Above you, Below Zero

Let’s talk about Iceman, the ninth studio album from pop icon Aubrey Drake Graham — known to most simply as Drake.

Intro: The 17 Year Habit

Drake has made it a habit of creating hits across multiple genres, making people from all walks of life happy with at least one of his songs. From newer classics like Nokia [$ome $exy $ongs 4 U •PARTYNEXTDOOR & DRAKE 2025] to everyone’s (Or at least my) favoriteGoldie Over [Thank Me Later • Drake 2010], everyone has a favorite Drake song from his 17 year career in the spotlight and iceman serves as a great addition to his catalogue.

Arrêt: A quick Diversion

Before talking directly about iceman, I have a quick point to make. Going into this album, I thought of myself as the opposite of a fan of Drake. I wouldn’t say that I was a direct hater but also wouldn’t fiend for the newest project from Drake.

After my Apple Music replay clocked my runtime of iceman at 2,003 minutes, I had to stop and say “What are we doing?”.

I went back and looked back through the years at his projects to gauge my overall listening to his projects and noticed that the only one that I have missed listening to the entire project were the Joint projects *Projects where Drake collaborated with other artists.*

You can’t really say that you aren’t a fan of someone when you have not missed a single album from an artist.

A quick reminder to you, the reader:

• Take a moment to reevaluate your relationship with your favorite entertainment.
• Go consume something you previously claimed not to favor.
• Check your biases.
• You might just find your new Album of the Year, too.

Aller: Drakes Isolated brilliance

While Drake has made a sensation as the “Hitboy”, recent conflicts with other industry professionals coming into this album have placed Drake in a sensitive position with seemingly little to no industry support.

As Drake said, At a time where many expected a list of big features [Make them Cry • 1.50 • Drake 2026] from his supporter’s to combat All of the Drama, he released an album with just him and features from artists like 21 Savage [B’s on the Table • Drake 2026] Drakecarefully threaded into the beat almost like adlibs, minus Ran To Atlanta with two prominent features from Future & Molly Santana [Ran to Atlanta by Drake].

With this, I would love to talk a bit more about my potential Album of the Year, Iceman by Aubrey Drake Graham.

ICEMAN: Colder Sentiments

Drake being an artist at heart has brought us some exceptional openings to his albums. Songs like Survival [Scorpion • Drake 2018] and Legend [If you’re reading this it’s too late • Drake 2015] clearly paint a vivid picture of the sound and place in life that the popstar currently sits.

Make them Cry on Iceman is no exception, and expands well on the auteuristic visions of Drake.

Most may have anticipated similar sentiments as direct as they were during his back and forth songs with Artist Kendrick Lamar.

Drake chose the time to slow down, make Drake take a backseat, and focus on Aubrey for any burning ears.

The beginning

Make Them Cry is a mirror of what Iceman means to Drake. Iceman is not for the casual listeners who stumble upon a Drake hit on the radio or on autoplay, Iceman is an album for Drake Fans. Iceman is an album describing the colder sentiment of Drake.

Iceman is the album that describes what it means to be an Iceman. The quick turnaround from Make them Cry to Dust and Whisper my name shows the ruthless efficiency and what it means to be an Iceman in full effect.

Drake is also a lover of different cultures and sound impacts. As some might remember, Drake has faced scrutiny in past projects for being a Culture vulture, meaning that he profits off of cultures soundscapes and well… culture.

While this is an unmeasurable statistic and I won’t go down that rabbit hole, I do think that Drake does a great job emulating cultures that he admires one of being my Hometown of Memphis Tennessee.

Most of the instrumentals, flows, and pockets from this project remind me of production styles from not only Memphis but other deep southern city & states.

The rugged beating up of the pockets on *Ran to Atlanta, the smooth intertwined triplet flow borrowed from popular southern culture on [plot twist](https://on.soundcloud.com/fVkNC1xvHjyO4Lj93K), and of course the Southern Florida sound from [Little birdie](https://on.soundcloud.com/cxvSrRDtOycoB7nrVU)* all feel like perfect emulations of the culture on the highest stage and it makes iceman a fun listen.

Many believe that Iceman along with Habibti and Maid of Honor are his last songs under the UMG label and that he made the albums to “Free himself”. As stated on the entire song of *Make them Pay*, Drake just wants to be free.

High Points:

Now for my personal biases to round things off.

While a large majority of the listeners of iceman resonated heavily with Janice STFU and National Treasures, I have about 16 other favorite songs on the album.

With this, my top song on the album would have to be *Whisper my name*.

Drake does a great job on this album keeping his timbre in the lower register. This helps expand on the open downtempo type sound from the instrumental that his producer Noah James Shebib or 40 has set in this beat. This song will forever be on repeat for me, it’s a classic for sure!

My second favorite song on the album would have to be the Make them series.

I know, this is creating but hear me out pls. In order: Make them Cry, Make them Pay, Make them Remember, and Make them Know paint a beautiful picture of the personal issues of Aubrey. The cherry is put on top of the album by this song creating that hyper personal look into his life and what things really weigh to him at this current moment.

My last favorite song on the album would be a tough one but it would be Little birdie. Little birdie is a 10/10 song, no notes and I will not be elaborating further. P.S. go watch this *video*.

Closing:

Iceman is a very personal album for Drake. From his conflicts with other industry professionals, to heartbreaks from close friends and lovers *[What did I miss • Drake 2026] *There was a lot to unpack in this album. There is still a lot to be known for Drake as an artist in the future but for now, we have Iceman on Repeat until the next Drake project.

Above you, below zero. Iceman by Aubrey Drake Graham.

SoundCloud

Note on Transparency:

I believe in maintaining authentic, human connections through my writing.

This article was created entirely without the use of artificial intelligence or automated writing assistants.

Thank you for reading!