(February 14, 2025). Embattled — and I use that word in the most literal sense — rapper Drake released his first album in 16 months to digital and streaming platforms at midnight tonight (Feb. 14). It’s called $ome $exy $ongs 4U or $$$4U for short.
If Drake is going to return to his tradition of topping the Billboard charts, he’s going to have to knock off the artist who’s currently projected to have the No. 1 album and five of the top ten singles — including the entire top three — on the lists dated Feb. 22: his nemesis Kendrick Lamar.
Drake, whose prior albums this decade have all debuted at No. 1 and given him historic, Taylor Swift-like dominance of the Hot 100 singles chart, said in an Instagram post that the new set — a 21-track collaboration with fellow OVO and Canadian artist PartyNextDoor — would contain “some sexy songs” but also some “turned-up songs for you” along with “some personal feelings on there for you.” It seems well-timed for Valentine’s Day but an odd theme for a rapper just coming off the most bloodying rap battle of his career to date.
On first review and listen, the relatively subdued album contains no superstar-billed featured spots — guest turns by Houston-based female singer Pim, 18-year-old Mexican singer Chino Pacas, and prior collaborator Yebba (another female vocalist) are the only credited guests on $$$4U. It also largely ignores the infamous rap battle, at one point even defiantly dismissing it on the track “GIMME A HUG,” where he raps “fuck a rap beef, im tryna get the party lit.”
With this being Drake’s first full-length set in the post-“Not Like Us” era, all eyes will be on $$$4U to see if the “God’s Plan” rapper can return to his old chart glory following a lackluster 2024. None of the handful of singles Drizzy issued last year reached the top five and only one — “Family Matters” — made top ten (No. 7 peak last May). “Family” was Drake’s most compelling response to Kendrick but, despite its top ten peak, failed to shift the narrative in the 6 God’s favor.
Drake did rank on the Billboard year-end charts as the year’s top rapper, but that was largely due to a quirk in Billboard’s fiscal year — measured from October 2023 to October 2024 — which allowed For All The Dogs and the remainder of his charting catalog prior to April to impact before the famous diss battle with Kendrick began.
The impending chart fate of $$$4U is significant. Although it’s a duet effort with PartyNextDoor who brings an intriguing R&B element to the table, it will be the first real test of Drake’s ability to infiltrate the upper reaches of the Billboard album and singles charts following Kung Fu Kenny’s knockout kick last year. In fact, the 6 God went all of 2024 without issuing a new full-length album or mixtape, something that hasn’t happened in a calendar year since 2014.
Although the Canadian superstar had announced upon the release of For All The Dogs in 2023 that he was taking a year or more off to focus on his health (specifically, some “stomach issues”), his album hiatus couldn’t have come at a more curious time given his much-publicized battle with Kendrick, which saw the two artists at one point alternating rap diss tracks on a near daily basis for two weeks last spring. That eight-song tit-for-tat culminated with “Not Like Us,” the ubiquitous tune whose No. 1 return — for a third time — on the next Hot 100 is all but a formality following Kendrick’s historic performance of it as last Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Kendrick, who now owns the most-watched halftime show in SB history, is also slated to dominate the next top ten with “luther” (featuring SZA at No. 2), “tv off” (feat. Lefty Gunplay; No. 3), “squabble up” (No. 5), and “30 for 30” (also with SZA; No. 10).
The Compton rapper’s big game hangover should subside by the time Drake & PartyNextDoor’s $$$4U impacts the following week’s charts (dated March 1). But the collision course and potential battle this is setting up between K.Dot and Drizzy couldn’t be more intriguing. That it will play out at the top of Billboard’s lists on March 1 could be the ultimate barometer — a proving ground for whether Drake can still dominate… or if Kendrick has officially taken the throne.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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