Drake has been quite busy this year — from releasing two albums and racking up a slew of nominations to eclipsing other commercial juggernauts like Eminem and breaking the Beatles’ record for most top-five singles. The Canadian hitmaker has cemented his cultural footprint with a career that spans nearly a decade.
By collaborating with the hottest artists out right now, like Jack Harlow and Tems, the rapper consistently finds ways to stay relevant and atop the Billboard charts. Drake always finds himself at the center of cultural conversations, whether it’s a new hair change or sparking debates about misogyny in rap. Here are some of the biggest moments from Drake in 2022.
With his seventh studio album, Honestly, Nevermind, Drake transports fans into an electronic dance fever dream. With cascading beats and the rapper’s notoriously emo lines, the album will have you pumping your fist in the air in one moment and crying in the next. The album also caused a significant debate about the roots of house music, where fans claimed that Drake was “reclaiming” the Black art form.
The album represents a full-circle moment for the pop star, who has slowly been edging toward more dance-themed hits like 2016’s “One Dance.”
The hitmaker has been racking up record-breaking awards all year, but this might be the biggest. The rapper has now eclipsed the Beatles for the most top-five singles ever. “Staying Alive” by DJ Khaled and featuring both Drake and Lil Baby helped the “Sticky” rapper claim his 30th top-five song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
But it doesn’t stop there: The rapper has also become the highest-selling artist in RIAA history, surpassing Eminem.
After releasing a collaborative project with Future in 2016, What A Time to Be Alive, fans were eager to know when the rapper would do another collab and, more importantly, with who. Following the release of Honestly, Nevermind this past summer, the rapper teamed up with 21 Savage for his next project, Her Loss.
Along with topping the charts, the album caused quite a bit of controversy. Drake found himself in hot water with Megan Thee Stallion fans after allegedly dissing her on one of the album’s tracks, “Circo Loco.” Vogue also sued the rapper and 21 Savage for using a fake cover during the rollout of their album.
In June, Drake released Honestly, Nevermind as a surprise, and it received a wide range of reactions. Now he’s unveiling the music video for the track “Sticky.”
Directed by Theo Skudra, the video opens with a massive crowd hyping up Drake as he walks onto the stage. It then follows him in cars, parking lots, airports, clubs, and even on boats. The words “Free YSL” appear across the screen for a brief moment, referring to the ongoing racketeering case against Gunna’s label that has Gunna, Young Thug, and 28 other members hit with several federal charges.
Shortly after unleashing the LP, the rapper mentioned on a radio show that he has lots more projects that will be arriving soon. “Me and Kenzo have a book coming out this year. Yeah, we have a book coming out this year, a poetry book. So I hope you guys tune into that, too, because that’s going to be some sh*t.” He added, “I got another Scary Hours pack coming, too, in a little bit. Maybe not, like [laughs]… maybe not right now; I need you to just take this [Honestly, Nevermind] in right now. But I have a Scary Hours, I’m gonna slap some head tops off with a Scary Hours pack.”
Watch the video for “Sticky” above.
When Drake dropped his latest album, Honestly, Nevermind, more than a few of his longtime fans were thrown by what they (incorrectly) identified as “mall music.” But maybe the thing missing for those fans was the proper context — something fans got in when The Boy himself popped out during his collaborator Black Coffee’s concert in Ibiza, Spain to perform some selections from the controversial album. Black Coffee posted a few videos to his social media of Drake surprising fans mid-set, and let’s just say that those songs definitely work better in this context.
In one, Drake can be seen rubbing shoulders in the crowd, grooving to the infectious four-on-the-floor beats from “A Keeper,” while in the other, Drake joins Black Coffee on stage as “Massive” — one of the near-consensus faves from the new album — inspires some two-stepping (although many of the fans have their phones out to capture the moment the two stars embrace).
If you reading this…..honestly….never mind
pic.twitter.com/Dzh4TBhsPx
— Black Coffee (@RealBlackCoffee) July 17, 2022
Brother came through to show love……honestly,never mind.
— Black Coffee (@RealBlackCoffee) July 17, 2022
Drake has had something of an eventful week in Europe outside of music as well. On Friday, rumors circulated online that Drake had been arrested by Swedish authorities, with “Free Drake” trending on Twitter. And while that rumor was initially shot down, Drake himself did appear to confirm that he was at least temporarily detained, sharing a photo of a document from the Swedish National Police Board.
Back in mid-May, Denzel Curry stirred the pot by expressing his disappointment in Drake’s Certified Lover Boy and Kanye West’s Donda, tweeting, “Donda and CLB could’ve been better yall n****s rich and got the greatest musicians at your disposal.” Not only is Curry not backing down on that take, but in a new Spin interview, he actually doubled down by going into more detail about what he meant.
Citing Take Care and If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late as example of the sort of Drake level of quality he hopes for with a new album, Curry said:
“I was looking forward to Drake’s album, ’cause Drake always got something. But then, when you get them albums, you’re like, ‘What the f*ck are you doing?’ […] We don’t even really need to talk about Kanye West, it’s Kanye West. But for them to go out and go against each other and make that subpar work with the resources they have. These are the same producers it’s hard for me to reach out to because they don’t see the return. You’ve got all these resources and y’all made subpar albums. I had limited resources and I made a great one. That shouldn’t happen.”
Read the full feature here.
