Is Drake really HIM? A review of ‘HABIBTI’, ‘ICEMAN’, and ‘MAID OF HONOUR’

Releasing three albums in one go is certainly no small feat, but Drake certainly seems to have prioritised quantity over quality with his new trio, leading to speculation that the Canadian rapper was trying to fulfil his record label obligations quickly. Whether or not this is true, his strategy definitely appears to focus on an attempt to dominate the Billboard charts and to maximise streaming numbers, especially since there is a diverse range of sounds. ICEMAN focuses more on rap and some hip-hop, whilst HABIBTI appears to be inspired by R&B, and MAID OF HONOUR leans a bit more towards dance music.

This marks Drake’s first album drop since 2023, and his first since the Drake vs Kendrick beef in 2024

Only Drake would compare himself to Michael Jackson with confidence, posting an edited picture of the legend with an ‘icy’ filter. This followed rumours that Drake was intentionally trying to beat Jackson’s chart numbers. Drake may be many things, but I think we can all agree that the ‘Michael Jackson of our generation’ is not one of them.

This marks Drake’s first album drop since 2023, and his first since the Drake vs Kendrick beef in 2024. There are some targeted lyrics, such as “Handin’ out turkeys on camera inside of your hood / Then you go back to the hills” (‘Janice STFU’), suggesting that Lamar’s charitable acts in his hometown Compton, are only for show, before he returns to his glamorous daily life.

LeBron James and Drake have been known to be extremely close friends, with Drake having a tattoo of James as a permanent reminder of their relationship. This tattoo has since been covered up, Drake calling out the basketballer in this new album release for when he was seen attending a Lamar concert and dancing to the diss track ‘Not Like Us’ during the 2024 controversy. Drake even criticised DJ Khaled’s silence regarding the war in Gaza on one track, considering that the producer and rapper has Palestinian heritage.

‘Janice STFU’ is definitely catchy, with Drake proving – once again – that he has a talent for sampling, featuring ‘I Follow Rivers’ in the track

The biggest disappointment of this album for me was that ‘Blue Green Red’ wasn’t rereleased, after it got pulled from streaming platforms towards the end of 2024 due to issues regarding sampling credits. Drake did rerelease ‘Which One’ with Central Cee, which is obviously still a banger.

‘Goose and The Juice’ sounds a fair bit like old Drake, but I think ‘Janice STFU’ might be my second favourite song out of all three albums. It’s definitely catchy, with Drake proving – once again – that he has a talent for sampling, featuring ‘I Follow Rivers’ by Swedish singer Lykke Li in the track.

My favourite across all three albums has to be ‘Amazing Shape’. It features Popcaan, earning the Jamaican dancehall artist his first Billboard Hot 100 entry of his career. Popcaan’s vocals were featured on Drake’s 2016 album Views in his song ‘Controlla’ (which has to be one of the most classic summer songs of this generation), as well as in a couple of collaborations since.

People online have ridiculed some of Drake’s lyrics, including in the song ‘Fortworth’, featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR, when he says: “The AC is broken, my hotel, it’s hot as hell / Running out of sodas, I might walk to Circle K by myself”. Maybe releasing 43 songs at once wasn’t the best move in terms of lyricism. Who knew!

The main takeaway from this triple release is that Drake needs to chill with the Kendrick-like beat switches and focus instead on minimising the poor storytelling

‘Princess’ sounds like a slightly-off version of a Childish Gambino song at times (no hate to Childish Gambino, who is also one of my top five artists). Its use on TikTok in the trend ‘I found my princess lying in the bathroom’ is no doubt boosting its numbers. ‘Shabang’ has also taken off online somewhat, featuring adlibs from Quavo and the late Takeoff, both from the Migos trio.

Overall, there are a few bangers, and ‘Stuck’ seems to be growing on me as well, although it hasn’t quite made it onto any of my playlists yet. As with all Drake releases, the music normally needs a minute to marinate before people can appreciate it. However, my main takeaway from this triple release is that Drake needs to chill with the Kendrick-like beat switches every two seconds and focus instead on minimising the noise and poor storytelling. Bring back the Drake who released Take Care and Care Package.

Recommended Listening: ‘Amazing Shape’ (feat. Popcaan)

★★

Listen to Drake’s new work here: