This is the 8th full-length album from Toronto, Ontario, Canada rapper, singer/songwriter, actor, producer & entrepreneur Drake. Skyrocketing to fame in 2009 off his 3rd mixtape So Far Gone, the success of this groundbreaking project resulted in a contract with both Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records & they helped put out the man’s underrated full-length debut Thank Me Later the next summer. His sophomore effort Take Care the year after would be even better & I enjoyed Nothing Was the Same too but after If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late & then What a Time to Be Alive with Future (both of which came out in 2015), that’s when the quality in Drake’s music really began to take a nosedive. VIEWS was a terrible foray into dancehall, More Life was mediocre despite being stylistically eclectic, his YM/CM swan song Scorpion was a disappointingly failed attempt at making a double disc album showcasing his hip hop/R&B sides of his music respectively, Care Package is decent collection of 17 loosies from 2010-2016 that we’ve all heard before, Dark Lane Demo Tapes tried to experiment with new sounds only to miss the landing & Certified Lover Boy just felt like the same old shit we’ve heard from him before. Honestly, Nevermind was basically Drake’s own version of Renaissance by foraying into house music a month ahead to mixed reception until the Her Loss collab album with 21 Savage easily became the best thing he’s done in 8 years & that’s a 6/10 at best because 21 felt like a featured artist on there. So considering that, I went into For All the Dogs expecting something interesting. Especially since he said he was going to throw it back to his roots musically.
“Virginia Beach” begins it all with 40 sampling “Wiseman” by Frank Ocean accompanied by some hi-hats dedicating this to everyone from the titular city in Virginia whereas “Amen” featuring Teezo Touchdown is a piano/trap hybrid that Budgie hooked up with both of them talking about gratefulness. “Calling You” with an underwhelming 21 Savage feature & co-production from Cash Cobain starts off by layering an electro loop over hi-hats until a soulful switch-up needing to be held until the inevitable, but then the synth-laced “Fear of Heights” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying, Pooh Beatz & xynothing makes various references to travelling abroad.
Meanwhile, “Daylight” with Adonis goes for a shimmery trap vibe courtesy of Southside & Smatt Sertified talking about shooting them in broad day leading into “First Person Shooter” starting off with a slowed down sample prior to a heavenly beat switch with co-production from Boi-1da, FNZ, Tay Keith & Vinylz comparing this to the Super Bowl as J. Cole delivers one of the best features on the LP making this the first time the 6 God & the King of Dreamville have crossed paths in about a decade. Yeat’s verse on “IDGAF” has to be another standout guest appearance as he & Drizzy join forces over a rage beat talking about their nonchalant-like personalities.
“7969 Santa” primarily has a woozier vibe to it instrumentally referencing a Delilah restaurant located out in Santa Monica Boulevard looking to get someone off his mind while “Slime You Out” featuring SZA is a disappointingly mediocre alternative R&B duet basically saying they slimin’ each other for them kid choices they made as corny as it sounds. After the superiorly chilled out R&B-inflicted “Bahamas Promises” reflecting on a troubled relationship, the wavy “Tried Our Best” talks about treating this woman right & has been growing on me over the last couple months that is until the mid atmospheric trap 2-parter “Drew a Picasso” right after another interlude “Screw the World” paying homage to DJ Screw telling this chick she ain’t gon’ find no one better & possibly making it work again.
PARTYNEXTDOOR’s chemistry with his mentor shown on the minimally moody “Members Only” is pretty tight saying these bitches are too down with the gangy even though lines like “Feel like I’m bi ’cause you’re one of the guys, girl” are total cringe while “What Would Pluto Do?” subliminally disses Future over a piano/trap beat. “All the Parties” is an airy 2-parter with reflecting on his success, distance from others in the music industry & paints a vivid image of his fortune & close-knit crew until Conductor Williams gives “8am in Charlotte” a dustier edge rapping his ass off for 4 & a half minutes. I seriously don’t even care about the supposed Ye diss either.
“BBL Love” strips the drums completely tackily comparing love to a Brazilian Butt Lift in the sense that “you won’t know if it’s real until you feel one” making it the worst song on the album ironically right after the best while “Gently” featuring Bad Bunny goes into Latin trap turf with the help of Gordo talking about living like The Sopranos from the Warner Bros.-owned HBO which is one of my top 3 shows of all-time behind Better Call Saul & Breaking Bad on amc respectively. However, I don’t see myself listening to it ever again. “Rich Baby Daddy” featuring Sexyy Red mixes elements of Jersey Club with trap providing a decent anthem for the strip clubs while “Another Late Night” featuring Lil Yachty picks up the pace fusing pop rap & rage chilling with women during the evening & Drake fuckin’ FINALLY addressing the rumors about him with Millie Bobby Brown.
As we continue to the encore of the album, the penultimate track “Away from Home” confesses that it doesn’t feel like a home to him anymore more rather just simply wall, doors & floors that only he can afford & lastly “Polar Opposites” ties up this 23 song album clocking in at 85 minutes in the form of an average spacey slow jam singing about how immature it is for Mariana to block him on everything in an unprovoked manner without exactly knowing why whatsoever. As he had legitimately plans to understand her a bit more, but obviously that’s not going to happen anymore because she broke his faith.
Now the Scary Hours deluxe version of this album contains 6 new bonus cuts & I’ll go over them right now. “Red Button” produced by ovrkast. & Lil Yachty starts off the deluxe run shouting out Taylor Swift, mentioning his truce with Kanye West & promising to find out wherever his opposition is celebratin’ to see who really crazy & after “Stories About My Brother” goes into jazzy boom bap territory with the help of Conductor calling this “the storm before the calm, we’ll get to the vacation later” including a Joe Budden diss, “The Shoe Fits” works in a woodwind addressing the ladies wonderin’ why Drake can’t rap like the same old guy answering he doesn’t know how anymore.
“Wick Man” has to be my favorite bonus track of the 6-pack comparing himself to John Wick & starting off by taking a laughable jab at Pusha T calling him “broke” over a reversed loop from one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist that’s later made up with a reference to 16-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena while “Evil Ways” featuring J. Cole displays a back & forth chemistry between the 2 with a soulful trap sound this time. Finally, the last bonus cut “You Broke My Heart” is easily the most melodic of the bunch singing over pianos about a woman who broke his heart.
Look: I haven’t enjoyed a Drake project consistently in 8 years up to this point, but I’ll always give him his credit where it’s due because his place in hip hop has been cemented by the impact he’s had on it & the music industry at large. With all of that being said: I genuinely think For All the Dogs is a step in the right direction for him compared to his last couple albums Certified Lover Boy & Honestly, Nevermind. Easily his most consistent solo effort since If You’re Reading This in my respectful opinion. He mainly returns to his trappy pop rap roots also dabbling with trap soul, chipmunk soul, contemporary R&B & even Latin music in the process with slightly more hits & than misses.
Score: 3.5/5
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