For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard is counting down our staff picks for the top 10 pop stars of 2023 all next week. At No. 10, we remember the year in Drake — a veteran superstar whose current work longtime fans are increasingly divided over, but who can still always just point to the scoreboard for proof of his rap and pop supremacy.
The turn of the year was quiet for Drake, by the prolific megastar’s standards— after dropping his eighth studio album Her Loss at the top of November, he sat back and watched the album top the charts— but by December, the hype was dwindling. Only three songs remained in the Hot 100 by December 31: “Rich Flex,” “Spin Bout U,” and “Circo Loco,” with the highest placing at No. 20. The only things that Drake had left on his agenda for the year were two highly-anticipated sold out shows at the Apollo Theater. A week before they were slated to take place in November, Migos rapper Takeoff tragically passed away, and production issues set the performances back further. Perhaps it was appropriate that the rap game was silent.
Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars of 2023:
Introduction & Honorable Mentions | Rookie of the Year: Peso Pluma | Comeback of the Year: Miley Cyrus
Drake started 2023 on a high note: he returned to the stage at the Apollo, delighting fans with a career-spanning mix of his biggest hits and deep cuts and giving fans a taste of what was to come. Shortly after, he announced the It’s All a Blur tour with 21 Savage in March, with 29 shows scheduled across the U.S. and Canada. He quickly capitalized upon the excitement by expanding his tour with an additional 15 shows – and for a moment, everything surrounding Drake was good, clean fun. In true Drake style, that did not last for long.
One of Drake’s greatest star strengths is his ability to create headline-worthy moments that are controversial, but not career-jeopardizingly damning. He once again stirred the pot in his on-and-off relationship with Kanye West with the single “Search & Rescue” by including audio of Kim Kardashian talking about her former husband. This left fans wondering if the soundbite was just fitting of the track’s theme, or if it was a deeper dig at Drake’s frenemy. Regardless of intent, discussion of the potential beef helped propel the track to a No. 2 debut on the Hot 100.
Interestingly, though, the biggest controversy the superstar had around this time didn’t even involve music: seemingly out of nowhere, Drake appeared on Bobbi Althoff’s The Really Good Podcast, giving fans a rare sit down with the rapper that showcased his humor while skyrocketing Althoff to fame. The general population was not particularly familiar with Althoff – who transitioned from making content for moms on TikTok to rebranding with a new podcast and a new aloof, deadpan persona in 2021 – so, when Drake sat down with her, the intentionally awkward conversation broke the internet. Should Drake have given such a platform to such an amateur talent who was unfamiliar with hip-hop? Was Bobbi’s interview insulting? The internet debated for months following the episode, further fueled by the fact that the full video was later taken down from Althoff’s channel.
Summer was when things started to pick up for Drake in 2023: a string of buzzy guest appearances and collaborations kept fans on the hook: “Who Told You” with J Hus, “On the Radar Freestyle” with Central Cee, “Oh U Went” with Young Thug, and “Meltdown” with Travis Scott each had their moments. Despite the hype surrounding each of these releases, none of them took off quite like the rapper’s previous work. Instead, Drake found success in entertaining his audience with the It’s All a Blur Tour, earning $147.5 million for the year, according to numbers reported to Billboard Box Score.
The It’s All a Blur tour was a massive success beyond numbers: It further proved that Drake remains an undeniable pop star. Each show generated new viral moments, both positive and negative. Some fans complained that Drake was ranting for too long or forgetting his own lyrics, but the tour was widely praised overall. Fans were surprised by the visuals, including a drone-powered flying sperm, and Drake personally surprising audience members with luxury gifts including $50,000 and an Hermès Birkin bag. Attendees of the tour were even given the chance to grab a pair of NOCTA Nike Hot Step Air Terras, courtesy of Drake’s partnership with Shopify, Drake Related. It seemed as if Drake had an infinite number of tricks up his sleeve— and then came his next album, For All The Dogs.
Pressure was high for Drake to release a strong album. After experiencing a dip in both fan enthusiasm and chart performance with Honestly, Nevermind, and regaining his footing with Her Loss, the Toronto rapper came back with a lot to prove on Dogs. Its lead single, “Slime You Out” featuring SZA, excited fans due to the artists’ shared history. The superstar pairing and exchange of jabs on the track helped it soar to No. 1 on the Hot 100. But ultimately, fans found the track disappointing — as did legendary actress Halle Berry, who was featured in the cover art without her approval, and co-star SZA, who claims her best vocals were not incorporated. It quickly fell down the chart. Still, fans were excited to hear Drake’s latest body of work, which was first promised to drop a week after. However, after debating whether he should cancel his final tour dates to finish the album, Drake pushed back the release from Sept. 22 to Oct. 6.
Once released, For All The Dogs proved that Drake remains commercially bulletproof. Critics poked holes in the 23-track release, saying that it was too long, that the lyrics were too corny and surface level and that Drake’s sentiments felt glaringly misogynistic. Still, the album debuted at No. 1, tying Michael Jackson’s record for solo males on the Billboard Hot 100 with J. Cole team-up “First Person Shooter.” The varied offering with a stacked list of featured artists had several strong moments, mainly tied to collaborations with Cole, Yeat and Sexyy Red, but fans continue to cite Drake’s older works as his prime. One featured artist was unexpected and refreshing for everyone: the incorporation of Adonis, Drake’s 6-year-old son, now a burgeoning visual artist. Adonis’ drawing was used as the cover artwork for Dogs, and that drawing was further integrated into the Dogs era via inclusion in the music video for “8am in Charlotte.”
Following the release of Dogs, Drake’s moves were unpredictable. He said that he would be taking a hiatus to focus on his health – a claim that made sense as it came on the heels of Drake revealing that he suffered from stomach issues on tour, on top of the many previous years of nonstop grinding. The world was ready to give Drake a break. But then he dropped Adonis’ “My Man Freestyle,” and just a few weeks after that, he dropped the video for “First Person Shooter,” an elaborate production laden with pop culture references to things like the Spider-Man meme and the famous photo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing chess.
But the biggest curveball of all came on Nov. 17: Drake dropped the surprise Scary Hours Edition reissue of For All the Dogs, adding six new songs to the tracklist, and dates for a 2024 U.S. run titled the It’s All a Blur Tour – Big as the What? with support from J. Cole. In hindsight, Drake might have foretold this change of plans on new Scary Hours track “Stories About My Brother,” as he described a return: “the storm before the calm, we’ll get to the vacation later.”
Once again, Drake has reminded us to expect the unexpected – it’s what’s made him omnipresent in both 2023 and in our lives for the past decade and a half, for better or worse. With a tour on the horizon, we’re not too likely to stop hearing from the 6 God in 2024, either.
