For a moment on Tuesday (Sept. 15), Drake fans found themselves temporarily convinced that his FOMO short film debut might end up being a fakeout, of sorts, designed solely to imbue them with the very fear that gave the project its title.
But no, FOMO is real, and after a last-minute pushback from its originally announced launch time, fans were invited to step into its world, despite no one actually knowing what, exactly, to expect.
Turns out, FOMO was indeed a short film, or, as Drake put it in a pre-release Instagram caption, a “not-so-short” one. Was there new music included? Yes. Were there made-for-headlines cameos? Absolutely. Did Beef and Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier play a part? He sure did.
Below, we take a look at the biggest moments.
Drake’s FOMO includes video for Stunna Sandy collab “Outside Tweaking”
The Stunna Sandy-featuring “Outside Tweaking,” a song off Maid of Honour, one of three new albums Drake released, all at the same time, back in May, got its own video amid the FOMO vignettes.
Drake’s mother Sandi, friends star in FOMO video for “True Bestie”
“True Bestie,” another Maid of Honour track, also got the FOMO treatment. Drake’s mother, Sandra “Sandi” Graham, was joined by friends for the video.
Drake’s mother shows off “ICEMOM” tattoo
Naturally, Sandi had to commemorate ICEMAN, the centerpiece of Drake’s three-albums-at-once rollout, with a tattoo declaring herself “ICEMOM.”
Lena the Plug makes a cameo in Drake’s FOMO
This one was bound to happen. The same could be said of the reaction from Adam22, who said Wednesday that he was “overjoyed” for Lena despite their apparent separation.
“Goth baddie” Pinkchyu makes her return in Drake’s FOMO
Much has been written of “goth baddie” Pinkchyu and Drake’s appreciation for the goth aesthetic at large. Like the Lena cameo, this one shouldn’t have been a surprise for anyone who’s followed Drake closely in recent years.
New Drake song featured in FOMO includes call to “pray for Gaza”
“Pray for Gaza,” Drake urges in one of the new tracks included in the FOMO short, though the exact meaning in this context has two possible intentions. Still, it’s worth pointing out that Drake was an early supporter of an artists-driven call for a ceasefire in Gaza in the Middle East.
Drake raps “We from the Dot, you can’t compare to us” in new FOMO track
We weren’t going to get through this without some assumptions that Kendrick Lamar was being referenced. In another new track featured in FOMO, Drake raps, “We from the Dot, you can’t compare to us,” with the “Dot” in question almost certainly a nod to a nickname for his hometown of Toronto. This could be read as a Kendrick sub of sorts, however.
Drake, Don Toliver flip Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” in FOMO
Ella Langley’s ubiquitous megahit is still the No. 1 song on the Hot 100, and Drake, a well-documented fan of the Alabamian’s work, has taken note.
Drake spends $150,000 on Iron Man suits for FOMO shoot
Flexing abounds in any modern-era Drake visual, and FOMO was no exception. There were rumors leading into the short film’s debut that Drake had been spotted filming a video while rocking an elaborate Iron Man costume, and those whisperings proved dead-on. The short also pointed to the cost of this stunt, complete with some befuddlement from a voiceover said to stem from Drake’s accountant.
Drake’s FOMO features a plethora of noteworthy clothes, cars, and jewelry
On the flexing front, there was a hell of a lot, including a one-of-a-kind Rolex Daytona.
Drake gets self-referential in closing moments of FOMO
Poignancy was injected into the closing moments of FOMO with a series of visual nods to landmark moments from across Drake’s career. As the short drew to a close, Drake, whose wish for his upcoming 40th birthday is to be publicly roasted by fellow Canadian superstar Jim Carrey, was shown stepping down from a set resembling that of the official video for his 2015 hit “Hotline Bling.”
