Hip Hop Dose Staff
Drake’s 40th birthday weekend brought together two kinds of milestones: a record-setting tally of music certifications and a pair of New York celebrations built around performance, gifts and tributes. The RIAA announced its latest figures on Friday, October 23, the same day as the first party. By the end of the weekend, the celebrations had also become a look back at the artists and eras that helped shape Drake’s career.
The RIAA said Drake had become the first artist to surpass 350 million total certified units across albums and singles. The new total followed 30 certifications, including awards for songs and albums released across his career. On Saturday, October 24, Drake turned 40.
The timing made the weekend read like an accounting exercise: a birthday, a fresh record, three albums released in one day earlier in the year, and a party where some guests received designer handbags while others had the chance to win cash.
A milestone built across a catalog
The October 23 update added a Diamond certification for Views, released in 2016. It is Drake’s third Diamond-certified album, after Take Care and Scorpion. “In My Feelings” and “Marvin’s Room” also reached Diamond status, while “God’s Plan” earned a double-Diamond certification for 20 million units.
Those awards brought Drake’s Diamond-certified singles count to 18, an all-time record. He is already the most-certified artist in RIAA history, and the new total set another mark: no artist had previously passed 350 million total certified units.
The update also included a rapid milestone for Iceman, which was certified Platinum roughly five months after its May 15 release. On that date, Drake released three albums at once: Iceman, Habibti and Maid of Honour. The year also saw him extend his record for the most No. 1 albums on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, reaching 18.
Certification totals measure a career over time, not just the performance of a single release. They accumulate across albums and singles and reflect the size and staying power of an artist’s catalog as well as the peaks of individual songs. Drake’s 350-million figure places his catalog at an unprecedented scale, while Garth Brooks remains the highest-certified solo artist in pure album units. The records describe different measures of success.
Friday night: a celebration at Casa Cipriani
More than 400 guests attended Drake’s Friday celebration at Casa Cipriani in Manhattan. The dress code was black tie. Drake wore a sparkling black tuxedo jacket with silk lapels, a satin bow tie and a diamond “D” pin.
The most closely watched accessory was a one-of-one diamond-encrusted Rolex Cosmograph Daytona engraved with “Freeze the World,” a lyric from “Make Them Know” on Iceman. The watch was created to mark Drake’s 2026 milestones and was estimated to be worth as much as $5 million.
The evening combined a formal birthday dinner with entertainment and giveaways. Guests received Chanel and Hermès handbags, and a game-show-style segment offered cash prizes ranging from $10,000 to $1 million. The Backstreet Boys performed “I Want It That Way,” with Drake joining them onstage.
His toast turned away from the usual career announcements. “Tonight is not about a tour or an album release or a bunch of videos that we shot or a fragrance or a Nike shoe,” he said. “Tonight is just about being alive, staying alive.”
That distinction mattered. The weekend included no album or tour announcement. Instead, the speech framed the event as a birthday gathering rather than a launch platform.
Saturday night: Bow Wow, Popcaan and the path to the stage
The second celebration took place Saturday, October 24, at Lady Delilah in Chelsea. Drake changed into a cheetah-print Chrome Hearts jacket and red leather trousers. Bow Wow performed “Like You,” then received a public tribute from the birthday host.
“If it wasn't for these two right here, popping it when I was in my mom's basement, watching 106 & Park, teaching me how to make songs for the tings, teaching me how to do videos, how to be a superstar, this guy right here I have a lot of love for. It wouldn't be no Drake without [Bow Wow],” Drake said.
The remarks connected two generations of music stardom. Bow Wow became a prominent young rap figure in the era when music-video television and programs such as 106 & Park helped deliver new songs and artists to a wide audience. Drake’s career grew in a different landscape, shaped by online releases, streaming and a global digital audience.
The tribute was part of a longer pattern. Drake credited Bow Wow in Houston in 2021, saying, “If it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be no me.” In 2023, when Bow Wow walked him onstage at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, Drake called him “somebody who I wanted to be like growing up.” The birthday remarks gave that influence room in a weekend otherwise defined by the scale of Drake’s own catalog.
Popcaan also joined Drake onstage, making his first U.S. performance. The Jamaican artist, an OVO signee since 2018, secured his first U.S. visa on October 11 after years of being unable to enter the country. His appearance was a notable moment in the weekend’s live program. On October 21, he had also been among friends at a gathering at Toronto’s CN Tower.
Guests across the two nights included Travis Scott, Jack Harlow, Sexyy Red, Bow Wow, Loe Shimmy, Landon Barker and Dennis Graham.
A birthday without a rollout
The 350-million milestone and the parties offered different versions of Drake’s public profile. The RIAA announcement turned a sprawling back catalog into a headline figure. The birthday gatherings put the focus on spectacle, familiar songs and the relationships behind the career.
Yet the weekend did not point toward an immediate next move. Drake’s own toast explicitly set aside an album release and a tour. At 40, with three albums released in one day and a record no other artist has reached, the birthday was not the launch pad that such a milestone might once have suggested.
Instead, its clearest story came from the contrast: a record made from years of accumulated listening, celebrated at events where the past and present shared a stage. In Bow Wow’s tribute, the star of the streaming era recognized the influence of a star who came up through the television era. The certification totals measured the reach of Drake’s catalog; the birthday also marked the artists and platforms that helped make that reach possible.
