her own version of the Cha Cha Slide, and let’s just say the song didn’t deserve an atrocious alternate version. With how much I hated this, I thought the very first song was decent, and it boosted the rating of the album to a 2/10. That might even be too generous, but this was an album that should’ve stayed in the vault.
One thing I did get tired of throughout the album was the many disses to other people, including Kendrick Lamar. I get Drake’s still butthurt about losing, but I feel that it’s time to move on from the whole situation. Drake said what he needed to say, and should be confident in moving forward. Do I think the disses will stop? No, because Drake is pretty petty when it comes to dissing people years after, but both artists are still at the top of their game, and I look forward to the projects that follow in the near future.
Overall, Drake’s three-album run definitely wasn’t perfect, but for the most part every song delivered and were fun to listen to. I believe Iceman was one of Drakes best albums in recent memory, and it was a strong comeback for him after the beef. I hope he can continue with this momentum, and create even more albums that are on a similar level to this one. Musselman said, “I’m very excited for his upcoming albums, as he is independent now. That is if the stuff going on with his label is true, which I’m not sure about.” Whether the situation between Drake and UMG are true, I think it will be a new chapter for Drake, and I’m excited to see the journey that awaits ahead of us.
