The Toronto rap titan Drake came this close as his most recent track, "What Did I Miss," entered the Hot 100 at No. 2. But instead of the champagne and glory we expect and that he is certainly used to giving us, we got something else: a salty Instagram Story.
"Suppressor to the No. 1 spot. I'm taking that soon. Don't worry. One song or another. Rule changes and all," Drake wrote cryptic, cocky, and unenthusiastic, clearly.
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Why the long face, Drizzy? Presumably because the No. 1 slot didn't belong to yet another brooding heavy but, rather, to Alex Warren, a social media-spurred upstart whose gently devastating slow-burner "Ordinary" is now anything but ordinary. Charged by TikTok tears and Gen Z heartbreak, Warren's song surfed a tidal wave of virality to the top, becoming his first-ever No.
For Drake, whose entire career is based on dominance and consistency, a second-place finish, especially after a bruising several months, obviously stings, and let us not forget: This chart misstep comes after a very public, highly one-sided lyrical battle with Kendrick Lamar in a battle that left even Drake loyalists wondering why they put their faith in him. Running parallel to all that was the narrative, mostly created by himself, that Kane was in the catbird seat, that he could book his match any time, anywhere, with anyone. His latest single, called by fans a series of somewhat veiled, subtle digs at past adversaries, would appear to be a rather transparent effort to take the narrative back. Instead, he has become the story for all of the wrong reasons.
"Drake releases 80 songs after the battle, one does really well, and now he's THE KING AGAIN! Cease this blasphemy," said one comment. Others jumped in "Bro still gives a shit about the charts. "to go head to head with D. Worthy for the title of the best rapper of the 9300," Kdot got him spooked," and "All this dude cares about is numbers. That ain't hip hop, that's why yo art stinks."
Although "What Did I Miss" was good for yet another impressive milestone, Drake's 78th Top 10 hit, a feat that most artists in the history of popular music can only dream of- it still wasn't strong enough to shake off the aftershocks of his recent losses. The public seems to be growing tired of chart flexing, especially when it's coming from someone who once dominated the game with barely any effort.
Warren's "Ordinary" moment does not feel ordinary, but it feels like a changing of the guard about who, exactly, is taking hearts in 2025. It's not domination, and it's not drama, and it's not cryptic Instagram clapbacks that are joining us, but pure, unpolished emotion.
Drake's unmistakably still in the mix, though fans are wondering: Is the rapper working too hard to win a game that has already left him? In the end, "What Did I Miss" might be the right title for the week, because while Drake's looking at stats, a whole new wave of artists are busy making music that sounds like something.
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