Drake fans have been patiently waiting for his ninth studio album, ICEMAN, for months now. The project still doesn't have an official release date, but it's rumored to be arriving sometime before the end of the year. To give his supporters a taste of what's to come, the Toronto artist has been previewing unreleased music with YouTube livestreams dubbed "ICEMAN Episodes."
The last one arrived back in September, and today (November 17), he dropped a condensed version. It consists of highlights from the full-length episode, and mostly includes upcoming music. Of course, this has led to speculation that a fourth episode is coming very soon, though that remains unconfirmed.
This is far from the first hint Drake has dropped about his new album in recent weeks. Earlier this month, he took to Instagram with one of his usual cryptic captions. "To each their own…unless of course they lease and don’t own," it read. Just a couple days later, he shared yet another mysterious message with his followers. "It's still personal," he declared.
Drake UMG Lawsuit
New music is far from all Drake is working on these days. He's also currently in the middle of a legal battle with Universal Music Group. He filed a lawsuit against the company in January, alleging that they artificially inflated the success of Kendrick Lamar's hit diss track, "Not Like Us." As a result, he alleges that they fueled a "false and malicious" narrative that he's an alleged predator.
In October, Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed the lawsuit. In her ruling, she noted how the predator allegation was made within "the broader context of a heated rap battle," and that "the reasonable listener" wouldn't take it as fact.
Immediately, Drake's team indicated that they weren't backing down. Last week, they filed a civil appeal pre-argument statement in the U.S. Court Of Appeals. In it, they doubled down on their allegations against UMG, citing attacks on Drake's home, threats to his loved ones, and more.
