Drake appears at the Billboard Music Awards n Los Angeles on May 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Drake has returned as the “Iceman.” And the stakes couldn’t be higher.
His ninth studio album — and his first since his extravagant loss in a very public feud with Kendrick Lamar — arrives Friday.
The beef between two of hip-hop’s biggest stars erupted in the spring of 2024, with the pair trading a series of vitriolic tracks that culminated with Lamar’s release of “Not Like Us.” The hit song was a direct attack on Drake, spurring Drake’s defamation lawsuit against their shared label that was dismissed. Drake’s appeal of the dismissal is pending, but in hip-hop spaces, Lamar’s victory over Drake is undisputed.
The Canadian rapper is at a crossroads. He’s still one of the most popular artists on the planet, and a successful entrepreneur with businesses spanning music, fashion, sports, online gambling and beyond. But he hasn’t had a smash single in a few years.
