As the 25th of August faded into the night, millions of people were left bewildered at Drake’s disappearance, which had left his fans, who were expecting a new album, in complete radio silence. Since the summer, the Canadian artist had flirted with and teased the release of his eighth studio album, For All The Dogs, but just like the Avatar, Drake vanished when the world needed him the most. What initially appeared to be only a minor week-long delay in the release of For All The Dogs stretched into an enigmatic series of setbacks lasting throughout September and then subsequently into October. Through Instagram, Drake confessed to his fans that he faced a dreadful dilemma: he had to either “cancel shows to finish the album, [or] complete the mission and drop the album” before his last show. The Views from the top of the CN Tower only stand to show the heights of Drake’s fall, from making music in Marvin’s Room to trying to keep his label “on like a lightsaber.” Old Drake is a shell of his former self— a distant figure, dissipating into an imperishable night. Rounding out the album, with the sirens in “Polar Opposites” going hoarse, one thing was for certain: Just like the waves crashing onto the shores of the Virginia beaches, Drake is washed out. Here is our review of Drake’s latest album, song-by-song.

Virginia Beach

It’s really amusing to see that For All the Dogs peaks on its first track and then immediately starts dropping in quality. “Virginia Beach”’s catchy melody stands out as one of Drake’s best applications of singing on this album, but the track also points out one of Drake’s biggest songwriting flaws, his poor lyrics. It’s hard not to cringe while hearing “on site like dot-com, put a baby in you, you a hot mom” when playing this song.

Daylight

Interestingly, one of Drake’s peak performances on this album occurs when, rather than using his own flows and writing style, Drake abandons originality and mirrors Playboi Carti’s cadence instead. Similarly to “FE!N” on Utopia, “Daylight” serves as the “hype” song on For All the Dogs. The track’s energetic characteristic makes it far more appealing to listen to than songs like “Bahamas Promises,” which feel boring and tiring in comparison. “Daylight” shows that Drake might just need a ghostwriter after all.

First Person Shooter (feat. J. Cole)

For a hip hop album, you would expect this album to have more rapping. “First Person Shooter” stands out from the other tracks on For All the Dogs, mainly because it is one of the only songs on the album where Drake actually raps instead of sings. J. Cole carries the entire first half of the song, so this track’s quality can’t even be fully attributed to Drake.

IDGAF (feat. Yeat) 

Immediately following “First Person Shooter,” in which Drake compared himself to an artist rivaling Michael Jackson, he continues to build bravado and ego. Once praised for the richness and relatability of his lyrics, Drake withers into an empty and hollow state as he references counting his money and popping Percocet pills for fun. The track features a long intro that samples Azimuth’s ambient 1977 song, “The Tunnel.” A beautiful, softly syncopated melodic tune is then suddenly swallowed out by a synthetic beat characteristic of Yeat, the featured artist on the track. From a euphonious jazz line and enunciated speech that revives Drake’s old self into roaring, aggressive tones and the mumbling voice of Yeat, “IDGAF” sticks out as a sore thumb— something that could never fulfill its potential. While the song sounds pretty good, the lyrics are incredibly incoherent and dumbed down, referencing “O’s” and “lifesavers” to represent Drake’s label, OVO, and his money, once again fueling his ego. 

Slime You Out (feat. SZA) 

One criticism of Drake that has loomed throughout his career as an artist is the manipulative nature of his lyrics full of self-victimization and antagonization of those from his previous relationships, and that pattern definitely continues on “Slime You Out.” Drake sets up himself as a vulnerable individual, toyed around by multiple women and used for financial and sexual gain. “Slime You Out” features shallow and questionable lyrics that show Drake's inability to have a stable, human relationship with others and ultimately hurts the quality of For All The Dogs as an album. 

What Would Pluto Do 

“What Would Pluto Do”’s employment of repetitive lyrics in harmony with a looping instrumental may initially disappoint Drake fans, but it serves to create a catchy and memorable tune for listeners. Featuring ad-libs from Lil Yachty, the song has Drake pondering about the labors he must endure to win back a woman who was taken away from his grasp by a close friend. Drake’s lyrics, as referenced in “Cialis in a liquid… Adonis need[s] a sister,” displays his humanity and serves as a stark contrast to his egotistical nature as seen on previous tracks. 

Listening to For All the Dogs is like playing Russian Roulette. Half of the songs range from somewhat listenable to genuinely catchy and enjoyable, while the other half of the tracklist is either monotonous, forgettable, or downright unbearable. In this sense, Drake once again repeats the same major flaw of his recent albums, such as Certified Lover Boy and Honestly, Nevermind; his albums are too long. Instead of releasing an eight- to ten-song album filled with consistently entertaining music, he continually chooses to drop one or two hits mixed in with a hour-and-a-half long compilation of repetitive songs to artificially pad out the duration of his new release. Songs like “First Person Shooter” and “Another Late Night” will undoubtedly follow in the footsteps of other recent Drake tracks like “Fair Trade” or “Jimmy Cooks” and top global charts, while the rest of this album will be utterly ignored by a majority of Drake’s listeners. Ultimately, Drake fails to follow up his promise to bring back the “Old Drake” and put in the effort to create consistent, cohesive albums like he did previously with Take Care in 2011 and Nothing Was the Same in 2013. Ironically, For All the Dogs ends up having more in common with the “New Drake” by repeating the same quantity over quality mentality that Drake has been pursuing for most of the last decade with his annual releases.

Michael’s Pick: Virginia Beach

Phu’s Pick: What Would Pluto Do?

To Be Deleted: 

Slime You Out (feat. SZA) –Phu

Gently (feat. Bad Bunny) – Michael

Final Verdict:

4/10, listen to Utopia instead, thanks – Michael

5/10, while the album has solid individual tracks, it ultimately fails to deliver as a whole work and does not bring listeners back to the taste of “Old Drake.”  – Phu