Drake has fans questioning whether releasing three projects at once is part of a bigger strategy to wrap up his label deal.
One lyric that quickly caught attention from the flood of new music came on “Make Them Pay,” the same track where Drake appeared to call out DJ Khaled. Near the end of the song, Drake raps, “I’m better off independent, they should let him leave, yeah / ‘Cause I just wanna be free.”
Naturally, those lyrics, combined with several other standout bars — including lines from fellow Iceman tracks “Janice STFU” and “B’s on the Table” — quickly sparked speculation among fans about Drake’s ongoing legal battle with UMG, also known as Universal Music Group, the parent company behind Republic Records and several other labels.
On “Janice STFU,” Drake raps, “Swear my label gotta free me, baby.”
Meanwhile, on “B’s on the Table” featuring 21 Savage, Drake says he’s “fightin’ the man, not suin’ the rapper,” which many listeners took as a direct reference to Kendrick Lamar.
All three of Drake’s new projects — Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honour — are listed on Apple Music as releases from OVO “under exclusive license to Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.”
While there has been no official confirmation or denial regarding Drake’s future with the label, fans quickly began connecting the dots following Friday’s surprise triple release.
Many also pointed to a similar situation involving Frank Ocean back in 2016. At the time, fans speculated that Frank fulfilled his Def Jam contract with Endless before independently releasing the critically acclaimed Blonde just one day later. However, an Associated Press source later added more context that complicated those theories.
