After Drake dropped his brand new studio album For All The Dogs on October 6, the LP’s two clear standouts battled it out to see which would land at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. These were “IDGAF” featuring Yeat and “First Person Shooter” featuring J. Cole.
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For most of the hip-hop community, these two tracks represented two different fanbase demographics in the genre, as “IDGAF” beamed with a vibrant youthfulness thanks to up-and-comer Yeat’s vocal and aesthetic contribution, and “First Person Shooter” delivered a more punchy, fiery performance for more seasoned rap fans thanks to J. Cole and Drake’s thorough verses.
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Ultimately, “First Person Shooter” ended up debuting atop the Hot 100, helping Drake tie Michael Jackson’s record for most No. 1 songs of all time by a male soloist. “IDGAF” would peak at No. 2, which impressively served as Yeat’s highest charting song ever, even though it disappointed the Gen-Z listeners who were rooting for it to hit no. 1.
Still, though, “IDGAF” served as a breakthrough moment for a bubbling rap underground, full of auto-tuned crooning, synth-heavy production, and a rowdy teenage following. Since the beginning of the 2020s decade, Yeat has been the ring leader of this movement, and his addition to a mainstream project like Drake’s was not only a massive accomplishment for his community but a long-awaited full-circle moment for him personally.
Yeat and Drake first met in the late summer of 2021, when the former’s tapes like 4L and Up 2 Me were gaining traction on Spotify and social media hubs like TikTok. Though Drake had shown a fondness for the young MC, momentum for a collaboration between the two never really manifested.
Then in June of this year, after Yeat’s February album Afterlyfe became his most successful release to date, his close friend and frequent producer BNYX uploaded a snippet of “IDGAF” to social media, which was first meant to be a solo Yeat song. Eventually, though, considering Drake and BNYX already had a pre-established relationship, Drake would join the song and use it to soundtrack an advertisement for his new Nocta x Nike Wingsuit in September.
“NOCTA GLIDE 2023. Available tonight on nocta.com,” he wrote on Instagram. “Music by Twizz and The Boy.”
A month later, the official version of “IDGAF” would hit streaming platforms as part of For All The Dogs, and its I don’t be givin’ no f**ks / I say whatever I want, I do whatever I want / I’m countin’ up money for fun hook would instantly go viral on TikTok. Since its arrival on the app, the “IDGAF” sound on the app has launched and sustained a massive dance trend on TikTok, which was what originally led fans to believe that the song could make its way to No. 1 on the Hot 100.
But, even though “IDGAF” did not reach the peak many of Drake’s most juvenile fans had hoped for, it still was able to awaken many mainstream listeners to a new wave of hip-hop music, as well as bolster the career of one of their beloved, rising stars.
Don’t Miss: Drake and J. Cole are hitting the road together in 2024. Get your tickets to the It’s All A Blur Tour here.
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