Drake releases new album Scorpion: Streaming, tracklist, guest features and what we know so far

Follow-up to 'More Life' is a double-side rap/R&B album that dropped on 29 June

In case you hadn't heard, Drake released his fifth album Scorpion on 29 June.

The record features 25 songs including the No.1 singles “God's Plan” and “Nice For What”. Drake wrote his own “Editor's Notes” for Apple Music, which say: “I hate when Drake raps. Drake sings too much. Drake is a pop artist. Drake doesn’t even write his own songs.

"Drake took an l. Drake didn’t start from the bottom. Drake is finished. I like Drake's older stuff. Drake makes music for girls. Drake thinks he’s Jamaican. Drake is an actor. Drake changed. Anybody else > Drake …. Yeah yeah we know.”

You can check out the album on Spotify below and read The Independent's first impressions here:

The album is Drake's first project since 2017's More Life, which was billed as a playlist. It is his first album since 2016's commercially successful but poorly reviewed Views.

The first hint at a new release was dropped back in 2017 via the final line on More Life, where he promised: "I'll be back 2018 to give you the summary."

He then resurfaced in April with an Instagram photo which revealed the upcoming release of Scorpion and has since released three singles: "God's Plan", "Nice For What" and "I'm Upset", all with accompanying videos.

Here's everything we know/think we know about the album so far:

When will it be released and how do I listen to it?

The album dropped in the early hours Friday 29 June and has since been released to services including Apple Music and Spotify.

How many tracks will be on it?

As we mentioned earlier, it's a whopping 25 tracks. Drake previously shared the tracklist in full on his Instagram page and confirmed earlier reports of a double album - see in full below:

Several billboards popped up in Drake's hometown of Toronto referring to 'Side A/Side B' which caused the initial speculation. The double album was later confirmed by Mal of the Joe Budden podcast, who boasts a wealth of connections in Drake's OVO camp which has gifted him with the occasional nickname of "OVO Mal".

"It's a double album," he announced on the podcast. "RnB album and a rap album."

Who was involved in making the album?

Drake's longtime producers/collaborators Noah "40" Shebib and Olivier El-Khatib returned to helm this release. His last album More Life included major guest features including Kanye West, Quavo, Travis Scott, 2 Chainz and Young Thug, plus British artists Sampha, Giggs and Jorja Smith, but Scorpion appears to be a bit lighter (that's not to say there's not still a wealth of stars on the record)...

The Michael Jackson feature on “Don’t Matter to Me” appears to be previously unreleased music: Paul Anka is listed as a co-writer on the track (Anka and Jackson collaborated in the early 1980s) - Anka said last year that he was working on something with Drake.

There are also appearances from Static Major, TY Dollah $ign and Jay Z. On “That’s How You Feel,” Drake samples Nicki Minaj’s song “Boss Ass Bitch”, and Future appears on “Blue Tint”. No I.D., DJ Premier, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Tay Keith, Boi-1da, and Murda Beatz are among the producers credited on the album.

What does he talk about?

Pusha made references to rumours of Drake fathering an illegitimate child on "The Story of Adidon", and Drake confirms those reports on two different tracks.

“I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world, I was hiding the world from my kid,” Drake raps on "Emotionless". He continues: “Breaking news in my life I don’t run to the blogs/the only ones I want to tell are in my phone I can call/They always ask, ‘Why let it run if it’s false’/You know a wise man once said nothing at all.”

He more directly addresses that he’s a father on the album’s final track, “March 14”, and drops a Michael Jackson reference:

Yesterday morning was crazy, I had to come to terms with the fact that it’s not a maybe
That shit is in stone, sealed and signed
She not my lover like Billie Jean, but the kid is mine
Sandy used to tell me all it takes is one time, and all it took was one time
Shit, we only met two times, two times!
And both times were nothing like the new times
Now it’s rough times
I’m out here on frontlines, trying to make sure that I see him sometimes
It’s breaking my spirit
Single father, I hate when I hear it
I used to challenge my parents on every album
Now I’m embarrassed to tell ’em I ended up as a co-parent
Always promised the family unit
I wanted it to be different because I been through it, but this is the harsh truth now.

Jay Z references the recent death of XXXTentacion during "Talk Up": “Y'all killed X,” he raps. “Streets is done.”

On “Survival,” Drake appears to refer to his feuds with Meek Mill (“I’ve had real Philly n——s try to write my ending”) and Diddy:(“I've had scuffles with bad boys that wasn’t pretendin’”).

The end of “In My Feelings” includes a sample from the episode of Donald Glover's Atlanta that was completely about Drake:(“I don’t even care, I need a photo with Drake because my Instagram is weak as fuck.”)

On “Is There More”, Drake drops the line: “Soon as the album drop, I’m outta the deal.”

Will Drake go on tour?

Which rock have you been hiding under? Drake has already announced a major North American tour with Migos which kicks off in July, and is called - rather wonderfully - "The Aubrey and the Three Amigos" tour.