{"id":53277,"date":"2022-10-23T13:16:36","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T05:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/?p=53277"},"modified":"2022-10-23T13:58:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T05:58:10","slug":"drakes-spiciest-moments-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/2022\/10\/23\/drakes-spiciest-moments-in-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake’s Spiciest Moments in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Drake<\/p>\n

By Anton Karve<\/strong><\/p>\n

As one of the best-selling rappers of all time, Drake is without a doubt one of the world’s most relevant personalities. However, the public eye moves fast, and one needs to provide the all-consuming maw of pop culture a constant stream of juicy entertainment to avoid being thrown to the wayside. Of course, many would argue that Drizzy transcended such worldly limitations long ago and has no need for drama, but his track record this year would beg to differ. In celebration of Drake’s 36th birthday (happy birthday!), let’s dive into some of his best moments this year.<\/p>\n

1. NOCTA x Nike Everywhere, from NBA to the Super Bowl<\/h2>\n

\"Drake<\/p>\n

Just like his hip-hop superstar peers, Drake’s been heavily diversifying his assets, reaching far beyond the music industry to expand his creative brand. After a successful series of apparel releases and collaborations by Drake’s record label OVO, he’s pushed further into the fashion, sportswear, streetwear, and \u2014most importantly\u2014sneaker territory with his newest collaborative venture with Nike, NOCTA.<\/p>\n

Drizzy and Co. kicked up a fuss at this February’s Super Bowl LVI by collectively turning up decked out in baby blue NOCTA drip, featuring a classic embroidered Swoosh at the centre front, while a dramatically more extravagant butterfly insignia and NOCTA branding adorn the back. Some members even paired it up with matching baby blue NOCTA joggers, extending the butterfly cross pattern from head to toe.<\/p>\n

\"Drake<\/p>\n

Drake’s a known (sometimes overly-enthusiastic<\/a>) supporter of his home NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, and his own fans often look out for him court-side for hints of what’s to come in OVO and NOCTA’s future. They clearly had the right idea, because from early 2021 onwards pictures of court-side Drizzy wearing an unreleased pair of Nike shoes circulated online. They turned out to be the all-new NOCTA x Nike Hot Step Air Terra, which finally released (and promptly sold out) in March this year. Like many of the artist’s recent releases, these sneakers dropped to highly mixed reviews, but still sold extremely well like any of his other projects \u2014 more on that later.<\/p>\n

Even more recently, professional Drake watchers have spotted signs of a fully-fledged NOCTA x Nike “Distant Regards” collection. Check it out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2. ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ Gets a Mixed Bag of Reactions<\/h2>\n

\"Drake<\/h2>\n

Prior to this year’s release of Drake’s newest record, ‘Honestly, Nevermind’, his two most recent albums, ‘Certified Lover Boy’ and ‘Scorpion’ had met relative success on the top charts, but extremely mediocre critical response and a polarised fanbase. Increasingly, critics and fans alike agreed that Drake’s new music was getting boring, and called for the hip-hop\/R&B\/pop aficionado to experiment and drop something exciting.<\/p>\n

Drake clearly took this advice to heart, dropping his most experimental, and proportionately, most polarising album yet virtually out of nowhere. ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ hit the music world entirely by surprise when listeners realised it was more of an electronic house album than a hip-hop record.<\/p>\n