Drake can go on hiatus for three years only to still sell out a tour on the other side of the world, and it looks like his streaming numbers also reflect that. Moreover, DJ Akademiks recently made the claim that the Toronto superstar’s dominance in the music industry today mostly owes its success to the classic material he released six-plus years ago. “Also, he leveraged the fact that they’re eating so much off of his back catalog,” Ak expressed on stream. “That dropping frequently helps the back catalog. And, by the way, 80 to 85 percent of Drake’s current streams is from albums that dropped over six years ago. And I’m being very fair here. I love Drake, that’s my favorite artist. Bro, the labels look at him different.”
What’s most curious about DJ Akademiks’ assessment of Drake’s numbers is not only that he’s probably correct, but that this is likely true of most massive artists at his level of reach, popularity, acclaim, and most importantly, legacy. Kendrick Lamar can probably say the same thing. good kid, m.A.A.d. city is still on the Billboard 200. But we know that K.Dot sales are a dicey topic for Drizzy these days…
Of course, we’re talking about Drake’s legal petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify for allegedly inflating the commercial success of “Not Like Us.” There are a whole lot of angles to consider when it comes to this story, especially when stacked up against the almost simultaneous release of Kendrick Lamar’s new album GNX. We definitely haven’t heard the end of it, and we wouldn’t express shock if this extended the 2024 rap beef into all of 2025. Still, they’re not really connected beyond “Not Like Us” being at the center, as the legal petition fries bigger fish.
Regardless, it still recontextualizes both Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s commercial accomplishments. In this case, this doesn’t really have anything to do with the legal petition. Yet DJ Akademiks does bring up a reality that could one day inform the OVO mogul’s future at Universal Music Group – if they stay buddy-buddy afterwards, that is.
Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR have OVO fans foaming at the mouth for their highly anticipated collab album, which is apparently supposed to come out this fall. While the window on that is closing every day, a lot of recent teases from both Toronto artists about their team-up inspired a lot of hope that it’s right around the corner. The latest fuel to this fire came from PND himself, who recently spoke to The Fry Yiy Show. During his appearance on the platform, he shared that he and the 6ix God only have a few finishing touches to add to the project, and he also expressed his excitement for it.
“I have had an insane week,” PARTYNEXTDOOR remarked. “So… You guys know what’s coming for you. PARTY and Drake have a classic. And we, you know, we trying to put the finishing touches on it, so… Yeah, it’s a jam-packed month for me filled with the thing that I love to do the most. Besides being a great dad, the world’s greatest dad. But that’s besides the point.” Hardcore fans know how much potential there is here for this collab album to be something truly special. Also, an October release would just be perfect, no?
However, not everything was peaches and cream for Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR this year, or at least, that’s what some fans speculatively theorized. A lot of online users thought that Nicki Minajshaded the duo for working with or publicly supporting Latto and Ice Spice, two of Nicki’s femcee opps. However, nothing really came of this rumor, and it’s still just an unverified fan interpretation. In reality, we doubt that there’s any rift or lack of support within OVO and Young Money, especially in the aftermath of the Kendrick Lamar battle.
Speaking of which, J. Cole’s new song addressing both Drake and Kendrick (albeit not by name, in the latter’s case) reopened that conversation again. As important and entertaining as it is to talk about, we can’t deny that the fatigue is something that, apparently, only the fans don’t feel at this point. So we’re looking forward to how Drizzy’s PARTYNEXTDOOR collab album will create a new era.
One of this fall’s most quickly anticipated album releases is, without a doubt, Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s upcoming collab album. It’s an OVO dream come true, especially after the decade-plus that both Toronto artists have spent crafting a sound together and displaying their chemistry. While we don’t have an official release date for it yet, the 6ix God teased at a fall drop, which might presumably carry over into the winter if that doesn’t manifest. But with how much he’s been hyping it up on social media, it feels like the record might be right around the corner.
For example, Drake recently posted an Instagram Reel of Toronto lit up at night as what seems like a Stake ad with a triple-dollar sign graphic, and it’s playing what sounds like a slightly slowed-down version of the PARTYNEXTDOOR P4 cut from this year, “N o C h i l l.” Of course, this isn’t a new song preview or anything like that, but it might hint at the sonic direction that the duo is aiming for this time around. Even though it doesn’t sound far off from their usual R&B fusions, it’s still exciting to hear what past work inspired them.
