Drake knows what makes for a cool summer -- ice cream! -- so he threw down some cash to have it handed it out in a lucky L.A. neighborhood.
The 'Scorpion' rapper and singer paid more than $10,000 for 1,000 individual frozen treats at 5 different locations in the L.A. suburbs Friday. We're told 4 stands were set up in Hidden Hills and one at The Commons at Calabasas ... all giving away free goodies.
Sources close to the giveaway tell us Drake did it to promote his new album -- lyrics are plastered on the sides of the Ice Cream Occasions carts -- and because he thought it'd be a "cool thing to do on a hot day for the community."
We're told the community -- especially the kids -- shared in his feelings.