# Habibti (album)
**HABIBTI** is the eleventh studio album by the Canadian rapper and singer [Drake](https://www.edgepedia.org/drake-musician), surprise-released on May 15, 2026 as the R&B-leaning entry of a three-album drop alongside *ICEMAN* and *Maid of Honour*.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/habibti-mw0004812351) • [2](https://claytribune.com/drakes-habibti-is-a-moody-course-correction-undone-by-uninspired-writing/) The title is the Arabic feminine form of "my beloved," and the album carries the Apple Music subtitle "& other nicknames I call my dear city," a reference to Toronto.[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti/6769551464) It runs 11 tracks in about 36 minutes, making it the shortest of the three records.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/habibti-mw0004812351) • [3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti/6769551464)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | May 15, 2026, surprise-released with *ICEMAN* and *Maid of Honour*[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/habibti-mw0004812351) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/may/15/drake-iceman-maid-of-honour-habibti-review-triple-album-comeback-is-a-boring-bloated-disaster) |
| Length and style | 11 songs, 36 minutes; R&B-focused with midtempo, sentimental production[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti/6769551464) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/habibti-mw0004812351) |
| Label | OVO, under exclusive license to Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti/6769551464) |
| US chart | Debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 114,000 units, behind *ICEMAN*[5](https://www.vg.no/rampelys/i/d4Lvjo/drake-skriver-historie) |
| UK chart | Peaked at number 7 on the Official Albums Chart (first chart date May 28, 2026)[6](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/drake-habibti/) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic score of 59 from 8 reviews; Pitchfork 6.5[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/habibti/drake/critic-reviews) • [8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/drake-habibti/) |
| Featured guests | Qendresa, Sexyy Red, Loe Shimmy, and PARTYNEXTDOOR[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/habibti-mw0004812351) |
## The trilogy release
Drake had teased *ICEMAN* for nearly two years, beginning a livestream series in July 2025, and revealed the release date through a stunt in Toronto in which a bag bearing the date sat inside a large block of ice. On the fourth livestream, the evening before release, he announced that he was not dropping one album but three; all three arrived at midnight.[5](https://www.vg.no/rampelys/i/d4Lvjo/drake-skriver-historie) The three records were stylistically distinct: *ICEMAN* consisted largely of hip-hop, *Habibti* leaned toward Drake's R&B style, and *Maid of Honour* drew on dance music.[9](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/handin-out-turkeys-on-camera-inside-of-your-hood-then-you-go-back-to-the-hills-drake-stokes-kendrick-lamar-feud-once-more-on-one-of-three-new-albums) It was his first significant release since the 2024 feud with [Kendrick Lamar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kendrick-lamar), apart from the 2025 collaborative album *$ome $exy $ongs 4 U* with [PartyNextDoor](https://www.edgepedia.org/partynextdoor).[9](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/handin-out-turkeys-on-camera-inside-of-your-hood-then-you-go-back-to-the-hills-drake-stokes-kendrick-lamar-feud-once-more-on-one-of-three-new-albums)
**Chart history.** The three albums debuted at first, second, and third place on the [Billboard](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-magazine) 200, the first time one artist had held the top three positions simultaneously since the chart began weekly publication in 1956.[5](https://www.vg.no/rampelys/i/d4Lvjo/drake-skriver-historie) • [10](https://los40.com/2026/05/25/drake-iguala-a-taylor-swift-con-un-record-historico-en-billboard/) *Habibti* followed *ICEMAN* with 114,000 units in its first week.[5](https://www.vg.no/rampelys/i/d4Lvjo/drake-skriver-historie) In France, *HABIBTI* entered the SNEP official albums chart at number 27 in the week of May 15 to 22, 2026.[11](https://snepmusique.com/pdf/tops_pdf.php?annee=2026&categorie=Top+Albums&semaine=21) In the United Kingdom it entered the Official Albums Chart at number 7 on May 28, 2026, and spent four weeks on the chart.