How Loe Shimmy Landed a Standout Feature on Drake’s ‘Habibti’

When speaking with Pompano Beach MC Loe Shimmy on a Thursday afternoon, it is clear that the artist is not resting on his laurels. Despite having just appeared on Drake’s latest album, HABIBTI, Shimmy is already back in the studio in Miami, focused on maintaining his momentum. With a new single, “Body Dangerous,” arriving at midnight and an upcoming album, Pretty Girls Run The World, on the horizon, he is wasting no time.

Shimmy’s work ethic remains relentless. Having previously recorded in unconventional spaces—from private jets to the back of black trucks while on tour with Lil Baby and Sexyy Red—his environment has shifted, but his drive has not. Recently, he managed to cut a remix of “Type Shit” with YTB Fatt and Fox BD, enlist Rob49 for a verse, and film a music video all within a 24-hour window.

The collaboration with Drake, titled “I’m Spent,” represents a more deliberate creative process. Shimmy originally sent the song idea to the superstar over a year ago. The track has quickly emerged as a standout on the massive triple-album project, characterized by shimmering chords and a nocturnal, piano-driven atmosphere that echoes the aesthetic of Shimmy’s 2024 project, Nardyworld. The song highlights a unique chemistry, with Drake adopting a deeper, more tender vocal register that complements Shimmy’s signature gliding falsetto.

Reflecting on their relationship, Shimmy recalls the early days when Drake first posted his music. “It was unexpected,” Shimmy says. “That one single repost put a battery in my back; it made me believe in myself more.” That initial support served as a catalyst during a time when Shimmy was still questioning his path in the industry. Since then, the two have developed a genuine rapport. “When we linked in person, it was just genuine energy,” he explains. “I love his music, he fucks with my music, and I just fuck with bro hard.”

Regarding the creation of “I’m Spent,” Shimmy notes that Drake’s involvement was hands-on. “He helped orchestrate the whole song,” Shimmy says, describing the superstar as a “real wizard” for his ability to refine the production and arrangement. Even after a year had passed, Drake remembered the track and brought it to life for HABIBTI, proving that his support for Shimmy was far more than a fleeting social media moment.

ICEMAN did exactly what Drake needed (and not much more)

The image of Drake I could not stop thinking about this weekend comes midway through ICEMAN. On “B’s on the Table,” the rapper is exhausted but not depleted, surrounded by his dogs, his “bitch,” the two-Michelin star personal chef, and fairweather friends eager to text congratulations now that he’s back in the mix. “Sometimes I sit in the parking garage and I talk to my watch or I talk to my whip,” he intones. In all the ways that matter, Drake is alone, alone.

That’s nothing new. Over the past 10 years, Drake has entered rarified air, a popstar amidst rappers and a force amongst popstars. He’s been Teflon and platinum and diamond — even as critics have lambasted his records for diminishing returns — and found himself functionally peerless, no longer competing with anyone, not even himself. Just look at the cover of ICEMAN; Drake’s aiming for the sort of world-bending cultural ubiquity that turned an artist like Michael Jackson into a god among men. Upon release, his three albums that arrived precisely at midnight May 15 promptly broke streaming servers. Anything less would be blasé.

ICEMAN is a good album with flashes of excellence, but it’s not that good. While it’s likely fans will push at least one of these collective 43 songs to the sort of incessant social media omnipresence “NOKIA” enjoyed last year, nothing here is quite so inventive or unguarded as “In My Feelings” or “Too Much.” But this album does exactly what Drake needed it to do: remind people that his power comes from the music first, and Being Drake second. Instead of attempting to centralize his sound and his fans, he’s diversified, stretching himself to deliver a range of music that could hit everywhere from Ibiza to the Bay Area. Alongside slighter offerings, MAID OF HONOUR (okay) and HABIBTI (bomb), ICEMAN (solid) presents a vision for how Drake’s music might fit into the weave of our lives right now, offering up a version of Aubrey for every playlisting niche available.

