Drake returned with a trilogy of albums, the most notable of which being “Iceman.” Releasing on May 15th 2026, this is Drake’s first project since his historic beef with Kendrick Lamar in 2024, which ended in Lamar torching Drake’s reputation so badly that it felt like we were rewitnessing the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake with Drake’s stature being lost in the rubble Ultimately for Drake, “Iceman” was a comeback that came up shorter than Lamar’s height.
In Drake’s song “Make Them Remember,” he repeatedly takes shots at Lamar by comparing his height to that of Muggsy Bogues. However, these shots airball, as he’s made references to Lamar’s height not once, not twice, but in three separate songs.
Drake needs to learn that just because the first punch lands, it doesn’t mean the next one will, because at some point, the material starts to sound repetitive. It seems like Drake ran out of moves so he’s resorting to the one response he has in his arsenal. Not only is his material recycled, but the song and the beat are blander than pasta without the sauce.
Furthermore, Drake tries to downplay the strain that Lamar’s 2024 diss track “Not like Us” put on his career. In “Make Them Remember,” he raps, “All you really did was cap like uppercase.” While this is a decent jab at Lamar, it came two years too late.
The damage has already been done: “Not Like Us” became a cultural phenomenon, earning almost 2 billion streams on Spotify alone, racking up five Grammys, and even a performance at the biggest of stages, the Super Bowl. Needless to say, no matter what diss Drake has under his sleeve, it’s far too late to reduce the damage “Not Like Us” caused.
Lamar isn’t the only target on “Iceman,” either. Drake also dissed LeBron James for his lack of loyalty during the beef, stating that James attended a Lamar concert at the height of the dispute. In “Make Them Remember,” Drake references James’ NBA career, saying, “I shouldn’t even be shocked to see you in that arena because you’ve made your career off switching teams.”
This is about as hard of a verse as they come. However, it feels hypocritical coming from Drake, who himself showed no loyalty to rapper DJ Khaled.
Dos Pueblos High School student Townes Widger (11) shared his displeasure with the diss tracks on “Iceman.”
“I feel like dissing LeBron was super immature,” Widger said. “For the Kendrick diss, it feels like Drake is dragging the beef on much longer than he needs too. He clearly lost and that should have been the end of it.”
The rest of the album, for the most part, lacks any flavor. Drake’s song “Firm Friends” sounds like a Wish.com version of Drake’s 2023 single “8am in Charlotte.” It’s not a bad song, but it leaves a lot to be desired because when a new album comes out, new material is expected.
That being said, the album wasn’t all bad.
The song “What Did I Miss?” was a masterpiece from start to finish. It elevates what was otherwise a very dormant album into something that has a bit of flavor to it. The transition in the middle of the song had me as hype as when I listened to “Sicko Mode” by Travis Scott for the first time. It’s beat switches like this that really get the adrenaline pumping and make albums special.
Lastly, Drake deserves credit where it’s due. His iceblock marketing stunt in Toronto was nothing short of genius. The spectacle generated huge online buzz about the album in the lead-up to its release, as people showed up with anything from sledgehammers, to pickaxes, and even blowtorches in order to destroy the ice block and get the release date for the album.
However it should be a telltale sign that an album isn’t good when the marketing gets more praise than the album itself.
“Nothing felt special about the album, but there were some really cool beat switches in the songs,” Widger said.
All in all, from the blandness and lack of creativity, to the constant flat disses riddled throughout, “Iceman” feels more like Drake’s revenge tour than an inventive album, earning it a 4 out of 10 rating from me.
