On May 15, Drake released his ninth studio album, ICEMAN, alongside his tenth and eleventh albums, Maid of Honour and Habibti. The release of the trio marked the end of a two and a half year wait between his last solo studio LP, 2023’s For All the Dogs, since the album’s campaign officially kicked off in July, 2025. However, this inflated, diss-track-packed album is Drake’s most saturated work to date.
After a series of teasers for Iceman, Drake dropped the lead single “What Did I Miss?” shortly after hosting a livestream on Kick called “Iceman: Episode 1.” The broadcast featured Drake riding around the streets of Toronto in an ICEMAN-branded truck, attracting an audience along his venture. The stream concluded at a matching ICEMAN-themed warehouse, where he ate and reflected on archival footage of his earlier career.
Drake’s calling card is his ability to stay relevant, whether he’s dodging alleged lawsuits that he illegally misled viewers during gambling livestreams or talking with socialites in intimate relationships, he constantly has the media down his throat. However, his latest bloated trio of albums has sparked a rare, unanimous critique from fans and detractors alike, effectively removing him from the spotlight. Dropping 43 songs all at once quickly turned into a relentless pursuit of boredom that has listeners begging for it to stop.
Iceman starts off strong, with multi-dimensional lyrics guiding the emotionally intelligent single that is “Make Them Cry.” Betraying the album title, Drake throughout “Make Them Cry” explores his own emotional pressure, betrayal, pain, and need to prove himself after public criticism and personal struggles. He reveals that his father is battling cancer, contrasting this vulnerability with the emotionally numb “Iceman” persona, which suggests that becoming emotionally cold is necessary to survive the pressures of the music industry.
Ad-libs effects are abused on this album, specifically signature Migos-style ad-libs on track six, “Shabang.” The song was carried by a bouncy, high-energy beat that almost erased the underlying theme of chaos in Drake’s life. Drake leans into confidence and excess on this track, asserting that he remains at the center of hip-hop despite suffering devastating blows from fellow rappers over the past year. Lines such as “Where is the GOAT? They need one / The mirror’s right here” reinforce Drake’s stance that he still dominates the rap industry, even while facing harsh criticism and public controversy. The repetitive flow of “mid, mid, mid, skip, skip” shows his dismissive attitude toward other rappers and is once again embarrassingly repetitive as the careless motif drags on.
Track nine, “National Treasures,” scopes in on the city of Toronto and criticizes those who left Drake in his recent public feuds. The song is a lengthy diatribe targeting former friends and foes, such as Sacramento Kings star DeMar DeRozan, once a close friend of Drake, after DeRozan appeared connected to Kendrick during their feud. “National Treasures” is unapologetic; Drake doesn’t ask for sympathy but bargains for respect and displays loyalty by repping his hometown of Toronto.
Track 11, “What Did I Miss,” the album’s lead single, was released on July 5, 2025, nearly a year before Iceman. At this moment, a pervasive sense of repetition arose, as the song harped on paranoia and betrayal. The reinforcement of these themes exclaims the “Iceman” persona, but doesn’t leave room for idiosyncratic behavior. Lyrics such as “I don’t give a f*** if you love me, I don’t give a f*** if you like me/ Askin’ me “How did it feel?” Can’t say it didn’t surprise me,” emphasize Drake’s distrust and emotional isolation, showing how deeply betrayal has shaped the album’s bland tone.
Many people switched up on Drake while he was consumed by rap beefs, personal issues, and success. Track 12, “Plot Twist” centralizes these ideas while highlighting that Drake is reclaiming control of his image after controversy with rapper Kendrick Lamar. Although Drake switches the narrative, it’s difficult to avoid the fact that this album is focused on recovery, rather than trailblazing. On the heels of Drake’s defamation lawsuit regarding Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us”, Drake’s ego is bashed and bruised.
Track 13, “2 Hard 4 The Radio” pays homage to Mac Dre’s classic 1989 Vallejo anthem, “Too Hard for the F***in’ Radio,” as Drake weaves in local references, shouting out Oakland and late friend Nadia Ntuli. However, Drake flips the narrative on its head by throwing jabs at DJ Mustard and rapper Tyga. Yet, recycled flows and beats make up 90% of the album, and the rebuttals are simply too late.
Drake’s ICEMAN doesn’t change the narrative, but rather remains glued to the hurt unfolding in his life. ICEMAN doesn’t represent the cold, arrogant playboy persona that Drake usually embodies; instead, it acts as a guise covering the recovery period he is undergoing. Drake’s career has been built on finding new ways to repeat and reinvent that fame, wealth, and success are hard; ICEMAN is the trio regurgitated into a colder, self-aware mantra. ICEMAN is a visible outcry against the hardships of maintaining Drake’s celebrity, earning the dull album a 3 out of 5 feathers score.