Either that, or this is just a glorified Stake ad that has nothing to do with this collab album. Regardless, folks can’t wait for it to come out. But there’s a lot more conversation going on around Drake right now, even when it comes to his next musical moves. “He just love doing this s**t,” Rod Wave recently said of whether or not he plans to take a step back from the game. “He love the game. Like Brady… He at home like ‘What the f**k I’m finna do without this s**t?’”
Meanwhile, there’s another Drake collab on the way – not an album, but rather a single with Chino Pacas titled “Modo Capone.” Hearing him cross over into the Latine market again could make for a pretty unique link-up. At the very least, we hope that The Boy sings Spanish better than he did on “Gently” if he’s actually going to go multilingual. Jokes aside, we’ll see what he has in store.
Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s collab album will supposedly arrive sometime this fall, or at least, that’s what fans think based on previous teases. However, now that hype continues to build in pretty grand and confident ways, as the 6ix God recently proclaimed that the upcoming full-length will be a “classic.” Here’s the specific quote, via an Instagram comment on PND’s recent IG post that features a picture of him with the caption “Loading…”: “LOADED IN MY PHONE CLA$$$IC.” It’s unclear whether or not Drizzy referenced a specific track, a general phrase, or the entire album. Nevertheless, OVO fans can’t wait to hear what they cooked up.
Elsewhere, though, die-hards are keeping their eyes peeled and staying on their toes as the Kendrick Lamar battle’s discourse continues to evolve. For example, J. Cole recently threw his hat back into the ring by addressing the battle and his exit from it in the new song “Port Antonio.” In it, he dismissed rumors that he switched sides on Drake and seems to accuse both beef opponents of clout chasing for people’s approval. It obviously resulted in a lot of debate and discussion online.
On the other hand, Drake doesn’t just promote his own music, but he also shouts out others on the rise. “The Drake thing was crazy, man,” KSI told Official Charts of how the Toronto superstar cosigned his new song with Trippie Redd. “For him to even put the song on his Reel, that’s huge. I just couldn’t believe it, I was like, ‘What the hell?’ To be honest, I didn’t actually know. I had several people message me. Like, ‘Bro, Drake’s used your song!’ I’d just woken up like, ‘Yo, what?’ Then I saw it, and I was like ‘Mad!’ I messaged him saying ‘Big up, thank you for using it,’ and he was like, ‘Yo, I had to, it gets the people going!’ That’s sick, he’s legit. I appreciate it.”
Meanwhile, PARTYNEXTDOOR gave some interesting details on the Drake collab album back in August. He suggested that there would be 15 new tracks, and that all of them rank as his favorite collabs that they’ve ever done. There’s a lot of promise behind this release, but also plenty of potential for them to exceed expectations.
Even as fans and media figures continue to debate around this year’s battle and other narratives, Drake keeps finding success from his past work. Moreover, Views recently reached a massive Spotify milestone, becoming only the third rap album ever on the platform to surpass 10 billion total streams. Not only that, but the Toronto superstar became the only MC at press time to have two albums cross the 10 billion streams mark, the first of which was Scorpion. To no one’s surprise, all of his projects on the streaming service have over a billion total streams each, an accolade few artists have been able to even approach.
Elsewhere, Drake actually recently focused on congratulating another artist for their success as he hit the studio to presumably record new material. He shared a clip on Instagram of Chilly “Gonz” Gonzales praising their collaborations in the past during a recent interview. “Thank you Gonz,” the 6ix God shared online. “This guy was my neighbor, and we ended up making incredible pieces together, one of the greatest musicians of all time to me.”
Meanwhile, others like A$AP Bari wonder whether or not Drake will be able to come back from his loss to Kendrick Lamar. “Nah, it can never be over for Drake. Drake is Drake,” he expressed on a podcast. “Hell no, hell no. It can never be over for Drake, honestly. I just feel like – Well, I was mad at the point of, like… I feel like, you know, if you gon’ start some s**t, finish it, you feel me? But that’s what we from. We from Harlem, we from New York, just period. You know, I’ma start a fight, I’ma finish it, you feel me? Nah, I feel like it was something that ticked him off and he wasn’t trying to take it that far. You understand?”
