Drake's "ICEMAN" Is Officially On The Way

BY Cole Blake
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Dec 1, 2021; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Rapper, singer and actor Drake shakes hands with a fan during the second half of an Oklahoma City Thunder game at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images
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Drake has been hinting at the imminent release of his next album, "ICEMAN," in tons of posts in recent months.

Drake's highly anticipated new album, ICEMAN, is officially on the way, according to DJ Akademiks, who shared the update on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday afternoon. "Just In: ICEMAN OTW…" Akademiks wrote in his post, alongside an ice cube emoji. He didn't provide any further details as to when exactly fans can expect to hear the project.

Despite the exciting news, many fans in the replies to Ak's post aren't buying it. "Bro we been hearing 'OTW' since last summer. Drop the actual date or stop playing with our emotions Ak. Iceman better be nuclear when it lands," one user writes. Another adds: "You’ve been sayings It’s been on the way since October it’s never dropping."

When Is Drake Releasing "ICEMAN"?

Despite the update from DJ Akademiks, Drake has yet to confirm an official release date for ICEMAN.
He's been promoting the project since last year, when he shared three singles before quieting down for several months. Those tracks started in July 2025 with "What Did I Miss?," followed by "Which One" featuring Central Cee, and "Dog House" featuring Yeat and Julia Wolf. Earlier this month, he seemingly hinted at the project nearing release by adorning his seats at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto with icicles.

The imminent arrival of ICEMAN comes amid a lengthy drought for the hip-hop genre on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. As of April, it's officially been nine months since a rap song reached the top 10.

The Game recently weighed in on how Drake's absence has been bad for hip-hop in a post on social media. "The Kendrick Drake beef killed commercial rap music," he wrote. "It turned hip hop into an engagement art form, not a chart performing one. Everyone showed up, debated, replayed, picked sides, ran the numbers up. Meanwhile, the Billboard Hot 100 kept moving. The beef fed the masses and killed the charts. So I see why labels are cutting back. Black folks would rather tear down artists from both sides when collaboration is what drives expansion."

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.

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