{"id":244490,"date":"2026-05-21T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/who-is-molly-santana-dj-akademiks-claims-california-rapper-went-from-600k-to-7m-listeners-after-drakes-iceman-collab-over-ran-to-atlanta\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T12:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:00:29","slug":"who-is-molly-santana-dj-akademiks-claims-california-rapper-went-from-600k-to-7m-listeners-after-drakes-iceman-collab-over-ran-to-atlanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/who-is-molly-santana-dj-akademiks-claims-california-rapper-went-from-600k-to-7m-listeners-after-drakes-iceman-collab-over-ran-to-atlanta\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Molly Santana? DJ Akademiks claims California rapper went from 600k to 7M listeners after Drake&#8217;s &#8220;ICEMAN&#8221; collab over &#8220;Ran to Atlanta&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5169949\" data-slug-id=\"2784857\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>DJ Akademiks recently claimed that Molly Santana, a rapper featured on Drake&#8217;s <em>Ran To Atlanta<\/em> with Future, went from 600K to 7 million listeners on music streaming platforms. <strong>Santana, whose real name is Mya Parks, is a 21-year-old up-and-coming American rapper of Japanese and African American ancestry.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For those uninformed, <em>Ran To Atlanta<\/em> is one of the songs that Drake released as part of his highly anticipated album, <em>ICEMAN<\/em>, on May 15, 2026. The title is a play on one of Kendrick Lamar&#8217;s lyrics on <em>Not Like Us<\/em>, in which he attempted to frame the Canadian rapper as a &#8220;colonizer&#8221; for allegedly using Atlanta artists to boost his success amid their rap feud in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>On May 20, 2026, @AkademiksTV, the alternate X account for DJ Akademiks, a known Drake fan, alleged that Santana&#8217;s monthly listeners have vastly multiplied following her collaboration with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/pop-culture\/news-rick-ross-says-drake-s-iceman-horrendous-made-homies-lose-an-hour-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Drake<\/a>. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Molly Santana\u2019s Drake collab took her from 600k to 7M listeners, got offered 500k for a feature and secured a top 3 hit,&#8221; the post read.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>According to Complex, Molly Santana ended up recording a verse for Drake&#8217;s <em>Ran To Atlanta <\/em>after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/music\/seems-future-gucci-ain-t-fw-rn-netizens-react-young-thug-praises-drake-21-savage-support-leaked-call-scandal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Future<\/a> name-dropped her during his verse for the song, rapping, \u201cBring all the freaks to France and skrrt in the Sprinter, they wanna play Molly Santana.\u201d Santana revealed to Complex that Drake told her, \u201cFuture said your name, we gotta get you on this song.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian rapper co-signed Santana during behind-the-scenes footage from the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/pop-culture\/news-drake-breaks-3-spotify-records-release-iceman-maid-of-honour-habibti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Ran To Atlanta<\/a><\/em> music video shoot, calling the 21-year-old rapper the \u201cbiggest in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/pop-culture\/youtube\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Drake, Future, Molly Santana - Ran To Atlanta\" width=\"696\" height=\"522\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ipOSrQNrp1U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/pop-culture\/youtube\" data-embed=\"ipOSrQNrp1U\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/38305-17793549220594-1920.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/38305-17793549220594-1920.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>North West joined Molly Santana during her set at Rolling Loud Orlando <\/h2>\n<p>Hailing from Fontaine, California, Molly Santana began gaining traction for her music in 2021 after the release of her EP <em>Molly\u2019s World<\/em>. Santana is reportedly signed to Victor Victor Worldwide and Capitol Records. In a 2025 interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rb-hip-hop\/molly-santana-week-of-wonders-album-1236000194\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Billboard<\/a>, the rapper revealed why she chose to sign with Victor Victor Worldwide, adding:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;When I signed there, everybody I talked to was personal. Labels are corporate and working a job for real. Don\u2019t really care about you outside of it. The people I met at Victor Victor have real personalities. That\u2019s why I gravitated [towards signing there], because it\u2019s real humans and not just an office.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Santana has since released multiple EPs and two studio albums, <em>Molly Santana<\/em> in 2024 and <em>Molly and Her Week of Wonders<\/em> in 2025. The rapper has listed Lil Uzi Vert and Chief Keef as her inspirations, and has also talked about wanting to work with Future, PinkPantheress, Hayley Williams, and Dej Loaf.<\/p>\n<p>During her conversation with Billboard, the rapper explained her creative process behind the short film that accompanied her sophomore studio album <em>Molly and Her Week of Wonders, <\/em>saying it was inspired by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/movies\/news-from-travis-scott-lupita-nyong-o-s-dual-role-nolan-explains-controversial-casting-choices-the-odyssey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Christopher Nolan<\/a>&#8216;s <em>Memento <\/em>and <em>Valerie &amp; Her Week of Wonders.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;First, <em>Valerie &amp; Her Week of Wonders<\/em>, and <em>Momento<\/em>. He always be talking about Christopher Nolan and how he did his first movie for $6,000. Then we got no excuses if he could do it for $6,000. I met this director who shoots 35mm. Talking to a director helped me realize if I wanna make something about me or my art, then I\u2019m gonna have to steer the whole thing,&#8221; she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Molly Santana has opened for Don Toliver during the North American leg of his &#8220;Psycho Tour.&#8221; Additionally, the rapper was joined by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/pop-culture\/news-kanye-come-pick-kid-internet-reacts-north-west-showing-new-ice-out-grills-week-joining-instagram\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">North West<\/a> during her set at Rolling Loud Orlando on May 9, where they performed an unreleased song. She is currently working on her new album, tentatively titled <em>Black Punk.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Juhi Marzia<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/pop-culture\/news-who-molly-santana-dj-akademiks-claims-california-rapper-went-600k-7m-listeners-drake-s-iceman-collab-ran-atlanta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DJ Akademiks recently claimed that Molly Santana, a rapper featured on Drake&#8217;s Ran To Atlanta with Future, went from 600K to 7 million listeners on music streaming platforms. Santana, whose real name is Mya Parks, is a 21-year-old up-and-coming American rapper of Japanese and African American ancestry. For those uninformed, Ran To Atlanta is one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-244490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}