The Drake we once knew is gone. What began as one of the most prophetic artists to hit the rap and hip-hop scene over the past two decades has again reached another breaking point with the release of three new albums on Friday, May 15th. Iceman, Drake’s mainline promotional project, was released alongside bonus albums Habibti and Maid of Honour. These are the latest full-length projects to come from the Canadian artist since his very public and very damaging feud with rapper Kendrick Lamar in 2024, with fans speculating that this would be a return to form following his two-year sabbatical.
But what they got is more of the same. Drake obtusely makes an attempt to reignite his beef with Kendrick, throwing shots at non-rapper and NBA star LeBron James, among others, in an expression of dissatisfaction with those who betrayed and disparaged him in what can be considered a musical trilogy of sorrow, scorn, and mistaken identity.
Not only is Drake gone, but he also doesn’t know who he is. While Kendrick’s win exposed different levels within the rap genre and brought significant reputational harm, it also provided Drake with an opportunity to learn from his opponent’s words of advice within their rivalry.
What could have been a fresh chapter in the book of Aubrey was instead a lyrical tabloid of gossip, woes, tribulations, and attacks. The rapper who sues labels for diss records continues to create diss records rather than explore his deeply rooted issues with women, gambling, parenting, victimhood mentality, and dubious morality when it comes to Blackness as a Black man.
The infamous bar “You always rappin like you tryna get the slaves free,” on the diss track “Family Matters” in 2024 came under intense scrutiny for the intentions of the Toronto rapper. It’s a shocking line that mocks the liberation of people who were enslaved as a punchline rather than an essential imperative to humanity. And yet, lines such as these are cracks in the ice compared to the fissures of Drake’s career as a cosplay of Black identity.
In naming a few, this is an individual who was photographed in blackface, voluntarily highjacked several ethnic nationalities and accents, associates himself with controversial streamers like Adin Ross, who spew hate and pejoratives at Black women, and even referring to Black women as “ebonies” on Iceman. Without doubt, Drake is Black – but he frequently chameleonizes himself to fit his own cultural desires.
Iceman was an opportunity for Drake to show the rap community and the world that he had changed, or at the very least, had a better idea of himself as a man about to enter his forties. Instead, Drake spends much of his time going after former friends, including long-time collaborator DJ Khaled, in the song Make Them Pay with lines, “And, Khaled, you know what I mean, the beef was fully live, you went halal and got on your deen, And your people are still waitin’ for a free Palestine.” Offering a dig at Khaled’s Palestinian heritage and chosen silence in the war in Gaza, which, since October 7, 2023, has displaced nearly 2 million Palestinians according to the United Nations.
In a number of ways, this can be viewed among the commendable bars of Drake’s release – except if you ignore the hypocrisy that is calling out another person’s unhelpfulness and silence to their community when he himself has remained politically silent on a number of issues impacting the Black community, most recently under the Trump Administration.
That silence became louder just a few hours after Iceman released as the official White House account on the social media platform X, put up an altered cover of Drake’s Iceman art showing a Michael Jackson glove holding a chain that reads “MAGA”, with a caption “Iced Out.” Drake has not publicly responded to this display, but he has shared a selfie on Instagram.
The character arc of Drake remains underdeveloped and stagnant. If these album releases prove anything, it’s that Aubrey has not matured, not aged in grace, and is acting upon shallow attempts to reheat a beef that expired 24 months ago – echoing a Trumpian tactic that implies victory by persistently denying defeat.
While there is hope that one day Aubrey can be redeemed, it is unclear if his avatar will have such luck. What is clear is that Drake has become Aubrey’s Frankenstein, his Iceman – and after two decades of being Drake, it’s a wonder if Aubrey himself is able to recognize what Drake has become.
Photo from Drake’s Official Facebook HERE
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