Drake Beats Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" Spotify Record With "ICEMAN" Intro

BY Gabriel Bras Nevares
Link Copied to Clipboard!
Drake Beats Kendrick Lamar Not Like Us Spotify Record ICEMAN Intro
Jun 10, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Recording artist Drake reacts during the fourth quarter in game five of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
Drake's "ICEMAN" boasts the second-highest debut for a rap album in Spotify history, and its intro surpassed Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us."

Drake and Kendrick Lamar will be locked in their infamous beef for the rest of time, and we just got a key update in the saga. The former just dropped his new album ICEMAN alongside two other projects, and its intro now holds a huge record over K.Dot's "Not Like Us" diss track. What's more is that the LP as a whole is also reaching absurd milestones.

According to Kurrco on Instagram, ICEMAN's into track "Make Them Cry" now boasts the record Spotify's biggest debut for a rap song with 13.2 million streams in a single day upon its debut. "Not Like Us" previously held that record with 12.8 million streams.

Also, ICEMAN is now the second-biggest rap album debut in Spotify's history, only behind Drizzy's own Certified Lover Boy (155 million streams). Of course, it's also 2026's biggest album debut on the streaming platform so far. The new record garnered 140.2 million first-day streams.

These commercial achievements are unsurprising for an artist of the Toronto superstar's size, but they are nonetheless impressive. Surely, he will conquer more records and milestones in the near future, whether they connect to Kendrick or not at all.

Drake's Kendrick Lamar Disses On ICEMAN

Drake dissed Kendrick Lamar a lot on ICEMAN, albeit in occasionally subliminal and pretty general ways. More specific digs at his height, his inner circle, his disses, and his character peppered many cuts. But the most important factor was the energy. The OVO mogul maintained a defiant and reflective tone throughout the whole tracklist that makes Lamar's shadow over it hard to ignore.

There's also a bit of irony with this historic rap song debut record, as Drake's suing UMG over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." His dismissed defamation lawsuit is currently in appeal.

Elsewhere, other disses on ICEMAN landed against DJ Khaled, LeBron James, J. Cole, A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, and many, many more. Again, most folks expected this direction, but they found a lot of lyrical quality to hold them over.

This discussion and focus is clearly translating into massive commercial success for ICEMAN. Also, it goes to show the heights these artists reached after such an explosive face-off, regardless of who's holding the crown. In this sense, it's The Boy right now, and many fans celebrated the vindication.

We'll see what other Spotify records and commercial achievements follow while the critical reception to this trilogy continues to develop.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.

Comments 0