For All the Dogs Review
In this article, Ava will be speaking on Drake's okay-ish album For All the Dogs.
For All the Dogs Album Review
By, Drakearella (Aka Ava McLean)
Drake, also known as Aubrey Graham, is a well-known 36-year-old Canadian rapper and singer. He is well-known for his popular songs like “One Dance”, “Gods Plan”, and “Hotline Bling”. Prior to his music career, he acted as Jimmy Brooks in the TV series Degrassi. Last year, Drake released a collaborative album with 21 Savage called Her Loss. On AOTY (a website that collects reviews from several “professional reviewers”, as well as everyday people) Her Loss was rated a 63/100 from critics and 59/100 from users, which tells listeners that the album is filled with hits balanced out with a fair share of misses. After Her Loss, in an Instagram post on Mon., Aug. 21, Drizzy gave his fans a sneak peek of the cover for his new project. The rapper entrusted the work to his five-year-old son, Adonis. Drake began to create a new album that was set to be released on Sept. 22, 2023, called For All the Dogs.
Unfortunately, Drake announced via Instagram on Sept. 15, that the release date For All the Dogs would be postponed to Oct. 6. On the day of the announcement, he released a single featuring SZA called “Slime You Out”. This song is “litt ahh” said Peter (another writer for The Scroll). Many others would agree. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (now at number twelve). While Drake’s new song is cool, hype-chill, many believe that they can not compete with Champagne Papi’s old songs. With the release of this single, the hype For All the Dogs was at its highest point yet.
On Oct. 6, Drake finally released For All the Dogs. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and, after a week, the album earned 402,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. The album features a wide variety of creators from Teezo Touchdown, 21 Savage, J. Cole, Yeat, SZA, PartyNextDoor, Chief Keef, Bad Bunny, Sexyy Red, and Lil Yachty. Pitchfork rates this album a 6.5 and states, “A good half-hour of For All the Dogs is a slog through his thoughts on wealth, women, and surgical injections, with a few bright but frustrating bits of reprieve, which provide a glimpse into what could've been here if Drake only employed a better therapist.” This is total disrespect toward Drake, but it may be true. The genre of his album is hip hop and rap, which is extremely popular today.
Basically, the whole album sounds completely the same. “Rich Baby Daddy” has an interesting tone and choice of lyrics. It does not seem to the public that it would be a song Drake sings. “IDGAF '' by Drake and Yeat is a complete banger and Yeat steals the whole show. “It seems like Drake took the backseat on this track, giving Yeat the spotlight” states Barcooper on AOTY. The opening track, “Virginia Beach” Billboard review states, “Bogged down by a clunky chorus and more corny bars — “He gon’ find out that it’s on sight like W-W-W/ On sight like dot-com, put a baby in you, a hot mom” — the intro starts to flounder, but 40’s skittering production keeps things engaging.” The public seems to be in between on this song.
Overall, the Drake album is downright plain. It has corny lyrics that try to bring back the nostalgia of “the old Drake”, and some good beats to pull it out of the trenches. It is messy, a bit unorganized, and needs Drake to come back and be the man he used to be. It gets a 5/10. Drake listeners seem to agree just because it is mid. Drake is flamed for this, since it is not as great as what the Team Drizzy fans were expecting. Maybe the feedback given to Drake will inspire him to be the type of guy to make a fire, lit, staggering album!