[6](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/drake-habibti/)
## Music and themes
AllMusic's review describes a streamlined record in which Drake works in his "loverboy persona, ruminating on love, loneliness, romance, and yearning," with most songs at a midtempo pace over twinkly electric piano chords, soft synthesizers, and relaxed flows. It names the lustful "Hurrr Nor Thurrr" featuring [Sexyy Red](https://www.edgepedia.org/sexyy-red), the self-sampling late-night drive of "Slap the City," and the dreamlike trap of "Gen 5" as representative tracks, and credits [Loe Shimmy](https://www.edgepedia.org/loe-shimmy) on "I'm Spent" and PARTYNEXTDOOR on the ambient, guitar-looping "Fortworth" with adding sparkle to a pleasant but sometimes one-note album.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/habibti-mw0004812351)
**Notable contributors.** The opener "Rusty Intro" is built on guitar strums mutated by Broward, Florida producer DJFrisco954, and on "Slap the City" the London singer Qendresa contributes Aaliyah-like vocal runs on the hook.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/drake-habibti/) The song "Classic" was made with input from Arham Paul, a 16-year-old producer known as AP Melodies, who has production credits on two songs across the trilogy.[12](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/i-dont-think-theres-any-other-16-year-old-producer-for-drake-right-now-so-its-an-odd-experience-but-its-crazy-meet-ap-melodies-the-teenage-producer-whos-ended-up-with-production-credits-on-two-new-drake-songs)
**Arabic references.** The album's title and content drew particular attention in the Middle East. Drake mentions halal, deen, Ramadan, and [mashallah](https://www.edgepedia.org/mashallah), samples the Lebanese singer Fairuz, and calls out [DJ Khaled](https://www.edgepedia.org/dj-khaled) for staying silent on Gaza. WIRED Middle East framed the reaction as a familiar cycle of Arab celebration and criticism over whether such references amount to meaningful cultural visibility, algorithmic trend-chasing, or commercial appropriation. The article notes that Noah "40" Shebib, Drake's longtime collaborator and co-architect of [OVO Sound](https://www.edgepedia.org/ovo-sound), is of Lebanese descent and is among the producers credited across the trilogy.[13](https://www.wired.me/story/drakes-habibti-moment-sparked-a-familiar-arab-internet-cycle)
The cover art shows a picture covered in tape with only the subject's eyes left uncovered.[14](https://dailybruin.com/2026/05/18/album-review-drakes-return-on-iceman-maid-of-honour-and-habibti-is-lukewarm)
## Critical reception
Metacritic assigned *HABIBTI* a score of 59 based on 8 critic reviews, categorized as mixed or average, with 4 positive, 3 mixed, and 1 negative.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/habibti/drake/critic-reviews) Reviews diverged sharply. Variety called it "slow, sensuous and sometimes irresistible" (76); Rolling Stone (70) wrote that at a tight 11 songs the album finds Drake in romantic territory, having shed the guarded iciness of *[Iceman](https://www.edgepedia.org/iceman-album)*; Pitchfork (65) called it "alternatingly hypnotic and hollow," praising loose moments like the DJFrisco954-produced opener "Rusty Intro" and Qendresa's hook on "Slap the City" while faulting stock writing elsewhere; The Guardian (40) heard "old ground being half-heartedly retrodden"; and Consequence (25) called it "lost at sea."[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/habibti/drake/critic-reviews)
Pitchfork's Matthew Ritchie placed the album in context as an aesthetic course correction after records in which Drake hid vulnerability, with morose R&B melodies that feel "beamed from *Take Care*'s deleted scenes," while arguing the writing remains smoothed over and starved of evocative detail.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/drake-habibti/) HotNewHipHop read the trilogy structurally: *ICEMAN* served listeners invested in rap rivalry, while *HABIBTI* and *Maid of Honour* aimed at the audiences that made Drake unavoidable in the first place, revisiting the emotional language of the *Take Care* era without the same conviction in intimacy.[15](https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/995753-drake-habibti-maid-of-honour-album-review) A Rolling Stone summary quoted by [The Week](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-week) judged *Habibti* the better of the companion albums, an 11-song record that "finds Drake in romantic territory, embracing the R&B lover boy that audiences first came to love."[16](https://theweek.com/culture-life/music/drake-three-album-barrage)
