Drake’s eighth studio album “For All the Dogs” is a swing and a miss. The Toronto rapper failed to meet admittedly lofty expectations with an album that, while maintaining some bright spots, proclaims mediocrity.
After almost a year-long hiatus save for several features — most notably a track-defining verse in “Meltdown,” a song on Travis Scott’s summertime project, “Utopia” — Spotify’s all-time streaming leader released “For All The Dogs” Friday.
The album was formally announced in June with the release of his debut poetry book, “Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness.” Included in the book’s promotion was a link to a website introducing the project and teasing a reemergence of “the old Drake.”
Drake’s determination to return to the peak form of 2011’s “Take Care” and 2016’s “Views” is evident throughout the album, as he pursues his younger image through clever but uninspiring bars with predictable and overdone rhythms. While trying to rediscover “old Drake” upon the winding path of the nearly hour-and-a-half-long album, 36-year-old Drake gets lost and settles on a raw product that lacks the substance demanded of the sensational rap icon.
Public response to “For All The Dogs” has been mostly critical, where the album’s unpolished feel is a frequent target. The messiness is particularly exemplified by the awkward juxtaposition of the conclusion to “Daylight,” where Drake emphatically narrates a theoretical drive-by shooting conducted by him and his clique before handing the mic to his five-year-old son, Adonis, to rap his first verse.
Joe Budden, a retired Jersey City rapper and media personality, notably said on his podcast after the album’s release that Drake raps “for the kids, the streams and the accolades,” while defying maturity. Drake quickly fired back on Instagram, calling Budden a “poster child of frustration” who “flies first class on special occasions.”
While Drake does not seem to have a signature “hit” on “For All The Dogs”, there are a few songs worth exploring.
On “What Would Pluto Do,” Drake sings over a fun, bouncy beat for a catchy track destined for TikTok circulation. He takes a more laid-back, straight-bars approach on “8am in Charlotte,” gliding over a chill choir-type beat in the newest addition to his timestamp series — a collection of Drake’s songs titled with a time and a place.
The project picked up some tempo with “First Person Shooter (feat. J. Cole),” a wordsmithing clinic by two of the premier voices of twenty-first-century rap recorded just hours before the album was released in what Drake called “fourth quarter magic.”
On the track, Drake laments his status as the arguable king of the rap scene, asserting, “Will they ever give me flowers? Well, of course not / They don't wanna have that talk, 'cause it's a sore spot / They know The Boy, the one they gotta boycott.” Later on, features from SZA and trending St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red elevate “Rich Baby Daddy,” a track that club-goers will surely become familiar with this fall.
Perhaps the most intriguing combination on “For All The Dogs” is the energetic track “IDGAF,” where Drake teams up with experimental mumble-rapper “Yeat.” The 23-year-old Yeat thrives in fast-paced and unpredictable tracks with repetition and powerful bass, while Drake's signature sound consists of deliberate, “Instagram caption-worthy” bars laden with double entendres and catchy melodies.
In this case, the lyrics are purposefully nonsensical — “October's Own, it's a label / I stay with that O like a tie / I stay with that O like a bagel / I stay with that O like a lifesaver” — yet a refreshing interruption from the lengthy album that often takes itself too seriously.
Nevertheless, forgettable tracks remained speckled throughout the collection, with the album plagued by frequent beat switches that detract from the momentum created by the song’s established and promising rhythm in “Fear of Heights” and “All the Parties (feat. Chief Keef).”
“For All The Dogs” adds to Drake’s legacy inefficiently and falls short of the high expectations fans and critics had for the Toronto rapper in his first traditional solo album since “Certified Lover Boy” in 2021. To keep his spot atop the ever-changing rap landscape, Drake needs to reevaluate his musical identity and embrace growth.
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