Drake has ignited the next viral dance craze.
The OVO artist returned Thursday night with the release of "Toosie Slide," an OZ-produced track that comes with official choreography. Fans got their first taste of the song via TikTok on Sunday, when social media influencer/dancer Toosie posted a how-to video of the record's titular dance.
"It go right foot up, left foot, slide/Left foot up, right foot, slide," Drake raps. "Basically, I'm saying, either way, we 'bout to slide/Can't let this one slide."
According to Toosie, it was the global star who had reached out to collaborate. "Drake hit me up and was like, 'Yo, I need your help,'" he told Rolling Stone. "So he sends the record. It was just an idea at the time. It was just the hook and a verse. I came up with this dance. [Drake said,] 'What you think? You think you can come up with a dance for this song that I made?' So I sit down, listen to it. Luckily, I’m at Ayo and Teo’s house with Hii Key and all of us. We all chilling. We came up with it pretty fast. We just all pieced it together. We all contributed."
Teo adds, "The coronavirus messed up the dropping schedule. He was gon' have us in the music video and junk, but the coronavirus messed it up. So it took us two extra weeks to drop the video we made for it."
The song serves as Drake's first official solo single in 2020. He previously collaborated with Future on "Life Is Good" and with Lil Yachty and DaBaby on "Oprah's Bank Account" earlier this year, as well as dropped "When to Say When" and "Chicago Freestyle" via SoundCloud.
Drake is currently at work on his next album. In February, the rapper said his follow-up to 2018's Scorpion will be shorter in track length. "This album, I'll probably make it a more realistic offering, something more concise," he explained. "Anywhere, whatever you want, it can be 10, 11, 16... I also do a lot of different types of music so it's tough to make it like a seven-song album or something like that."
More recently, Drake told BBC Radio 1Xtra's Tiffany Calver that he's "at the crib working on the album" and that he's going to do an album release party in London "hopefully when they free up the mandem and galdem from their crib."
You can stream "Toosie Slide" now on all major platforms, and watch the video up top. It was directed by Theo Skudra, shot at Drake's Toronto mansion, and includes a tribute to Kobe Bryant at the 55-second mark.
The song arrives just days after Drake shared the first public photos of his two-year-old son, Adonis. Drizzy used the moment to share some words of encouragement amid the coronavirus pandemic, telling his fans to try to focus on the good things whenever their minds "move into overthinking or fear."
"Laughter is your best medicine, but tears can also be a powerful release. Let go of any judgment you may have around that," he captioned the series of photos. "Remember that you are never alone, and if you need to be reminded of that ask for support and it will show up."
