Drake releases new album, Some Sexy Songs 4 U, pivoting from rap beef with Kendrick Lamar

NEW YORK – Following a Grammy Awards and a Super Bowl half-time show in which he featured heavily in absentia – at least as a punchline – life goes on for Drake, who released his first new album – on Feb 14 – since his much-publicised beef with American rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Some Sexy Songs 4 U, a collaboration with PartyNextDoor – a long-time Drake associate with success as an enigmatic R&B singer, pop songwriter and producer – was released via multiple record companies at a fraught moment: Drake is suing his own label, Universal Music Group (UMG) for defamation and harassment.

In a lawsuit filed in January, lawyers for the Canadian rapper, born Aubrey Graham, said UMG’s release and promotion of Lamar’s diss track and No. 1 smash Not Like Us (2024), which accuses Drake of paedophilia, was an example of valuing “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artistes”.

Still, the release of Some Sexy Songs 4 U seemed to be business as usual, as UMG and its Republic flagship are credited with the release. The album is also credited to OVO Sound, Drake’s boutique label and the home of PartyNextDoor. OVO Sound is distributed by the Santa Anna Label Group, a subsidiary of UMG’s corporate rival, Sony Music.

Representatives for Drake, who is on tour in Australia, and UMG did not respond to requests for comment.

Not Like Us won five Grammys on Feb 2, including major nods such as song and record of the year. It was the centrepiece of Lamar’s Super Bowl half-time show on Feb 10, in which Lamar rapped “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young”, but stopped short of performing the line calling Drake and his crew “certified paedophiles” – replacing the controversial designation with a prerecorded scream.

The performance has gone viral online, with more than 64 million views on YouTube and even K-pop stars like J-Hope from BTS parodying it.

Released on Valentine’s Day, Some Sexy Songs 4 U mixes rap and R&B in a patented Drake style across 21 tracks and 74 minutes, although the album dips into guitar-strummed pop on Die Trying, with American singer-songwriter Yebba, and even traditional Mexican music on Meet Your Padre, which features Chino Pacas, a singer at the forefront of the urban sierreno subgenre.

Drake seems to address his bitter battle with Lamar, which began in 2024 and carried into the new year via Lamar’s victory lap, on Gimme A Hug, which begins with the lines: “Drake elimination, fake intimidation/take a minute, take a deep breath, have a little bit of patience.” Later, he adds, “(expletive) a rap beef, I’m tryna get the party lit.”

While Some Sexy Songs 4 U is Drake’s first official full-length release since For All The Dogs in 2023, it is not his first batch of new music that seemed to hint at dissatisfaction with his traditional record deal.

In 2024, Drake began to release new songs and archival video for free download on a minimalist website called 100gigs.org. Eventually, some of those tracks were released on streaming services as the 100 GIGS EP through OVO and Republic.

In the lawsuit against UMG, lawyers for Drake invoked looming contract negotiations between the company and the rapper, whose deal is up for renegotiation in 2025, as a potential motive for the label’s aggressive promotion of Not Like Us.

“By devaluing Drake’s music and brand, UMG would gain leverage to force Drake to sign a new deal on terms more favourable to UMG,” the suit says.

PartyNextDoor, a fellow Canadian, is best known for his series of eponymous albums, as well as his contributions as a writer to hits such as Work (2016) by Rihanna, featuring Drake; and Wild Thoughts (2017), another Rihanna single released with DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller. The cover art for Some Sexy Songs 4 U depicts Drake and PartyNextDoor, each draped in fur, in front of Absolute World, a two-tower condominium complex in Mississauga, Ontario.

The pair previously collaborated on songs like Preach (2015) and With You (2016), while PartyNextDoor is featured as a writer and producer on Drake tracks including Legend (2015) and Elevate (2018). NYTIMES