Greece (song)

Background

In August 2019, Swiss producer OZ shared a 40-second Instagram clip featuring a beat that would later become "Greece," with him singing in German. The post, labeled "oz - greece" and tagged #SOLOCAREER, led to speculation that OZ—who had not previously written lyrics publicly—would put out the track as his first solo project. The German lines were close in meaning and melody to what Drake eventually recorded. OZ later deleted the video.

Talk of a Drake and DJ Khaled team-up started in January 2020, when Khaled visited Toronto. After working together, Khaled noted, "It's amazing what you can get done in 24 hours." Drake gave a preview of the song during an Instagram livestream on May 1. That June, both artists hinted at the collaboration by posting owl and key emojis—the owl stands for Drake's OVO label, and the key is Khaled's unofficial symbol.

Khaled said "the first single been ready" and confirmed he was making a new album. The track leaked in early July. On July 15, Khaled announced his 12th album, Khaled Khaled, with a trailer covering his life and career milestones. He also revealed that two songs with Drake, "Greece" and "Popstar," would drop on July 17.

Production

After the song's release, OZ explained that co-producer Tiggi sent him a sample, which OZ flipped to make it more uptempo and clubby, adding drums before sending it to Drake. Drake returned the first idea after a few weeks. OZ noted that Drake's vocals on this track differ from their other collaborations. The song was started the previous fall, with back-and-forth production work.

Composition

In "Greece," Drake makes grand promises to a lover, offering world travel, Greek vacations, and a life of wealth. He briefly switches to French and uses a high-pitched, digitally sweetened vocal style, moving between singing and rapping. Critics compared this sound to Nav and noted a faint echo of Drake's own "Dreams Money Can Buy," with further parallels drawn to the Weeknd.

Critical reception

The song received mixed to positive reviews. Ross Goldenberg of Dancing Astronaut praised the "tried-and-true formula" and said Drake "flexes his witty lyricism [...] and hits the higher notes for the radio." The New York Times' Jon Caramanica was less favorable, stating the song "feels more like a notion than a fully formed song, an ambiguous experiment in texture." Rolling Stone's Charles Holmes said while it lacks innovation, "there's at least a sense of honed pop craftsmanship on display." Complex's Jessica McKinney called it a contender for Song of the Summer, while Eric Skelton of the same magazine felt both "Greece" and "Popstar" miss the spark of true summer hits like "I'm on One", "One Dance", and "In My Feelings".

Did You Know?

• A visualizer released with the song features an animated owl with a gold key in its mouth flying over Greece.
• The song debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Drake's record-extending 24th debut in the top 10.
• In June 2020, DJ Khaled posted a screenshot of a FaceTime call with Director X, possibly alluding to a music video for the song.