## Later editions
On October 1, 2026, Drake released *HABIBTI (FOMO)*, a 15-song, 49-minute edition, followed on October 2 by a 24-song, 1 hour 17 minute version.[17](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti-fomo/6818059268) • [18](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti-fomo/6818209777) In October 2026, Drake confirmed he was not submitting any of his 2026 music, including *Habibti*, for the 2027 [Grammy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/grammy-awards), quoting his own line from *ICEMAN*: "This album, I'm never submittin' it."[19](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/singles-albums/this-album-im-never-submittin-it-drake-joins-bts-and-stray-kids-in-snubbing-next-years-grammys)
## References
1. [Drake: HABIBTI Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/habibti-mw0004812351)
2. [Drake’s ‘HABIBTI’ Is a Moody Course Correction Undone by Uninspired Writing – Clay Tribune](https://claytribune.com/drakes-habibti-is-a-moody-course-correction-undone-by-uninspired-writing/)
3. [HABIBTI – Album by Drake, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti/6769551464)
4. [Drake: Iceman / Maid of Honour / Habibti review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/may/15/drake-iceman-maid-of-honour-habibti-review-triple-album-comeback-is-a-boring-bloated-disaster)
5. [Drake skriver historie, VG](https://www.vg.no/rampelys/i/d4Lvjo/drake-skriver-historie)
6. [HABIBTI – DRAKE, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/drake-habibti/)
7. [Critic Reviews for HABIBTI, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/habibti/drake/critic-reviews)
8. [Drake: HABIBTI Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/drake-habibti/)
9. [Drake stokes Kendrick Lamar feud once more on one of three new albums, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/handin-out-turkeys-on-camera-inside-of-your-hood-then-you-go-back-to-the-hills-drake-stokes-kendrick-lamar-feud-once-more-on-one-of-three-new-albums)
10. [Drake iguala a Taylor Swift con un récord histórico en Billboard, LOS40](https://los40.com/2026/05/25/drake-iguala-a-taylor-swift-con-un-record-historico-en-billboard/)
11. [Top Albums (15/05/2026 – 22/05/2026), SNEP](https://snepmusique.com/pdf/tops_pdf.php?annee=2026&categorie=Top+Albums&semaine=21)
12. [Meet AP Melodies, the teenage producer who's ended up with production credits on two new Drake songs, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/i-dont-think-theres-any-other-16-year-old-producer-for-drake-right-now-so-its-an-odd-experience-but-its-crazy-meet-ap-melodies-the-teenage-producer-whos-ended-up-with-production-credits-on-two-new-drake-songs)
13. [Drake's 'Habibti' Moment Sparked a Familiar Arab Internet Cycle, WIRED Middle East](https://www.wired.me/story/drakes-habibti-moment-sparked-a-familiar-arab-internet-cycle)
14. [Album review: Drake's return on 'ICEMAN,' 'MAID OF HONOUR' and 'HABIBTI' is lukewarm, Daily Bruin](https://dailybruin.com/2026/05/18/album-review-drakes-return-on-iceman-maid-of-honour-and-habibti-is-lukewarm)
15. [Drake "HABIBTI" & "MAID OF HONOUR" Review, HotNewHipHop](https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/995753-drake-habibti-maid-of-honour-album-review)
16. [Drake's three-album barrage: A chart king demands homage, The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/music/drake-three-album-barrage)
17. [HABIBTI (FOMO) – Album by Drake, Apple Music (15-song version)](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti-fomo/6818059268)
18. [HABIBTI (FOMO) – Album by Drake, Apple Music (24-song version)](https://music.apple.com/us/album/habibti-fomo/6818209777)
19. ["This album, I'm never submittin' it": Drake joins BTS and Stray Kids in snubbing next year's Grammys, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/singles-albums/this-album-im-never-submittin-it-drake-joins-bts-and-stray-kids-in-snubbing-next-years-grammys)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Hip hop albums › Pop rap and crossover albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license