Getting to that point with these three records has necessitated reflection, humility, and a general shift in posture. Drake remains the biggest rapper out, but two years on, he can admit he lost the beef, badly. He’s still assured he’ll win the war (if he hasn’t done so already by virtue of not dying), but jettisoning the ill-advised defensiveness of “The Heart Part VI” and “GIMME A HUG” makes that confidence aspirational rather than absurd. Crucially, this candor cracks open the Iceman’s armor, if only a little, and these glimpses of pain and paranoia ground Drake’s current position in an earnest humanity.

Part of why Kendrick Lamar walked away with such a big win two years ago was a broader cultural resentment toward Drake hegemony; people might love a winner, but they rarely love them forever. Drake’s as cocky as ever on ICEMAN, but repositions himself as an underdog by shifting focus away from other celebrities to the record labels that pull strings behind the scenes. Whether or not listeners believe his theories about Universal Music Group and botted streams, they give Drake a villain to rail against and snipe at on wax, to remind us that despite his personal plane, cryptocurrency holdings, gambling partnerships, and the mansion so big he calls it The Embassy, he is still an artist under capitalism, tangled up in the industry as much as Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.

On first listen, ICEMAN feels like business as usual: a fine-tuned blend of moody set pieces and mid-tempo resentment raps, interspersed with soaring synths and trap-influenced bangers. But Drake’s pettiest impulses are sharpened to a hilariously cutting edge. These songs are funny, breezy, and endlessly listenable, and you find yourself wishing ICEMAN had more of them. In the end, too much of the album is given to moody tracks where he explores, however shallowly, the fallout from his beef with Kendrick Lamar. Where the myriad Drakes we know and love might have coexisted on previous albums, in 2026 companion albums MAID OF HONOUR and HABIBTI serve as key flankers.

Over the weekend, I was looping the visualizer for “B’s on the Table” where we see soaring views of the CN Tower dominating the skyline, but also levitating shots from the tower’s interior, panning lovingly over the arterial tangle of pipes and wires within. The lifeblood of a Toronto icon. At a pivotal moment in his career, it makes perfect sense that he’d recenter on his origins. That’s where legacies begin.

Drake Made an Album Release Feel Like an Event Again

At 10:45 p.m. on a recent Thursday, the digital landscape shifted. A livestream of Drake’s Iceman 4—the latest installment in a long-teased album rollout—appeared on YouTube. What began as a casual viewing experience quickly transformed into a genuine cultural moment. Drake wasn’t just dropping music; he was debuting full visuals and, in a stunning twist, revealed that three new albums—Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honor—would arrive at midnight.

In an era where the streaming market often feels saturated and predictable, Drake’s ability to break both Apple Music and Spotify simultaneously serves as a reminder of his singular status. While the rollout was undeniably chaotic and, at times, polarizing, it succeeded in creating a sense of urgency that has been largely absent from modern music releases.

The Art of the Spectacle

The Iceman campaign was a masterclass in over-the-top promotion. From teasing folders labeled “2.0 – Iceman” back in August 2024 to the theatrical stunt involving a massive ice block structure outside Toronto’s Bond Hotel, Drake leaned into the role of the shameless showman. While some critics rolled their eyes at the theatrics, the engagement was undeniable. It was a calculated, high-stakes move designed to command attention in a crowded media environment.

A Necessary Disruption

Contemporary music releases often suffer from a sense of anticlimactic uniformity. The industry has largely settled into a standard Friday release cycle, often accompanied by sterile, minimalist marketing. Drake, however, remains an outlier. Whether viewed as a “hateable target” or a brilliant strategist, he understands that music, at its core, is meant to be an event.

By injecting genuine mystery and unhinged energy back into the process, he has reminded the industry that the audience is still hungry for something that feels human and unpredictable. As we navigate an era of AI-generated sameness, perhaps it is exactly this kind of bold, unapologetic showmanship that the culture needs to break the simulation.

