Put me on aux

Drake built an entire mythology around this album. Ice sculptures in downtown Toronto. Four livestream episodes. A Marvel collab. Months of buildup. Then May 15th came, and “ICEMAN” dropped and it was fine. Which, for Drake in 2026, is basically the worst thing it could be.

He did not just drop one album either. He dropped three, “ICEMAN,” “MAID OF HONOUR” and “HABIBTI,” all at once, totaling 43 songs. And after sitting with all of them, here is my honest take: “ICEMAN” is the best of the three. I wish that felt like a compliment. It does not. Because being the best Drake album out of this drop is like being the top house of the bottom houses — you are still “bouse.” 

Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up. “HABIBTI” is a b-side for b-sides. That is not a diss, that is just a description. It is bland, it is lazy and it is so forgettable that by the time the last track ends you genuinely cannot remember how it started. 

There is no moment on that album that grabs you. No song that makes you think Drake was even fully present when he made it. It sounds like music that was created because it existed, not because it needed to.

Then there is “MAID OF HONOUR,” which would be a step up if it were not for track four: “Cheetah Print.” That track is something else entirely … and not in a good way. The beat is bad, the lyrics are shallow and there is no creativity or artistry anywhere to be found. It sounds like someone took a handful of horrible ideas and hit play. It is the kind of song that makes you genuinely question the decision making in the studio that day. 

Who heard that and said yes? Who approved it? “MAID OF HONOUR” has its moments, but that song alone drags the whole project down.

Which brings us to “ICEMAN” — the best of the three. The release came after Drake tried to reassert his supremacy after criticism that his recent solo work wasn’t on the same level as some of his earlier tracks like “Take Care,” “Nice for What” and “Jimmy Cooks.”

Fans were not just casually waiting for new music; they wanted Drake to say something. To prove something. After everything that happened with Kendrick Lamar, after the internet spent a year writing his obituary, “ICEMAN” was supposed to be the moment he walked back in and reminded everyone why he ran this for a decade. Instead it sounds like a man who is comfortable. And comfort is killing greatness. 

There are decent songs buried in here, do not get it twisted. “Make Them Remember” and “National Treasures” are two of the best songs from “ICEMAN,” with more complex lyric schemes and catchy flows. Moments like that remind you there’s still some hope. But those flashes are too spread out and not strong enough to make up for the rest. And for every one song that you can rock with, there are five that make you check how much time is left. 

The rollout deserved a better album. Fans were literally hacking at the ice sculpture with pickaxes and hammers and lighting it on fire just to find the hidden release date. That is real devotion. That energy deserved to be matched. It was not. 

Here is what gets me. Drake has always been an era artist. “Take Care” sounded like 2011. “Views” sounded like Toronto summers. Every project had a feeling, a mood, a moment it was speaking to. 

What does “ICEMAN” feel like? It feels like Drake making Drake music because that is what Drizzy does. There is no hunger on this album. No desperation. No fire. For someone who just spent a year getting dragged across the internet, you would expect the music to reflect something. Instead it is polished and completely safe.

The features alone should have elevated things — Future, 21 Savage, Sexyy Red, Central Cee, Popcaan and PARTYNEXTDOOR all show up across the three projects. On paper, that is a stacked lineup. In practice, even those collabs feel like they are running on autopilot. When Future and Drake link up and it still does not move you, that is telling you something loud. 

Drake still became Spotify’s most-streamed artist in a single day of 2026 off the back of this drop, so the numbers will always protect him. The streams will rack up, the discourse will keep going and his fans will convince themselves this was the comeback they were waiting for. But numbers are not the same as impact. And right now, this entire trilogy, “ICEMAN” included, is impact-free. 

The best of a bad batch is still a bad batch. “ICEMAN” is Drake at cruise control, talented enough that cruise control still sounds decent, but not nearly enough for what this moment called for. He built the biggest rollout of 2026 and delivered something you forget by the time the next song comes on.

Drake built an ice sculpture, did the livestreams, dropped the merch and gave us 43 songs. He just forgot to make any of it matter.

Siobhan believes the only thing cooked here is Drake’s judgment.