However, some of Drake’s most recent releases didn’t get the same fanfare that even the most meager Views cuts got on impact. He and Snowd4y recently released an animated music video for “Wah Gwan Delilah,” reigniting some memes about the parody cover. But we’ll see what the future holds…
Fans of Rod Wave are probably pretty familiar with his love of Drake, and their musical similarities are easy to identify. They both can deliver soulful vocals over melancholy atmospheres, and they’ve had some chances to link up in the past. Now, it seems like those opportunities finally manifested themselves into something concrete. Moreover, Wave recently previewed a new song with the 6ix God on his Instagram Story, captioning it with a goat emoji and a turtle emoji. The Toronto superstar flows mellowly over a drill-inspired instrumental and croons about even best friends having to end sometimes. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, do we really need to tie these lyrics into the great rap beef of 2024 yet again? We don’t think so. Beyond that, it’s just exciting to see these two artists work together in their new eras, as it seems like this might land on Rod Wave’s next album. As for Drake, this new tease indicates that he’s still putting in a lot of work for the rest of the year, so we’ll see what other updates emerge on that. After all, OVO die-hards apparently have a PARTYNEXTDOOR collab album to look forward to from The Boy.
“I’ve been watching that boy for a long a** time,” Rod Wave expressed on Million Dollaz Worth Of Game. “Since a juvenile, that’s really the one. Everybody else, I done met them, I done worked with them. It might change over time, but Ed Sheeran and Drake, I got to f**k with Drake. I know bro super busy. That s**t would be crazy. I don’t even gotta do a song, I just want to meet bro. This music is my life and how I be feeling, my music is different.” Then, Gillie and Wallo called Aubrey’s team to have them link up again.
“Yeah, I [was] supposed to be on that [Lemon Pepper Freestyle] but I didn’t like how my verse came out. So I kind of scratched it,” Rod Wave had previously stated. “I didn’t like how my voice came out and you know with a Drake feature, you don’t want to, you know what I’m saying? It’s like my first thing, it’s a big deal, have to come with it, you know what I’m saying? All that. I kind of had got cold feet, so kind of shook me up a little bit. So I was like, don’t worry about it.”
Drake fans are still digesting his latest three-pack, but fortunately for them, it seems like they will satisfy their hunger for new music even more. Thanks to his recent IG Story post via his “plottttwistttttt” burner account, the OVO die-hards think that he will release even more material on his accounts very soon, regardless of whether they land on streaming. Moreover, the post shows a load of Mac file folders under the “ICEMAN” umbrella, which some folks think will lead to a new album related to this moniker. The folders’ titles hint at Nothing Was The Same cuts, Popcaan tracks, “Trophies” versions, listening party content, and OVO fest footage or recordings. No matter how you interpret them, these vaults point to a wide array of content that the 6ix God could gift to fans.
As such, this is very exciting for his supporters, especially as they continue to break down and debate over “Supersoak,” “No Face,” and “Circadian Rhythm.” Of course, a big part of this discussion is what Drake had to say for his many 2024 beef opponents. There are a lot of references to his enemies throughout these cuts; some ring more specific, whereas most of them are quite broad. It seems like the Toronto superstar is broadly and “subliminally” standing tall against his opps… But The Boogeyman might be right around the corner for another round.
Furthermore, one of Drake’s biggest media allies, DJ Akademiks, recently claimed that – according to his sources – Kendrick Lamar is “loading up” for something, and is coming with new material very soon. But Ak thinks that this won’t have anything to do with their explosive battle, a sharp contrast to The Boy’s recent lyrical content through these “plottttwistttttt” drops. Whether or not this is true is a question for Father Time, and not the one featuring Sampha. Regardless, both fanbases will likely continue to feast this year, whether it’s the continuous success of “Not Like Us” or Drizzy’s deep-pocketed hard drive.
Still, not every new Drake release has been successful, lauded… Or even approved, according to some theorists. His long-awaited Benny The Butcher collab, “Buffalo Freestyle,” landed on the Black Soprano Family boss’ new EP, but disappeared from streaming services shortly after. The YouTube video got shut down due to a UMG copyright strike, so there’s definitely something going on behind the scenes that we’re not clear about. Nevertheless, there will probably be more to replace this removal, if this IG Story is anything to go by. But this overload doesn’t come without its pitfalls, ones that Aubrey will have to strategically navigate to prove his opposition wrong.
Drake promised some “summer vibes” when his battle with Kendrick Lamar ended, and it looks like we’re fully in that mode in 2024’s hottest months. Moreover, German electronic music label Keinemusik (comprised of Adam Port, &ME, Rampa, and Reznik) played an unreleased collab with The Boy at The Brooklyn Mirage over the weekend. It’s a summery house jam reminiscent of Honestly, Nevermind, on which Keinemusik hasa couple of production credits (“Falling Back” and “A Keeper”). In addition, the “HOT UPTOWN” superstar had remixed their track “Confusion,” although this didn’t make it onto the final version of the 2022 EDM project.
