Just a few months after sharing the first photo of his son Adonis, Drake has taken everyone on a vacation to ‘Greece,’ one of his two new songs with DJ Khaled.
Forget the “Toosie Slide” – it’s time to do the “Hand jive.” Wait, that’s Grease, and not “Greece,” one of the two tracks that DJ Khaled and Drake released on July 17. After Khaled, 44, spent weeks hinting that he and Drake, 32, were going to reunite for yet another banger, the father of Ashad changed things up and announced they were releasing two songs. Along with “POPSTAR,” the duo dropped “Greece” on July 17, and this one has a more personal feel.
For example, when Drake raps, “Speedboats, baby, in Nikki Beach”, he’s referencing Nikki Beach Worldwide — a luxury beach club brand that has locations worldwide, including in Greece. And what’s even more interesting is that, according to Genius, Nikki Beach is a frequent spot for Sophie Brussaux, who just so happens to be the mother of Drake’s child, Adonis. Adonis is also a Greek-inspired name, so it’s very possible this song some familial connections.
“Greece” comes more than three months after Drake shared photos of Adonis. It was the first time the public got to see Drake’s boy after he confirmed his paternity in 2018 with “Emotionless,” a song off his album, Scorpion. “I wasn’t hidin’ my kid from the world/ I was hidin’ the world from my kid,” he raps on a song, seemingly responding to “The Story of Adidon,” the Pusha-T diss track that revealed Drake was a father.
“I posted those pictures [of Adonis], it was great for me It was great to just share that with the world,” said Drake during a May interview on Young Money Radio with Lil Wayne, per Harper’s Bazaar. “I want to be able to go places with my son and share memories with my son. I don’t want to feel like just because of a life choice I made to be, you know, a ‘celebrity’ that I got to make everybody live under this blanket. I just wanted to free myself of that.”
Given Drake and Khaled’s track record, it won’t be a shock if one of these new songs finds its way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Drake already has a No. 1 in 2020 with “Toosie Slide.” The TikTok-fueled song made history, making Drake the first male artist to have three songs debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Earlier in the year, Drake broke another record by recording the most Billboard Hot 100 entries by a single artist (209 and counting.)
So, “Greece” / “Popstar” becoming a hit will not be anything out of the ordinary. If they happen to stay No. 1 for the summer, that’s a different story. Like the rest of the world, the top of the Billboard Hot 100 has recently been in a state of flux and chaos. Unlike last year, when Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” had literally the longest run at No. 1, there have been twelve songs to top the Hot 100 in 2020. Before the current No.1, DaBaby and Roddy Ricch’s “Rockstar,” took over, there was a period when there was a new No. 1 each week: Travis Scott and Kid Cudi’s “The Scotts,” Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj’s “Say So (Remix)” Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber’s “Stuck With U,” Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé’s “Savage (Remix)” and Lady Gaga and Ariana’s “Rain On Me.” DaBaby’s “Rockstar” was the sixth No. 1 in as many weeks, and it went on a two-week run before losing the spot to 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj’s “TROLLZ.” After that song plummeted out of the top spot, “Rockstar” regained its place at No. 1.
2020 might not be about the long game. The CVOID-19 pandemic has changed how people have consumed music. There is a lot of free time and not much to do. Three of the previously mentioned songs – “Say So,” “Toosie Slide,” “Savage” – have corresponding TikTok challenges, with Drake’s track practically engineered to be a hit on the short-form platform. With the lack of social spaces brewing a collective consensus, it might be harder for a single song to build a groundswell of support. Instead, bored consumers enjoy a song for one week before tossing it aside for the next.
However, as Billboard notes, 2020 might not be as different when it comes to the chart. While “Old Town Road” dominated the charts last year, songs by Shawn Mendes (“If I Can’t Have You”), Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber (“I Don’t Care”), Taylor Swift (“You Need To Calm Down”), and Shawn Mendes with Camila Cabello (“Senorita”) all debuted at the No. 2 position during Lil Nas X’s reign. Plus, Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” and Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” were hanging around near the top of the chart. Arguably, without that one monster hit locked in at No. 1, 2019’s charts might have looked similar to this year. We now have to see if Drake and Khaled – two artists who are known for releasing ‘songs of the summer’ – can be the monster hit that 2020 has been lacking.