Drake Crowned Apple Music’s Most-Streamed Artist of 2025
Despite a year without a traditional solo album release, Drake remains a dominant force in the music industry, achieving the distinction of being Apple Music’s most-streamed artist of 2025. The announcement came as Apple Music began promoting its annual “Replay” feature on Tuesday, December 2, which highlights the year’s most popular songs and artists.
The achievement is particularly noteworthy given that the Toronto rapper’s last full-length solo project was 2023’s For All The Dogs. However, Drake maintained his presence in the charts through collaborations and a strategic rollout of new music associated with his forthcoming album.
In February, Drake partnered with PARTYNEXTDOOR on Some Sexy Songs 4 U, a project that yielded four singles: “GIMME A HUG,” “NOKIA,” “SOMEBODY LOVES ME,” and “DIE TRYING.” Throughout the year, he also previewed material from his highly anticipated album, Iceman, releasing “What Did I Miss?,” “Which One” featuring Central Cee, and “DOG HOUSE” with Yeat and Julia Wolf.
Drake addressed the varied reception to his recent musical experiments, particularly the livestream format, in a recent interview. “I think the biggest misconception is how simple people think this is,” he explained. “When you try to do something new or different, people can be overly critical before really understanding what it takes.” He further elaborated, “The goal with this project was to be creative and innovative — to experiment in a way that might spark others to think differently about how music can be released or experienced.”
While Drake topped the overall artist charts, Kendrick Lamar also made a significant impact on Apple Music’s year-end rankings. Lamar secured six spots on the Top 10 songs of 2025 list, with “luther,” featuring SZA, claiming the No. 1 position. His diss track, “Not Like Us,” followed closely in second place, and “NOKIA” from Drake’s Some Sexy Songs 4 U landed at No. 7.
As of now, a firm release date for Drake’s Iceman remains undisclosed, leaving fans eagerly awaiting the next chapter in his prolific career.
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