ICEMAN

ICEMAN is Drake’s ninth full-length studio album, which was released on May 15, 2026, alongside HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR. It’s the follow-up to his October 2023 studio solo album, For All The Dogs, and his PARTYNEXTDOOR collaborative album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, which was released in February 2025.

In the spring of 2024, Drake and Compton native Kendrick Lamar engaged in an intense high-profile beef, following a decade of the two taking subliminal shots at each other. Drake released numerous diss tracks during the height of the beef, such as “Push Ups” and “Family Matters,” but many hip-hop fans came to a consensus that Kendrick had won handily through his responses. This sentiment was cemented when Kendrick’s diss track, “Not Like Us”—in which he accused Drake of pedophilia and cultural appropriation—dominated the Billboard charts and became the anthem of the summer, winning five Grammy Awards also in the process. The aftermath of the beef saw Drake’s public reputation in the hip-hop community take a hit by his peers and critics alike. This would lay the groundwork for his comeback on ICEMAN.

In August 2024, shortly after the release of his EP, 100 GIGS, Drake began teasing the album’s title by posting images of Formula One racer Kimi Räikkönen and Top Gun actor Val Kilmer. Kimi’s nickname in Formula One is “the Iceman” due to his ice-cool attitude, and Val’s role in Top Gun is a character nicknamed “Iceman,” leading to rumors that the album would be titled ICEMAN. Furthermore, on August 25, Drake posted a picture of a folder of songs, with the folder being titled “2.0 – ICEMAN”.

On May 23, 2025, Drake posted several photos on his main Instagram account (@champagnepapi), along with the caption “I C E M A N,” seemingly confirming the title of his new album.

On July 4, 2025, Drake hosted a YouTube livestream, which was titled “Iceman Episode 1.” He previewed two new songs and the following day, released “What Did I Miss?”. Twenty days later, on July 24, 2025, Drake hosted episode two of his ICEMAN series, where he previewed his collaboration with Central Cee, “Which One,” and released it a few hours later. On September 4, 2025, he hosted episode three where he previewed his Julia Wolf and Yeat collaboration, “DOG HOUSE,” and released it five days later on September 9th.

In March 2026, Drake continued to tease the album through multiple IG posts, with one of them notably saying:

This comeback is personal, it’s an apology to myself

That same month, on the 26th, tvgucci, Kai Cenat, Johnny Manziel, and Compton rapper The Game—all affiliates of Drake—changed their profile pictures to a picture of a diamond. tvgucci posted it with the caption, “ICEMAN!!! Freeze the world.”

On April 12, 2026, the Toronto Raptors posted a video of Drake’s courtside seats at Scotiabank Arena—being that he’s the team’s ambassador—during the team’s season finale against the Brooklyn Nets. The seats appeared to be frozen over with ice and bedazzled with icicles, continuing Drake’s tease of ICEMAN’s imminent drop. The seats would be frozen over again at the Raptors' playoff game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 23, 2026.

On April 17, 2026, a planned explosion was set off near Toronto’s Downsview Airport. The event scared many nearby residents, causing the management of Downsview Park to apologize for the inconvenience. Drake reposted footage of the blast, labelling it as “PROJECT BOT,“ likely as part of a music video production.

On April 19, 2026, Drake posted a cryptic screenshot to his Instagram Story showing a blue object sealed in a block of ice with a text message reading, “Its in.”

The following day, on April 20, Drake posted Google Maps coordinates on his Instagram Story that led to a parking lot near the Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu restaurant and St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in downtown Toronto. At the location, a massive pyramid made out of ice blocks can be seen. On his Instagram story, Drake also noted that the album’s release date is “inside.” This prompted fans and content creators to go to the location and attack the ice with hammers and blow torches, with the hopes of getting the release date from inside themselves.

The next day, on the 21st, a popular streamer named Kishka was seen pulling a bag from the top of the ice structure. Afterwards, he drove to Drake’s Toronto mansion and opened the bag outside the property on his livestream, in which he discovered a book of ICEMAN concept art. Tucked inside was a piece of paper that confirmed the highly anticipated release date: “ICEMAN MAY 15.” Kishka was later awarded $100,000 by Drake’s team.

Among the ICEMAN concept arts were drawings of Pinocchio. This visual motif ties directly back to the ICEMAN: Episode 2 livestream and the specific music videos released alongside it, which depicted Drake being chased by a Pinocchio figure through the streets of Manchester before escaping at Piccadilly station.