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FOR ALL THE DOGS
10/28/23
BY: IAN SHERRY
On October 8, 2023, Drake released his newest album For All The Dogs.
After multiple postponements, Canada’s greatest rapper released his eighth studio album. The 23 song odyssey is the newest addition to a discography of ups and downs. Drake’s persona is just as volatile as the quality of his releases. From the underdog to the top of the world, from lonely to never alone, from player to father, his character development isn’t wildly unique when listed in that format. What makes Drake unique is his arc is neither linear nor complete. In reality, those options I listed previously should be mixed randomly in a list held together by hyphens not commas. Drake is a walking paradox, as is his music. Despite consistently delivering some of the most compelling songs in a given year, his discography holds the most bland music to ever grace the top of the rap charts. In preparation for a Drake release, fans are forced to speculate as to which Drake will be present on the album. While the speculation is fun, his persona of choice directly impacts how the album should be consumed. So which Drake made For All The Dogs? The simplest answer: all of them.
“Virginia Beach” is a strong start in my book. The first song to any album should be an intentional choice that sets the tone. Drake chooses to start his 2023 release in his singing bag. The production is strong, weaving around his voice and shifting halfway through to emphasize heavier bass and drums that accompany his first rap verse of the album. “Amen” comes second, the samplework and Teezo Touchdown feature land nicely, and along with the keys overtop, they carry on the same vibe as track 1. Unfortunately, that is the end of Drake’s stylistic/thematic uniformity.
Drake has all his tools on display on this album. There is a right way to do that, but this isn’t it. ROSALIA properly executed this concept last year. MOTOMAMI was a show of force in which she expertly performed in different languages, styles, vibes, and emotions. It was 42 minutes long, one song after another, all separate thoughts. The product was fantastic. For All The Dogs is 84 minutes long (that’s twice the length for those counting at home) and it has less to offer in all of those categories, despite Drake’s half a verse in Spanish. If only I was in the studio, I could’ve cut this album down to 12 tracks (2 interludes) that lasted 44 minutes. That album would’ve been Drake’s most consistent release in years. Instead we have twice as much music, and more than twice the material to complain about.
SINGING
Drake is not a great singer, but he knows how. He and Nicki Minaj are very similar in that sense. They have decent voices, and when they don’t push it, they can fit nicely into a well-written, well-produced song. When Drake is at his best, he puts himself in a good stylistic position to deliver a passable vocal performance with decent lyrics. “Bahamas Promise” is one such case. The heavy bass lead-in with dogs barking creates a vivid mood that gives way to Drake’s vocals. Track 10 is his strongest vocal performance on the album, and it's supported by background vocals and a gentle but firm instrumental. The strong bottom end allows him to focus on singing without being concerned about filling empty space. Piano along with other high-end soundbytes set in overtop to sandwich the vocals. It is a well designed and focused song that lasts for a perfect 3:04.
Logically, since the attention to detail makes a song like “Bahamas Promise” excel, the lack of attention to detail has the inverse effect. “7969 Santa” is an unfortunately good example. Drake flips between rapping and singing. Neither is convincing, and the singing is flat out bad at times. The beat is entirely midrange ambient noise and drums. There is no depth of sound, no rhythm, and no energy. It is 2:40 of struggle to get to the unlisted Teezo Touchdown feature. Teezo does his best to save the song, but the simplest solution would’ve been to remove Drake’s involvement, leaving Teezo’s feature and Snoop Dogg’s outro. Drake has been doing this for too long to allow these inconsistencies, and that’s a frustrating reality considering how good he can be. A whole generation of rappers followed in Drake’s stylistic footsteps for a reason.
Speaking of that generation, the PARTYNEXTDOOR feature on “Members Only” is one of the highpoints of the album. Fellow Canadians, the two artists embody a similar r&b/rap lane. Unsurprisingly, this historically results in good music. Their collaborative efforts were successful once again this year. PARTYNEXTDOOR’s verse follows a solid Drake verse with a huskier tone than I’m normally accustomed to hearing from him. It adds a great texture to an otherwise smooth song. The slight juxtaposition brings flavor to the 14th track, and, mixed with their chemistry, it’s satisfying. This isn’t the only collaboration Drake nails on his 2023 LP, and, despite its strong points, the excitement surrounding “Members Only” won’t touch that of “First Person Shooter”.
