Drake has set a new Spotify streaming record for 2026 with his latest album Iceman, which amassed 140.2 million streams in its first 24 hours after release on Friday. This makes it the second biggest hip-hop debut on the platform, trailing only his own 2021 release Certified Lover Boy, which achieved 153 million streams in its opening day.
In comparison, rival Kendrick Lamar's surprise album GNX, released in November 2024, garnered 44 million streams in its first seven hours and 75 million over its initial full 24-hour tracking period. Both albums fall short of the overall Spotify record held by Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department, which was streamed 313.7 million times in 24 hours in April 2024.
The success of Iceman, alongside two additional albums Maid of Honour and Habibti, propelled Drake to become the most-streamed artist on Spotify in a single day this year, with over 250 million total streams on Friday. However, an initial report that Drake's song 'Make Them Cry' had set the record for most-streamed song in a single day in 2026 was later retracted by Spotify due to a counting error.
Spotify clarified in a statement to Billboard: 'The initial streams review process was completed manually, resulting in streams from two different album tracks being combined. Drake continues to hold the record for most-streamed artist and album in a single day in 2026. We apologize for the error and have implemented updated review procedures.' The most-streamed song of 2026 remains 'Swim' by BTS with 14.64 million streams in 24 hours.
Critical reception to Drake's triple album release has been mixed. In a review for The Independent, music editor Roisin O'Connor noted Drake's ongoing struggle with self-editing, citing bloat in previous albums like Scorpion and For All the Dogs, and described the new releases as lacking in material quality.
