Drake’s Sound Engineer OVO Noel Reveals Original ‘ICEMAN,’ ‘MAID OF HONOUR’ & ‘HABIBTI’ Tracklists
Drizzy's unreleased grail "Vital" was slated to land at HABIBTI at one point.
It’s been three weeks since Drake trampled the rap game with three albums, and ICEMAN has remained atop the Billboard 200 since then. OVO affiliate Noel gave fans a look behind the curtain of Drizzy’s creative process on Thursday (June 4), revealing the original tracklists to his ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR trifecta.
Noel, who serves as Drake’s sound engineer, posted the albums on three separate spreadsheets in the studio with sections for mix, clean, approval, master and notes about each track. ICEMAN‘s tracklist remains pretty much unchanged compared to the final version that arrived on May 15.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Janice STFU” was elongated from “Janice” and “Firm Friends” appears to possibly have been renamed from “Can’t Play Switzerland.”
MAID OF HONOUR didn’t undergo any changes to the tracklist, while HABIBTI swapped “Vital” for “Classic.” “I’m Spent” featuring Loe Shimmy also appears to have been a late addition to the project.
Diehard OVO fans may remember hearing about “Vital” as it has roots dating back to when Drake performed it in New Zealand on the Boy Meets World Tour in 2017. “Vital” remains a grail for fans as it never received an official release but eventually leaked online circa 2020.
ICEMAN earned a second week atop the Billboard 200, earning 225,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week ending May 28. It’s Drake’s sixth project to have multiple weeks at the summit.
“Janice STFU” also topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a second straight week, while the track earned Drizzy his 14th Hot 100 No. 1, breaking a tie with Michael Jackson for the most among male soloists.
Find the photo of the tracklists here.
