Spot Check: A Total Drakeover

Drake performs at the 2025 Wireless festival in London (Simone Joyner/Getty Images for ABA)

It’s a complete Drakeover of the DSPs.

For those wondering if the past two years of Drake’s very public and sometimes, it must be said, humiliating beef with Kendrick Lamar had dampened his audience’s appetite for his music, here’s your answer: ICEMAN (OVO/Republic), the centerpiece of his surprise trilogy, debuted with 140m streams, the eighth-highest day-one figure in Spotify history.

If you thought Drake’s never-ending legal squabble with his own label, UMG, for allegedly siding with Lamar in said feud would test fans’ patience, think again: On the Spot U.S. chart, Drake occupies positions 1-18, 24 of the Top 25 and 37 of the Top 50, while on global, he’s locked down 1-13 and 20 of the top 25 places.

Some more eye-popping figures: ICEMAN has four songs over 10m streams, led by Spot global pacesetter “Make Them Cry” at 13.2m; within hip-hop, ICEMAN’s 140m streams trail only the 155m racked up by the 6 God’s own Certified Lover Boy in 2021; combine ICEMAN’s tally with MAID OF HONOUR’s 29.1m streams and HABIBTI’s 27.6m and, well, we believe the scientific term is a fuckity-fuck-ton of streams.

Spotify reported that Drizzy had become the most-streamed artist in a single day in 2026, that ICEMAN was the year’s most-streamed album in a single day and that opening cut “Make Them Cry” was the most-streamed song in a single day this year.

And if, as we’re hearing, this troika of albums fulfills Drake’s contract with UMG, it sure feels like a win-win. The artist’s fabulously successful catalog is said to be remaining with Universal.

On Apple Music, Drake’s total eclipse of the chart is even more profound, as he occupies the top 26 spots and 39 of the Top 40. Only Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” (SAWGOD/Columbia) has the gumption to stand in his way, at #29. Apple announced that ICEMAN was its #1 album in 79 countries, while MAID and HABIBTI were Top 10 in 75 and 58 countries, respectively. Amazon Music noted that the three Drake drops shared the top first-day streams this year.

In any other week, Interscope starlet Gracie Abrams would be dominating the new-release headlines with “Hit the Wall,” the first single from her forthcoming Daughter from Hell. With 3.2m streams, it’s her highest first-day sum, good for a #31 global and #32 U.S. bow. Don’t let the relatively modest placement fool you: Abrams and her collaborator Aaron Dessner are bound for glory, Grammy and otherwise, with the new LP.

We, on the other hand, are bound for the couch and a nap.