Drake himself shared part of this snippet to his Instagram Story earlier, so there’s a lot of hope within the OVO fanbase that there’s more new music on the way. He already fulfilled his “summer vibes” promise with his new Camila Cabello collabs, and we know that he’s enjoying the season as much as anyone else. For example, Drizzy recently hit up Michael Rubin’s White Party on the Fourth of July, and had some great fun with a lot of other celebrities. The K.Dot beef was still a factor, as he dropped the “Not Like Us” video the same day, but it seems like the Toronto native was safe from the aux at this bash.
However, Drake’s appearance at this party also caused many fans to theorize that the Kendrick Lamar beef has aged him years in just days. But that’s just some confirmation bias from the Internet amid a rap battle, which has made anything related to either artist fall under a much more scrutinized context. Maybe that’s a narrative that this Keinemusik collab can combat. Just sit back, soak in the sun, and enjoy the music without thinking of much else…
Regardless of what Drake does in the rest of the year, we’re sure that his next big moves will be a huge contrast from his beef exploits, as they already have been so far. This Keinemusik preview just adds fuel to that fire, and no matter what OVO fans convert to pgLang’s side, it’s going to captivate millions if it drops. We’ll see what the post-battle strategy holds in the near future, and we look forward to more summer vibes. After all, we like him with the melodies.
Drake is throwing his hat into the “song of the summer for 2024” ring twice with two nominations, this time being his collabs on the new Camila Cabello album C,XOXO. Moreover, “HOT UPTOWN” and his solo “Uugly” interlude have a lot of fans online singing its praises for their catchy refrains, breezy and atmospheric instrumentation, and for his vocal delivery and melodic dominion. Of course, not everyone’s on board, but what did you expect for a Toronto superstar who just emerged from one of the most monumental rap beefs in recent memory? Regardless on where you fall with these new tracks, it’s clear that they will probably make a massive cultural push when it comes to the rotation.
Also, there have been plenty of memes and comical assessments to come out of these fan reactions, a train that was already chugging for a while. For example, the 6ix God recently posted a picture with a hookah hose that elicited a lot of clowning from haters, as some of his social media content tends to land. He probably doesn’t mind all the engagement, as he’s had much worse content out about him when it comes to jokes at his expense. “Drake the type” humor ran its course with more vitriol than most memes elicit.
Jokes aside, there are rumors that Aubrey Graham will drop something else very soon, although they are purely speculative. Some fans are convinced that he will release another diss track against Kendrick Lamar around the release of K.Dot’s “Not Like Us” music video, which could arrive any day now. While many want the battlefield to reopen, others think that this wouldn’t do either MC any favors. At least we have these new Camila Cabello tracks to keep things light, fun, and sunny, for which you can find more reactions to down below.
Fans React To New Drizzy Tracks
Camila Cabello and Drake walking out the studio after making “Hot Uptown”
This song will chart on billboard and peak in that 50-80s and quickly be forgotten. The song isn’t bad but it’s typical and by 2 artists nobody likes right now. Drake labeled a pedophile, camila cabello labeled a racist. https://t.co/vhstT8v6Ny
As folks continue to debate the legendary rap feud, Drake is moving on in his own way, putting out some infectious songwriting and making hits as he does best. Kendrick Lamar is on a different path for his community, and the most likely scenario is that they both want to build off of their hype, not backtrack to it. Whether or not they succeed in this regard remains a mystery. But it’s one we’ll happily continue to solve.
And for his next trick, after turning J. Cole into a horny mess on Cash Cobain’s “Grippy,” Kendrick Lamar will turn this Toronto superstar from “Mob Ties” to small fries. At least, that’s what a lot of fans think about these new features from the Compton creative’s rivals, especially Drake’s recent remix of “Wah Gwan Delilah” by the 6ix’s hot new Internet personality, Snowd4y. People are clowning the “Hey There Delilah” cover endlessly online, and while we completely understand why given the context of the rap beef, we also don’t think it’s as bad as some might say.
