DJ Khaled is not interested in art—he is interested in hits. The DJ turned pseudo-producer is one of the all-time great social climbers, and every name added to his group chat perpetuates the idea that he is successful by association. His prosperity is predicated on his image outweighing his musical output and on achieving peak commercialization, both classic hallmarks of pop stardom. Khaled is the lip-syncer taken to the extreme, the rockist artistry meme taken to its hyperbolic conclusion. It isn’t just that he doesn’t perform or play any instruments; he doesn’t really do anything. There is some synergy in Drake giving him a song called “POPSTAR,” since Khaled so desperately craves celebrity by proxy.

To be fair, Khaled co-produced “POPSTAR” with David & Eli and OZ, but it’s unclear what exactly he produced on it, and the song’s bleary synths oscillate between two notes. Khaled often derives power from assembling star-studded posse cuts, but that posturing isn’t necessary with Drake, the surest thing in popular music—the last three Drake guest spots on Khaled songs, including the co-released “GREECE,” were all solos. Nobody embodies the “another one” ethos of nonstop hit-making more than Drake, and this collaboration, more than any of the others, finds the rap king reveling in that truth.

Drake has often rapped about pop star status as a burden, but here he wears the mantle proudly. There are glancing references to Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez; comparisons to powerhouse producer David Foster and manager Scooter Braun are benchmarks for his global reach. Funnily enough, by accepting pop, Drake pens one of the laziest rap songs of his career. “Crown in my hand and I’m really playin’ keep-away/Shit don’t even usually get this big without a Bieber face,” he raps, between an interpolation of a childhood cheer and rhyming “piece of cake” with “Turks and Caic’.” There is a listlessness to his performance, the shrug of a man whose every utterance goes platinum. Maybe it’s the complacency of being too big to fail, or maybe it’s the fact that Khaled will accept whatever crumbs Drake has to offer, but “POPSTAR” feels soulless.