You don’t need us to remind you that Drake’s Iceman album did not arrive in 2025, despite widespread speculation among fans that it would drop before year’s end.
Now, just over a month into the new year, the recent 2026 Grammys nominee is further teasing the project with some Akademiks-shared snippets. In one, Drake laments any arguments of him being the “greatest,” arguing that this assessment is an “understatement” due to who else receives the same praise.
In the same clip, as seen below, Drake also sends out a “fuck them haters,” likening them to “double agents,” before pointing to record label woes.
“Even my label, gave ‘em 15 years of my soul,” he raps.”
After playing the snippet, Akademiks initiated a pause for dramatic effect, ultimately declaring that J. Cole’s The Fall-Off was the focus of the evening.
Akademiks also shared another snippet in which Drake tucked in a “Free Slime.”
Iceman, now presumably set for a 2026 release, will mark Drake’s first new solo album since 2023’s For All the Dogs. In February of last year, he and PARTYNEXTDOOR linked up for the joint project $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, featuring the Hot 100 hit “Nokia.”
For some time now, Drake has been tapped into his characteristically cryptic approach of doling out teases on Instagram.
“I was expecting people who look up to me to look me in the eyes too,” he wrote in an IG caption last month. “I thought that’s the least they could do…but I was wrong about them like I was wrong about you.”
Iceman was recently highlighted by Complex alongside the artist formerly known as Kanye West’s Bully and other expected 2026 releases as one of the most anticipated albums of the year. See the full list here.