Drake’s friends didn’t throw him a typical party for his 40th. They took him up Toronto’s CN Tower on October 21 and surprised him with a collage of shared memories, and Popcaan was right there in the room.
According to XXL’s October 23 report, the gathering was private, a small circle of people who have been around for the ride.
Popcaan showing up says plenty about how close the Jamaican dancehall star remains to the Toronto rapper.
Their bond goes back years. Popcaan has long been part of the OVO Sound family, and the two have traded verses more than once, with Popcaan appearing on “Twist & Turn” from Drake’s 2020 project Dark Lane Demo Tapes and Drake returning the favour on Popcaan’s “We Caa Done” in 2023.
For dancehall fans, seeing Popcaan in that inner circle feels like confirmation of something they’ve noticed for a while.
Drake’s relationship with Caribbean music has always drawn debate, with some listeners calling it genuine love and others calling it borrowing, but his friendship with Popcaan has been one of the more consistent threads through all of it.
The celebrations didn’t stay in Toronto for long. Drake, his mother and members of his entourage flew to New York aboard Air Drake, and the rapper was spotted eating at Italian restaurant Mamo on October 22.
That meant fans got glimpses of the birthday days before the actual date. Drake officially turns 40 on October 24, closing out a week that played out across two cities rather than one big night.
The timing lands after one of the strangest chart runs anyone has managed. On May 15 Drake released three albums at once, Iceman, Habibti and Maid of Honour, and Billboard reported that all three debuted at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the Billboard 200 dated May 30.
No artist had ever held all three top spots at the same time in the chart’s 70 year history. Iceman led the pack with 463,000 equivalent album units in the US, according to Luminate figures cited by Billboard, becoming his 15th album to hit No. 1.
The other two trailed well behind, with Habibti posting 114,000 units and Maid of Honour landing at 110,000.
That gap gives critics a talking point, since the sweep looks less like three equal hits and more like one big album carrying two smaller companions.
The singles chart told its own story that same week. Drake placed 42 songs on the Hot 100, 40 of them new entries, pushing his career total to 402 and making him the first artist ever to pass 400 appearances.
So the CN Tower moment sits against a backdrop of numbers that would make most artists retire happy. Instead, XXL reports Drake has promised a 2027 tour supporting the three albums, and he’s already started testing the material, performing Iceman songs live for the first time at Don Toliver’s Toronto show.
Whether Popcaan turns up on that tour is anyone’s guess for now. With a new decade starting for Drake and his friends clearly still close by, the next chapter is only getting started.
