Slap the City
| "Slap the City" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Drake featuring Qendresa | |
| from the album Habibti | |
| Released | May 15, 2026 |
| Genre | R&B |
| Length | 3:22 |
| Label | OVO, Republic |
| Songwriters |
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| Producers |
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| Music video | |
| "Slap the City" on YouTube | |
"Slap the City" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake featuring British-Kosovar singer Qendresa. It appears on Drake's album Habibti, one of three studio albums, alongside Iceman and Maid of Honour, that he released simultaneously on May 15, 2026.[1]
Background and release
[edit]"Slap the City" was released as part of a surprise triple-album rollout. Drake had spent months teasing the release of Iceman, including installing a large ice sculpture in downtown Toronto and hosting a livestream series titled Iceman Episode 4. At midnight on May 15, 2026, he unveiled that two additional albums, Habibti and Maid of Honour, would accompany Iceman, bringing the total release to 43 songs across the three projects.[1]
Habibti is a title that translates from Arabic as "my love" or "my darling" consists largely of R&B-leaning material exploring the ups and downs of relationships, in contrast to the more combative, hip-hop-oriented Iceman. A Rolling Stone review characterized Habibti as closer in spirit to the romantic, R&B-facing Drake of earlier albums, released once he had gotten his grievances against Kendrick Lamar off his chest on Iceman.[1][2][3]
Composition and lyrics
[edit]"Slap the City" features vocals from Qendresa, who also appears on three other tracks across Drake's three albums: "Fortworth" and "Gen 5" from Habibti, and "Stuck" from Maid of Honour. According to Qendresa, "Slap the City" was the first song Drake sent her during their collaboration, and he described it to her as sounding like a blend of both artists' styles.[4]
Musically, Rolling Stone noted that the track reworks the beat from "Show Me a Good Time," a Kanye West co-produced highlight from Drake's 2010 debut album Thank Me Later, framing the song as a callback to Drake's earliest work.[3]
The song includes a lyric referencing Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, in which Drake raps about someone attending the school and later graduating. The line drew attention from Queen's students and affiliates, including the university's rector, following the song's release.[5]
The accompanying music video features Drake wearing a fur jacket bearing patches for Canadian brands including Canadian Tire, Sleep Country, RBC, Manchu Wok, and Molson Canadian.[1]
Commercial performance
[edit]"Slap the City" debuted at number 39 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the week the three albums were released.[4] Habibti, the album on which it appears, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, while Iceman debuted at number one and Maid of Honour at number three: the first time an artist held the top three positions on the chart simultaneously. The achievement also gave Drake his 15th number-one album on the Billboard 200, tying him with Taylor Swift for the most number-one albums by a solo artist.[2]
Critical reception
[edit]In a review of the three albums for Rolling Stone, Jeff Ihaza rated Habibti three-and-a-half out of five stars, describing the record overall as feeling like the more romantic, R&B-oriented Drake album audiences might have received had the 2024 feud with Kendrick Lamar never happened. The review singled out "Slap the City" as one of several tracks marking a return to a warmer, more melodic register after the combative tone of Iceman, and highlighted its interpolation of "Show Me a Good Time" as a deliberate nod to Drake's earlier catalog.[3]
The song, and Drake's mention of Queen's University in particular, also drew notable attention from Canadian university communities and Toronto media.[5] Some commentators contrasted the warm reception to "Slap the City" with more mixed reactions to other lyrics across the three-album release, which some listeners characterized as uneven in quality given the volume of material released at once.[5]
The collaboration with Qendresa was widely credited with significantly boosting her public profile; she reported a jump from roughly six-figure to multi-million monthly listeners on Spotify following the songs' release.[4]
Personnel
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Harmsen, Natalie; Adams, Kelsey; Kinos-Goodin, Jesse (May 15, 2026). "Kendrick, Canada, extra albums and more: takeaways from Drake's Iceman". CBC Music.
- 1 2 Harmsen, Natalie (May 25, 2026). "Drake becomes 1st artist to simultaneously hold top 3 spots on Billboard 200 albums chart". CBC.
- 1 2 3 Ihaza, Jeff (May 18, 2026). "Drake's 'Iceman' Trilogy Turns 'Not Like Us' Inside Out". Rolling Stone.
- 1 2 3 Saponara, Michael (June 8, 2026). "How Rising Artist Qendresa Landed on Drake's 'Habibti' & 'Maid of Honour' Albums: 'I've Always Been Inspired by Him'". Billboard.
- 1 2 3 Sheahan, Eva (May 25, 2026). "Breaking news: Drake puts Queen's back on the map". Queen's Journal.