With four days to go, Drake’s cryptic new tease has the internet spiraling again
Four days before one of the most anticipated rap albums in years lands on streaming platforms, Drake is still playing games — and the internet is still falling for every one of them. A cryptic Instagram Story bearing just three words, ‘Make Them Cry,’ has sent fans into another spiral of speculation as the May 15 release date for ICEMAN draws closer.
The phrase arrived with no context, no caption, and no explanation — which, at this point, is entirely on brand for a rollout that has operated almost entirely on mystery and spectacle. Fans immediately began theorizing that Make Them Cry could be a new track set to appear on the album, and the pattern supports that reading.
Drake’s ICEMAN Rollout Has Been Anything But Ordinary
Drake began teasing his ninth album as far back as August 2024 through cryptic social media messages and the EP 100 Gigs. What followed was one of the most drawn-out and theatrical album campaigns in recent memory — a slow drip of clues, livestreams, and real-world stunts that kept Drake’s name in the conversation for nearly two years without a single official tracklist reveal.
The campaign peaked when a 25-foot ice sculpture was installed in a downtown Toronto parking lot with the release date hidden inside. Crowds gathered quickly, with viral clips showing fans armed with sledgehammers, blowtorches, and even flamethrowers attempting to crack the structure open. Toronto’s fire department eventually stepped in to melt it down safely. Twitch streamer Kishka ultimately retrieved a waterproof bag from inside the structure labeled ‘Freeze the World,’ drove to Drake’s mansion, and opened it to reveal the May 15 date — and was handed a bag of cash by Drake’s team.
Mal seemingly teases a potential song title for Drake’s ‘ICEMAN’ 👀
“MAKE THEM CRY”
Mal has previously teased the title for “What Did I Miss?” the same way and Drake also posted the title to his story before… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/GjwnQcmfIA
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) May 10, 2026
The Singles Leading Into ICEMAN
Three singles have been confirmed ahead of the album’s release— What Did I Miss?, Which One featuring British rapper Central Cee, and Dog House featuring Yeat and Julia Wolf. Each was preceded by a YouTube livestream, though it remains unconfirmed whether all three will appear on the final tracklist.
A fourth livestream, Iceman Episode 4, is set to air on May 14 — the day before the album drops — raising the strong possibility that Make Them Cry could be unveiled there, following the same pattern Drake used for each of the previous singles.
The rollout has also drawn speculation about potential features. Expected collaborators include Young Thug, 21 Savage, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Cash Cobain, while fans have pointed to Drake’s interactions with Sabrina Carpenter and Travis Scott as hints of additional appearances. No official tracklist has been released.
ICEMAN Arrives in the Shadow of the Kendrick Feud
ICEMAN marks Drake’s first full-length solo release since For All the Dogs in 2023 — a gap of over 928 days. That stretch has been defined in large part by the fallout from his public feud with Kendrick Lamar, which concluded with Lamar’s Not Like Us sweeping five awards at the 67th Grammy Awards, including Record and Song of the Year.
Drake, unwilling to let the matter rest, filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group in January 2025 alleging defamation and claiming the label and Spotify had artificially inflated the track’s popularity. The lawsuit gave critics an easy thread to pull — and some have already said the irony embedded in the Make Them Cry tease, reading it as Drake’s latest attempt to reclaim the emotional narrative after one of the most public losses in rap history.
What the Numbers Could Look Like
Drake‘s commercial standing remains formidable regardless of the cultural debate surrounding his reputation. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry ranked him the third best-selling artist worldwide in 2025, trailing only Taylor Swift and Stray Kids. He has also crossed the benchmark of 300 songs each surpassing 100 million streams.
Prediction markets expect ICEMAN to debut well above 500,000 first-week units and potentially spend multiple weeks atop the Billboard 200. Whether Make Them Cry becomes the album’s emotional centerpiece or simply another piece of Drake’s elaborate pre-release theater, the answer is now just days away.