Just over a year after Drake took Universal Music Group to court, he may be about to hand the label his next chapter.
According to DJ Akademiks, the Toronto rapper is lining up what could be the largest record deal in music history, and it’s with the same company he spent much of 2025 fighting.
Akademiks made the claim during an appearance on One Night With Steiny, and he didn’t hedge. “This is definitely official. Drake is at the precipice of being in a new deal,” he said. “He’s set to receive probably the biggest record deal in history.”
The timing lines up with how Drake closed out his last contract. That agreement was reportedly worth $400 million, and he’s said to have fulfilled it in May 2026 by dropping three surprise albums, ICEMAN, Habibti, and Maid of Honour.
Releasing a trio of projects at once is an unusual move, and it read to plenty of fans like an artist clearing his obligations as fast as possible.
That’s what makes a renewal so interesting. In January 2025, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit against UMG over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” arguing the label promoted a track that damaged his reputation.
A federal judge dismissed the case later that year, but the relationship between the two sides looked anything but warm at the time.
So there are two ways to read this. One is that business is business, and Drake remains one of the most streamed artists on the planet, which gives him serious leverage no matter how messy things got.
The other is more skeptical, because an artist who just raced through his remaining albums could just as easily be shopping for a fresh start somewhere else.
It’s also fair to weigh the messenger. Akademiks has long been seen as close to Drake’s orbit, which cuts both ways.
It could mean he has real inside knowledge, or it could mean the story is being floated to set the tone before any numbers hit the table.
For now, nothing is confirmed. Neither Drake nor Universal Music Group has publicly verified any negotiations, and no financial figures have been put on record by either camp.
That hasn’t stopped the speculation. With the $400 million figure as a starting point, the question across the industry is how far past it Drake could push, and what UMG would be willing to pay to keep him after everything that’s happened between them.
