Since August of 2024, rapper Drake had already offered clues and insight about his album Iceman. Its release made it his ninth album, and first solo album since For All The Dogs in 2023. In this time, Drake released three singles, which were included between the three albums he ended up releasing. These included the tracks “What Did I Miss?” Which One featuring Central Cee” and “Dog House” which features Yeat.
Drake promoted the album through many ways, among the most significant however, occurred April 21st, when fans finally learned its release date through unconventional means. Drake had a 25 foot tall ice structure installed in a Toronto parking lot, which he promised contained the release date of the album. Some fans got to work with salt, while other videos showed the most impatient fans utilizing pickaxes and even homemade blow torches to speed the melting of the ice sculpture. A small fire was even reported at the structure, leading to the closing off of the structure by Toronto police and the involvement of the fire department.
Prior to the closing, streamer Kishka found a bag near the top of the structure that contained the date May 15. Shortly after, Drake posted an image containing the release date that confirmed it as May 15. When the streamer passed by Drake’s house, the rapper gave him a smile and a wave through a window to congratulate him.
Prior to the recent ice structure and subsequent release date reveal, Drake promoted the album through many other means. One such method of promotion was a series of multiple livestreams. Throughout the livestreams, the rapper did things ranging from driving an Iceman themed truck through Toronto, to playing snippets of tracks and features thought to be on the album. Among these snippets was a track believed to be titled “Supermax”, and potential features from fellow artists 21 Savage and Playboi Carti.
Overall, these methods of promotion created lots of hype for Iceman. This is evident through the numbers; the album garnered 140 million Spotify streams on its first day on the platform, the second most for the Toronto based artist.
