Key Points
- Apple Music names Drake its most-streamed artist for 2025. The news comes through a short post on social media.
- The win follows a busy year of albums and singles. His replay stats rise despite last year’s high-profile rap feud.
- Fans share mixed views online after the chart reveal. Many still praise his work rate and long-term hit record.
Drake (Aubrey Drake Graham) has been named Apple Music’s most-streamed artist of 2025, cementing his place as one of the platform’s biggest long-term draws. The streaming service made the reveal in a short post that read, “.@Drake is our most-streamed artist this year,” while asking listeners to check their own Apple Music Replay stats.
The update follows a year of heavy promo and fresh releases from the Canadian star. The win also builds on months of hype around his upcoming Iceman project and an Iceman promo with Kim Kardashian that pushed fans into full detective mode.
Apple Music shared the ranking as part of its 2025 Replay roll-out, which lets users see their top artists and songs for the year. The platform has not yet shared Drake’s exact streaming figures, but its global chart places him ahead of every other act on the service.
Apple Music crowns Drake for 2025
Drake’s latest win comes after a rough 2024, when his headline rap clash with Kendrick Lamar dominated culture and sparked heated talks about his place in hip-hop. This year’s Apple Music crown shows his streaming pull remains strong even after that much-watched back-and-forth.
Part of that pull comes from Some Sexy Songs 4 U, his joint album with PARTYNEXTDOOR released in February. The project debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and broke the record for the biggest first-day streams for an R&B/Soul album in Apple Music history.
The record also helped power standout track “Nokia,” which Apple Music lists among its biggest songs of the year. The single ranks inside the platform’s global Top Songs of 2025 playlist and stands as Drake’s top song on the service this cycle.
New music and rival scores
Apple’s year-end lists show that Drake is not the only artist pulling huge numbers on the app. South Korean singer Rosé and Bruno Mars lead the Top Songs rundown with their hit “Apt.,” which Apple Music calls the biggest song of 2025 after huge global streams and radio play.
Kendrick Lamar still has a heavy presence on the songs chart despite losing the overall artist spot to Drake. His joint track “Luther” with SZA sits just behind “Apt.” as the second most-streamed song on Apple Music this year, while “Not Like Us” and several other cuts also land in the Top 40.
Those numbers highlight how the pair’s rivalry now plays out in charts as much as in lyrics. Drake leads the artist tally, yet Kendrick’s songs keep a firm grip on streams and cultural talk across the year.
Online, fans quickly picked sides after Apple Music dropped its update post. Some users praised Drake’s work rate and said his long run of hits made the crown no surprise. Others argued that Lamar’s critical run and songs ranking proved he had the stronger year artistically, even if total streams told a different story.
What the win means for global streaming
Drake’s latest streaming title underlines how stable his fan base has become across platforms and regions. Year after year, he appears at or near the top of major lists on Apple Music and rival apps, showing how repeat plays and deep catalog streams keep adding up.
The win also lands during a strong run for other global acts on Apple Music. The service has used year-end lists to highlight K-pop, R&B, Afrobeats and Latin stars whose songs now travel as fast as Drake’s across borders. Apple’s charts for 2025 show that global pop is no longer led by just a handful of US names.
Apple Music has also helped push Afrobeats and African pop into new cities, with Ayra Starr’s New York move coverage showing how streaming success can reshape touring and lifestyle choices for rising stars.
For Nigerian readers, the latest crown echoes Apple Music’s earlier nods to home-grown talent. In 2024, Burna Boy was named the platform’s most-streamed Nigerian artist ever, a reminder that African acts are also carving record marks on the service.
This year, Burna’s name appears again in streaming talk for less upbeat reasons, as some US tour dates were cancelled after slow ticket sales, a turn covered in a recent Burna Boy arena cancellations story. Yet his catalog still racks up heavy plays across apps, showing how live demand and streaming charts can tell slightly different stories.
As 2025 winds down, Apple Music’s post confirms that Drake still sits at the top of its global artist pile. With Iceman still on the way and his streaming pace unbroken, the question now is whether he can stretch that lead into another year of chart-topping form.
