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 |
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Music video | |
| "Slap the City" on YouTube | |
Listen to the song Slap the City or Buy it on amazon
"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
"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]
Composition and lyrics
"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.[2] 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] Reviewing Habibti for Pitchfork, Matthew Ritchie wrote that the song "revs up" partway through the album and credited Qendresa's "Aaliyah-like vocal runs on the hook" with giving the track its energy. He described the song's lyrics as opening on Drake questioning why his Toronto mansion feels empty, before turning to lines about his body count that Ritchie said came off as a double standard. Ritchie called the result "hollow" even while allowing that it "sounds hypnotic."[4]
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]
Commercial performance
"Slap the City" debuted at number 39 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the week the three albums were released.[2] 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.[6]
Critical reception
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] Ritchie's Pitchfork review placed "Slap the City" among a run of songs in Habibti's back half that he said swing between brief moments of isolation and longer, less interesting stretches about "keeping score and who's fucking who." He wrote that the song's hook was one of the album's more hypnotic moments even as its verses struck him as thin.[4] 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] Variety wrote that "Slap the City" follows some generic lonely-boy material on Habibti and gives Drake appealing bars about a situationship. Variety also compares its mood to a pre-breakup conversation at the restaurant Sotto Sotto, with Qendresa's Aaliyah-style runs adding to that mood.[7] Elsewhere in the review, said Drake gets in his own way on the song by drifting into "placeholder playboy lyrics", and that it is a loss when he gives up the specificity that is one of his strengths.[7] He called Habibti the most restrained of the three albums, one that rarely reached the highs of the other two.[7] The Fader included the song as the fifth track on an alternate single album of the three albums, which it trimmed to 24 songs and about 80 minutes.[8]
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.[2]
Other reactions
Drake wears a fur coat in the "Slap the City" music video, it is patched with the logos of Canadian Tire, Sleep Country, RBC, Manchu Wok, and Molson Canadian, prompted responses from several of the brands themselves. Canadian Tire and Molson Canadian both posted screenshots from the video on Instagram, with Molson asking followers, "Should we actually make this?" RBC used the video to congratulate Drake on the three albums, and Manchu Wok wrote, "ManchuWOK has entered the chat."[9]
On May 19, 2026, Sleep Country Canada gave away free king-size mattresses at its store at 8 King Street East in Toronto to fans who showed up wearing a fur coat similar to the one in the video, with faux fur encouraged. The giveaway began at 10 a.m. and ran while supplies lasted.[9]
Music video
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]
Personnel
- Drake – vocals
- Qendresa – featured vocals
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Harmsen, Natalie; Adams, Kelsey; Kinos-Goodin, Jesse (May 15, 2026). "Kendrick, Canada, extra albums and more: takeaways from Drake's Iceman". CBC Music.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 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.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ihaza, Jeff (May 18, 2026). "Drake's 'Iceman' Trilogy Turns 'Not Like Us' Inside Out". Rolling Stone.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ritchie, Matthew (May 20, 2026). "Habibti". Pitchfork.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Sheahan, Eva (May 25, 2026). "Breaking news: Drake puts Queen's back on the map". Queen's Journal.
- ↑ Harmsen, Natalie (May 25, 2026). "Drake becomes 1st artist to simultaneously hold top 3 spots on Billboard 200 albums chart". CBC.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Berry, Peter A. (May 15, 2026). "Drake's 'Iceman' Is Exactly the Fun and Vindictive Comeback Record He Needed: Album Review". Variety.
- ↑ Medithi, Vivian (May 20, 2026). "What if Drake had dropped one perfect album?". The Fader.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ferreira, Beatriz (May 19, 2026). "Sleep Country Canada giving away free mattresses to Drake fans in Toronto today". Now Toronto.
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