Unfortunately for all of us, Drake cannot get over losing a rap battle he instigated with Kendrick Lamar two years ago. In some ways, Drake is right to swat away critiques of his long-teased solo release, which is now a 43-song project spanning three albums — 'Iceman,' 'Habibti' and 'Maid of Honour' — and compare them to the negative reactions once received by 'Take Care' more than a decade ago. Meanwhile, 'Iceman' is already breaking streaming records. The track 'Ran To Atlanta,' which reunites him with Future, is likely to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Across the two and a half hours of new Drake music are more hits destined to take that No. 1 spot.
Bright Spots and Shadows
Here are the other bright spots: Drake is doing something interesting sonically on tracks like 'Janice STFU' and displaying his knack for hit-making on 'Shabang.' While it is not a personal favorite, the West Coast-sounding '2 Hard 4 The Radio' shows a defiant Drake when it comes to not being limited to regional sounds. Those positives get overshadowed by the general ethos of the album: Drake’s ongoing grievances from yesteryear’s rap battles.
I don’t like when rappers remind me of President Donald Trump, and much of the subtext on 'Iceman' is that 'THE ELECTION WAS RIGGED!!!' For years, Trump has claimed he lost the 2020 election due to alleged widespread voter fraud. Three of the songs on 'Iceman' — 'Make Them Pay,' 'First Friends' and 'Dust' — feature Drake complaining about inflated streaming numbers. He has his own similar allegations to worry over, but hypocrisy never stops a man with a complaint and the funds to sue his way toward retribution. Sound familiar?
Political Parallels and Personal Grievances
I don’t know if Drake is political in any real sense, but this inability to let go of a loss is a noticeable similarity to Trump. They both cannot accept defeat and are incredibly whiny. It’s no wonder the White House’s social media pages decided to mimic the 'Iceman' cover and tie it to MAGA. Drake also continues to be salty with A$AP Rocky, seemingly taunting the rapper-actor with 'Where she at?/Where she go' on 'Burning Bridges.' Drake seemingly never got over Rihanna daring to move on from him and create a family with Rocky, so in Drake’s mind, pointing out that the mother of his children didn’t post about his single is worth highlighting.
I will acknowledge that Drake immediately called for a ceasefire in Gaza in October 2023. Yet there’s something icky about finally hearing a rapper of his stardom saying 'Free Palestine' on 'Make Them Pay' only for it to be used as a jab at DJ Khaled, one of the many betrayers Drake complains about all album long. Then there is 'Make Them Remember,' where he raps: 'Is it the fair skin or the Jewish roots/Why people want to not see me on top of the mountain like I do the Dew?' As others quickly pointed out, he whines about streaming numbers once more right after saying that. How tragic indeed. That doesn’t make it a bad album, but sore loserdom is an acquired taste.
Drake's Place in Hip-Hop
Drake is a former child star from Canada who has become the most successful rapper of this century, and it’s still not enough for him. Being light-skinned and half-Jewish has nothing to do with why some will always look at him as an outsider to 'the culture.' When Mos Def was asked if Drake 'was hip-hop' and compared him to Target, I never found that as insulting as some Drake fans took it. Drake is pop, and that was by design, thanks to the efforts of his predecessors in the 1990s and 2000s.
Frustrating as he can be, very few artists have the skillset to deliver this sort of fluid, genre-hopping offering. Where Drake fails to impress on 'Iceman,' others may enjoy either the house-influenced and more experimental album 'Maid of Honour,' or 'Habibti,' which is more reflective of Drake’s gift for melodies and his R&B ear. Granted, he’s still complaining — about women he can’t trust, naturally — but I prefer the R&B tracks to the faux-tough act found on 'Whisper My Name.'
A Sore Loser's Comeback
He’s been getting away with being a cooing misogynist with bars for much of his chart-topping career, yet the minute someone that triggers all his insecurities puts him in his place, he can’t shut up about it. The worst part of it all is that for all the whining Drake does about being cheated and not accepted, who else but our culture would accept someone like him? So long as he churns the hits, the masses have let him cook. I’m not surprised Drake hasn’t shown more growth as an artist, but does that matter when he’s too big to fail? So big that in spite of my objections, where some of us want better, others love him whining and complaining.
Even so, embarrassed as Drake must’ve been following the success of 'Not Like Us,' it never truly stifled Drake’s success. If only he would just drop the ongoing lawsuit over a rap beef he started. (A judge threw out Drake’s lawsuit over Lamar’s allegedly defamatory record. He is appealing the case.) Drake still sounds so haunted, and what a pity it is to see a 39-year-old man who still hasn’t learned when to take his L in stride. If he could just move on as an artist, he’d sound happier and would be able to enjoy this comeback in peace.