5 Drake Songs You Should Actually Listen To From His New Albums

Drake’s three new albums, Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honour, have set the internet aflame. As an engagement strategy, the surprise trilogy drop is supremely effective. But it’s also successful as a tangible manifestation of Drake’s public persona and psyche. Thematically and sonically, each project represents a different facet of the man: Iceman, his tough rapper shell; Habibti his wounded lover boy heart; and Maid of Honour, his queen out club diva.

Some of the albums are more successful than others, and we’re still digesting our thoughts on each. But for now, see The FADER staff’s top five songs that we think are absolutely worth hearing if you aren’t interested in slogging through the 43 tracks. (Spoiler alert: Maid of Honour is our favorite of the three.)

“National Treasures” from Iceman

“National Treasures,” Drake’s most passionate track on Iceman, is a three-minute attempt at self-preservation. Two years since his very public feud with Kendrick Lamar, there’s clearly been a lot weighing on his mind. But humiliation, allegations, lawsuits, a multi-Grammy-winning diss track, and a Super Bowl performance aren’t enough to hold the Canadian rapper back from speaking his piece.

“Cheetah Print” from Maid of Honour

Forget about the laconic, droll, insecure victim-complex of Iceman; Maid of Honour is where it’s at, specifically “Cheetah Print,” a real freak of a song. Hearing Peggy Gou’s iconic “(It Goes Like) Nanana” opening the track is a highlight, but the “Cha Cha Slide” interpolation—with Sexyy Red as the emcee breaking down the steps to a thottier version of the dance—is the moment that truly defines the track.

“New Bestie” from Maid of Honour

Sometimes a good hook can do more than a hundred punchlines, and “New Bestie” proves it. Midway through the track, it shifts into a Jersey club beat, with Drake’s patois-inflected delivery paying homage to Vybz Kartel in a callback to his More Life era.

“True Bestie” featuring Iconic Savvy from Maid of Honour

“True Bestie” absolutely bumps. Drake is the king of summer smashes, and since artists have replicated the Jersey club sound again and again, Drake taps Iconic Savvy for Chicago ass-shaking juke. Let the countdown to summer begin.

“White Bone”

At nearly 5 minutes, the longest track on Habibti, the R&B album of the trilogy, is a long and rambling 2 a.m. phone call. It recalls the same energy that skyrocketed Drake to fame as the annoying but endearing, down-bad womanizer during his Take Care-era. It is a flash of the human underneath the celebrity caricature.

Drake Surprise Drops Three Albums: Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honor

Drake's highly anticipated ninth studio album, Iceman, has finally arrived. However, the release is far more expansive than fans initially expected. After a year of cryptic teases, the project has been revealed as a sprawling trilogy consisting of three distinct records: Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honor. Together, the collection delivers a gargantuan 43 songs, signaling a massive return to the spotlight for the Toronto superstar.

The trilogy features an extensive list of collaborators, including 21 Savage, Future, Molly Santana, Stunna Sandy, Sexyy Red, Central Cee, Popcaan, Iconic Savvy, Loe Shimmy, and PARTYNEXTDOOR. To accompany the massive tracklist, Drake debuted visual counterparts for each song via a YouTube livestream prior to the official midnight release. The videos feature cameos from notable figures such as Molly Santana, Future, DJ Akademiks, and comedian BenDaDonnn.

A Return to the Spotlight

For many of Drake's longtime listeners and critics, this release carries significant weight. Following his high-profile 2024 feud with Kendrick Lamar, which saw the Toronto legend face intense public scrutiny, Drake has largely remained out of the musical fray, focusing instead on legal battles and private matters. This trilogy serves as his definitive return to the music industry, offering the first real insight into how the fallout of last year's events has impacted his creative process.

Early leaks, such as the track "1AM in Albany," hinted at a deep-seated sense of betrayal, with lyrics reportedly taking aim at various figures in the industry. Across the three projects, tracks like "Burning Bridges" and "2 Hard 4 The Radio" appear to double down on these themes, while other moments on the records lean into the pop-radio and R&B sensibilities that have defined much of his career.

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