A fresh snippet of an unreleased Drake track surfaced online Thursday night, coinciding with the release of J. Cole’s highly anticipated album, The Fall-Off, prompting accusations of a deliberate attempt to overshadow the fellow rapper’s launch.
The brief clip, shared widely on social media, features Drake rapping, “You know what, don’t call me no greatest, them guys you sayin’ are great makes that an understatement, f**k them haters, double agents, even my label, gave them 15 years of my soul…” The timing of the leak immediately drew criticism from fans of J. Cole, who perceived it as a calculated move to diminish the impact of The Fall-Off.
“Doing this as Cole is dropping is some real [h**] a** sh**. And you know Ak got paid for this as well. Says a lot,” one user wrote on X, referring to DJ Akademiks, who initially posted the snippet. Another X user commented, “Drake is such a weirdo for sending that snippet to Akademiks when Cole’s album was about to drop, desperately trying to steal Cole’s shine.”
DJ Akademiks, however, has asserted that he did not receive the track directly from Drake. Speaking on a livestream, Akademiks claimed he had possessed the snippet for approximately four days and made the independent decision to release it. “I made that call. I had this snippet for about four days. How I got it, I won’t mention…,” he stated. “If Drake tells me something, if the info came from him, sworn to secrecy. Because I would have never known if he didn’t tell me… Now, if I go out and get it independently, I gotta do my job. That’s our understanding.”
Drake’s forthcoming album, Iceman, will mark his first solo project since the 2023 release of For All The Dogs. The release of the snippet follows Drake’s recent performance at Wireless Festival in London, where he surprised audiences with appearances from Lauryn Hill and Vybz Kartel. Hill joined Drake onstage on July 11, 2025, performing her hit “Ex-Factor” before transitioning into Drake’s “Nice for What,” which samples Hill’s 1998 song. Vybz Kartel made a guest appearance for his first UK performance in over two decades on a subsequent night of the festival. Drake was the first artist to headline all three nights of the 2025 Wireless Festival, which took place at Finsbury Park.
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