2023 has been a great year for new music. With new albums from Travis Scott, Lil Uzi, Ken Carson, and more, the bar for new rap music in 2023 has been set high. Is Drake’s new album up to par with the rest? On Friday October 6th, Aubrey Graham, also known as Drake, finally released his eighth studio album: “For All The Dogs.” The album was originally supposed to be released September 23rd, but much to Drake fans’ disappointment, he delayed the date due to how busy he was with his tour. This album had been highly anticipated ever since he announced it on September 6th.
The first song “Virginia Beach” has had a lot of buzz with Drake and Frank Ocean fans. The song begins with sampled vocals from what seems to be an unreleased Frank Ocean song titled “Wiseman.” Frank Ocean has not released any new music since 2016, so as soon as fans heard the song, they immediately took to twitter to rave about it.
One person wrote, “Drake you won me over with that Frank Ocean sample.”
Another person added, “Drake sampled Frank Ocean. I’ll die peacefully now.”
“Virginia Beach speaks to my soul. That Frank Ocean sample is incredible,” someone else tweeted.
The second song on the album is titled “Amen.” This song features Teezo Touchdown, and has a more unique style than other Drake songs. However, many people feel that this album doesn’t have the same feel as Drake’s old music.
An article from The Ringer says, “Despite Drake’s promise that FATD (For all the Dogs) would be a return to ’the old Drake’ the album unfolds like it was made by an artist unsure of what made him unique in the first place.”
Although I do agree that this is not necessarily a return to the “old Drake” many people were hoping for, I still believe that this is a great album.
The album has many features including collaborations with Teezo Touchdown, 21 Savage (who he has worked with a lot in the past), J. Cole, Yeat, SZA, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Chief Keef, Bad Bunny, Sexyy Red and Lil Yachty, and even Drake’s six year old son, Adonis Graham. At the end of the song “Daylight,” Drake surprises us with a full verse sung by his own son, as this is something that is not frequently done by other artists. And on October 15th, Drake dropped a full freestyle by Adonis titled “My Man” in honor of his 6th birthday, which was four days prior. The freestyle extends the verse from forty seconds, to almost three minutes.
Drake released his song with SZA, “Slime You Out” on September 15th about three weeks before the full album. This collaboration with SZA was quite a shock after they allegedly dated in 2008 and have been calling each other out through songs throughout the years. In 2020 with the song “Mr. Right Now,” Drake blatantly states, “But I used to date SZA back in ‘08,” one of the many lyrics dedicated to to SZA.
With a total of 23 songs, the album is long. The last song on the album is titled “Polar Opposites” and has more of a calm beat, contrasting the other tracks in the album–a perfect way to finish the album.
Drake said, “I’m not the same person I was.” This shows his growth throughout the years. His style has evolved, as well as the lyrics and features. With “For All The Dogs” being his eighth studio album, he will not be the same artist he once was thirteen years ago in 2010 when he released his first album.