After all, this is far from Drake’s first foray into putting on local Toronto culture in a cheeky way, and far from his first “bad” song. Remember when he included “Ratchet Happy Birthday” on 2018’s Scorpion right after losing to Pusha T? Well, this kind of invokes that dissonance, but in a way that’s much more on the nose and impossible to ignore. As for what The Boy’s future holds in the short and long term, we can only guess at what shifts and switch-ups will happen next or when he will return to straight-up bars. But right now, we can assess that “Wah Gwan Delilah” doesn’t deserve your ire: just a chuckle before you move on to something else.
It’s Still A Cover
You’re telling me that, meme status or not, “Hey There Delilah” by The Plain White T’s isn’t one of the most recognizable and beloved cheesy 2000s hits? At least the catchiness is still there, and Snowd4y even plays with it by fitting a comically long list of Canadian financial institutions to scam in one of the chorus melodies. Drake is a master of the earworm, and this song provides a killer set of tunes for him to show off with. For some, maybe the fact that this is a cover and not an original song about Toronto is what makes it so corny and cringe; after all, the T’s are from Illinois. But if it was an original song, people might not have been able to see it for what it is: just a fun meme song that, more likely than not, only the 6ix will understand.
Lol kev don’t listen to anyone it a parody jokey joke song and everyone from Toronto been on it for a while now plus this is the first time in a long time Toronto love drake since sweeterman pic.twitter.com/iiPlFBJcZO
— morally guided dickhead (@skyhighsunny) June 4, 2024
Toronto is not like us, and that’s totally fine. In fact, it’s cool to see the city get a huge, overt, albeit comically exaggerated ode to the city and its culture, and if you disagree, think of all the cornball traditions that you’re so proud of your hometown for. What makes “Wah Gwan Delilah” carry particular weight (in both the positive and negative sense) is that it came out a month after Kendrick Lamar made fun of the 6ix and its slang and accents on “Euphoria” and then repped his origins with a West Coast banger. If nothing else, Drake’s decision to stick to Toronto this time around (or to his close collaborator Sexyy Red) seems impossible to interpret as anything other than him reclaiming this narrative. However, while he’s embracing his identity, hopefully, this parody-bordering auto-crooning isn’t all he does to present this to the world these days.
Drake’s Timing
These are the “summer vibes” Drake was talking about when the Kendrick Lamar beef ended… at least, presumably. As we mentioned before, “Wah Gwan Delilah” and the “BBL Drizzy”-sampling “U My Everything” feature for Sexyy Red see him really lean into the negative perception around him that tracks like “Euphoria” propelled to the forefront of conversation. If Drizzy can’t out-rap you, he’ll definitely try to out-moment you or go viral to get himself back to his usual path. But this release right after the beef cleanses the palate, reminds us of his poppier side, and oddly enough, sets up his eventual return to rap. We know that Aubrey will get back to subliminal disses and hard barwork eventually, but he thrives off of the push and pull of his duality. He’ll make you dance and wave your hand, threaten you, and dance again to make you forget.
Drake features on a troll song for the city of toronto to purely have fun and be part of the meme, since no one more toronto (world wide) than him, and everyone hating it. This is EXACTLY how I was hoping he’d move
Be it mockingly or genuinely, there’s something pretty funny about Drake’s bars, the autotune on both performances, and the raw plainness and simplicity of the cover. If you think this was at all a serious effort, just go look at his IG Story. The 37-year-old raps about being cheesed over a girl’s ‘Gram and going on double dates with his friend in a shiesty… come on. Snowd4y himself is also unsurprisingly gut-busting here, even if you might be laughing at his vocals more than you might be laughing at his lyrics. There’s an inherent meme quality to covering “Hey There Delilah” in this fashion and attaching someone as big as Drake to it, and we can’t deny that it’s entertaining. Can’t we let the 6ix God have some unserious fun, or at least joke about literally anything that isn’t serious culture vultures and grooming allegations?
Drake may not be going hard on “Wah Gwan Delilah” or trying to best himself, but it’s a crime how good he can sound without breaking a sweat. Say what you will about his technical performance and vocal effects, but you can’t deny that he has one of the most distinct and recognizable voices in popular music that takes up a lot of space whenever it appears. The “Virginia Beach” artist is a rare instance of a tone and delivery that works so well across most things that you throw at it, especially with melodies as infectious as those on “Hey There Delilah.” But the sad reality is that it feels like he wants to test these limits and see just how far fans will go for it. This is just the latest of many examples in which these experiments resulted in a bad song… but not a terrible moment.
! (@_cert1fiedtee) 
