Canadian rap superstar Drake has taken aim at DJ Khaled on his highly anticipated new album, calling out the Palestinian-heritage DJ for his public silence on the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The album, titled ICEMAN, dropped on Friday and features 18 tracks. Drake delivers the pointed rebuke on track four, titled "Make Them Pay," rapping: "And Khaled, you know what I mean … And your people are still waitin' for a Free Palestine. But apparently, everything isn't black and white and red and green, man."
DJ Khaled, who is of Palestinian descent, has faced sustained public criticism since October 7 for declining to speak out about the situation in Gaza, with Drake now joining the chorus of celebrities who have called him out over his silence.
The Khaled callout is far from the only headline buried in ICEMAN. The album also appears to contain shots fired at Kendrick Lamar, who famously targeted Drake in his 2024 track "Not Like Us." On track four, titled "Janice STFU," Drake raps: "White kids listen to you 'cause they feel some guilt, and that's how your soul gets fulfilled" — a line annotated on lyrics platform Genius as a direct diss at Lamar.
As if one album wasn't enough, the release of ICEMAN came alongside two additional surprise projects from Drake — Habibti and Maid of Honor — turning Friday into an unexpected triple album event for fans worldwide. The releases are sure to keep Drake at the center of music conversation for weeks to come, reigniting debates around celebrity responsibility, rap rivalries, and the growing intersection of hip-hop and geopolitics.
