, even.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe issue, however, lies with the two additional albums that were dropped this morning \u2013 slow, RnB project <\/span>HABIBTI<\/span><\/em> and its clubbier counterpart <\/span>MAID OF HONOUR<\/span><\/em> \u2013 which are essentially bonus mixtapes that no one wanted, skittering between the full spectrum of rap sonics without any discernible through-line. Between Popcaan-style deconstructed dancehall (\u201cAmazing Shape feat. Popcaan\u201d), thumping Jersey club (\u201cTrue Bestie feat. Iconic Savvy\u201d), watered-down footwork (\u201cOutside Tweaking feat. Stunna Sandy\u201d), Atlanta rage rap (\u201cRan To Atlanta feat. Future and Molly Santana\u201d) and beyond, Drake really seems to be saying, \u2018I am a culture vulture, and what?\u2019 At least he knows his strengths.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIndeed, it\u2019s worth pointing out that Drake essentially owns everything Kendrick said about him back in rap\u2019s civil war of 2024. \u201cRan to Atlanta\u201d is a direct quote from one of \u201cNot Like Us\u201d\u2019s lyrics, and, as for the darker allegations, <\/span>ICEMAN<\/span><\/em>\u2019s album artwork is a direct reference to Michael Jackson\u2019s infamous sequinned glove (he really isn\u2019t helping his case, is he?). Drake\u2019s strategy here is essentially to plead \u201cguilty, your honour!\u201d \u2013 and what\u2019s truly remarkable is that it sort of works. <\/span>ICEMAN<\/span><\/em>, <\/span>HABIBTI<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>MAID OF HONOUR <\/span><\/em>are, if nothing else, marketing master-classes, crowning a substantial promo campaign with a triple album drop that no one saw coming. Be it out of spite, admiration or curiosity, Drake\u2019s got the whole world listening this morning, and he already looks set to become the first artist in history to have three albums charting on the Billboard 100 simultaneously. He might have lost the rap battle, but he is winning some kind of war.<\/span><\/p>\nBelow, we did the dirty work of listening to all 41 of the new Drake tracks to find the five songs worth listening to (spoilers: nothing on <\/span>HABIBTI<\/span><\/em> made the cut).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I\u2019m not sure if \u201cHoe Phase\u201d is one of the <\/span>best<\/span><\/em> songs across Drake\u2019s three-album dump, but for me it stands out as the most purely enjoyable, particularly when so much of the wider project is slow or mid-tempo (it gets a little dirge-like after a while). A slice of poppy, high-energy hip hop, it makes me feel like I\u2019m Amy Schumer doing a comedic striptease in a 2015 rom-com, or a fresher downing a blue WKD at Loughborough University\u2019s student union bar. I mean that as a compliment. Even the title is so millennial-coded it\u2019s kind of charmingly retro in 2026 \u2013 this is from the man who popularised \u201cYOLO\u201d, after all. (For a similar vibe, see also the upbeat, synth-driven \u201cRoad Trips\u201d).<\/span> (JG)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Drake, Canada\u2019s answer to Morrissey, has always had a tendency towards the maudlin and embittered, and this has arguably become more pronounced in recent years. But like \u201cHoe Phase\u201d, \u201cTrue Bestie\u201d reminds us that, when he\u2019s not railing against his enemies or complaining about being successful, he\u2019s still capable of having a laugh from time to time. Opening with swooning, disco-like strings and powered by an insistent Jersey-club beat, it\u2019s the most dancefloor-friendly he\u2019s sounded since <\/span>Honestly, Nevermind<\/span><\/em>. One thing you can say in Drake\u2019s favour: he has always been very good at working with up-and-coming, underground talent, and Iconic Savvy\u2019s feature lends \u201cTrue Bestie\u201d an explosive energy. If \u201cHoe Phase\u201d conjures the thrilling atmosphere of a Wetherspoons that turns into a club in a mid-sized market town, this feels like a queer party at 3am. (JG)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
This is the very moment that Drake enters into his plea deal regarding 2024\u2019s culture vulture allegations. Set to a heady rage beat full of distorted melodies, neon-lit synths and devilish 808s, it\u2019s the kind of turbo-powered rap cut that conjures up images of supercars doing donuts. Sure, it confirms everything Kendrick said in 2024\u2019s \u201cNot Like Us\u201d \u2013 namely, that Drake copies genres pioneered by Atlanta rappers when he wants to cut a cheque \u2013 but it\u2019s still huge. Anyways, trap paragon Future and rising west coast star Molly Santana are the real stars here, delivering the exact sort of over-produced vocals that such a maximalist beat deserves. <\/span>(SPM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
In three albums full of incredible production, \u201cNational Treasures\u201d shines as one of the best. The latter half of the track is produced by the secret star of EsDeeKid\u2019s <\/span>Rebel <\/span><\/em>album last year: Wraith9, who is heralded by his now-iconic \u201cOK\u201d sample. Surprisingly, it\u2019s a far cry from his previous Drain Gang-adjacent work, instead settling into a vibrant hip-hop groove over which Drake delivers an unbroken stream of flex-moan bars \u2013 we can already see the NBA 2K compilations set to this one. It might not be the fakemink feature everyone was expecting (maybe that will arrive on mink\u2019s own album next week?), but it\u2019s one of the better surprises we got this morning. (<\/span>SPM<\/span><\/em>)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
With its irrevocably west coast production courtesy of Bay Area legend P-Lo, as well as a dig at producer DJ Mustard (\u201c<\/span>Mustard heard about us, gotta catch up to the slaps \/ You ain’t had one since me and YG rapped<\/span><\/em>\u201d), \u201c2 Hard 4 The Radio\u201d is essentially Drake\u2019s response to \u201cNot Like Us\u201d, but I regret to inform you that it still bangs. As we said, it\u2019s summer singalong jet-fuel: incredibly danceable, wonderfully vacuous, and that beat-switch halfway through is undeniably explosive. This is truly the best that today\u2019s drop(s) have to offer, but it still probably doesn\u2019t come close to the stratospheric peaks of \u201cNot Like Us\u201d. We\u2019ll let you make of that what you will. (<\/span>SPM<\/span><\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n