J COLE
J Cole fans are rabid. That explains why “First Person Shooter” is third most streamed on the album already, behind the lead single featuring SZA and “IDGAF” featuring Yeat (one of the four horsemen of the mainstream music apocalypse). To their credit, J Cole and Drake did their thing on track 6. Drake stylistically snuggles up to Cole as they rap over production very reminiscent of Cole’s 2021 record The Offseason. The real excitement, though, surrounds the featured verse. J Cole comes out firing. He puts to bed the beef between NBA YoungBoy and himself, explaining that his comments, from which the disagreement stemmed, were misconstrued. He follows that by listing himself, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar as the top three rappers alive (I’ll reserve my opinion for a later date). However, the line that will live the longest announces The Falloff, J Cole’s upcoming studio album. Although my eyes roll a little bit in preparation for the word ‘genius’ to start popping up amongst the Cole-heads, I can’t deny that’s a productive feature. It piqued my interest at least.
My favorite song on the album is track 15, “What Would Pludo Do”. Reminiscent of Zaytoven (a musical sweet spot of mine), Lil Yachty does his thing on production. The keyboard painted over the top works coterminously with bass hits on the low end. Drake flows right in between them. He goes bar-after-bar for the length of the track. It’s simple, and there’s nothing wrong with that. With all the singing, features, personal drama, and hype, it’s easy to forget Drake is a very capable rapper. I appreciate the reminder, though this isn’t even his best lyrical performance on the album. “8am In Charlotte” and “Away From Home” are both rapping clinics as well.
INTERLUDES
While “What Would Pludo Do” is my favorite track, the best pieces of music on For All The Dogs aren’t even traditional songs. Drake absolutely killed his interludes this year. “Screw The World” came first. It’s a dressed up sample of DJ Screw’s remix of Nas’s “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)”. Drake evidently felt the need to pay homage to the quietly influential Houston-based DJ, and it may have something to do with the incident highlighted here. Regardless of his motivation, it is a great piece of music. The muddied vocal sits amongst the murky bass hits. The perfect amount of reverb and throwback southern flavor buried underneath round out one of the best instrumental tracks he’s had in years.
“BBL Love” upholds that same standard. The soul sample brings in the audience gently. Drake takes the mellow approach, reflecting on women and how their intimate availability to him relates to his status as a wildly successful artist. This isn’t a new trope, especially for Drake, but that lyrical content isn’t what impresses me. He captures a vibe and brings you into it. If you’re a little uncomfortable once you’re there, he did a good job from an artistic standpoint, because he’s fully enveloped you in his world of numerous and nuanced sexual relations. On top of that, track 18 functions as an opportunity to take a breath before settling back in for the remaining 5 songs of this lengthy piece of work. Two perfect interludes.
The biggest surprise on the album comes just a few moments after the second interlude. Track 20 is “Rich Baby Daddy” featuring Sexyy Red and SZA. Frankly, this spelled disaster for a few reasons. First, these are three individualistic artists with their own stylistic sweetspots; second, the Drake/SZA collaboration already fell short on “Slime Me Out”; third, it’s 5:19 long. I’m pleased to say I was worried or nothing. Sexyy Red brings her energy from the jump with the chorus, and the beat keeps pace with her. It takes a certain kind of energy to feel like you’re setting the pace for the instrumental, instead of the reverse. Drake is able to keep up with the beat (see the difference?), and speeding him up adds an element you hardly ever find on Drake records. His verse is a success, and the chorus provides a perfect transition into SZA, who sings with pace but no less of her usual swagger. She remains one of the most talented vocalists in music, and she adds a smoothness you couldn’t have found elsewhere. The chorus hits again leading into Sexyy Red’s verse. It’s short, but it is a great conclusion to their twist on a traditional song format. The Drake outro could’ve been left off. If it had, this is the best song on the album. However, the choice to use Sexyy Red like they did was perfect, and the willingness to stick to the traditional chorus format paid off big-time. When it comes to good music, my favorite way to stand is corrected .
CHORUSES
There’s a reason I highlight the usage of a chorus on track 20. In recent years, especially within rap, there’s been a shift away from the traditional chorus-based song structure. This is usually in favor of the posse-track format. A good example, for relevance sake, is Westside Gunn. His new album (which I’ll have a review on soon) leans into this structure. Essentially, he peppers his songs with features whom he works well with. They trade verses over fairly consistent production, with the aim of impressing lyrically while putting an emphasis on their chemistry. This is pretty unique to hip-hop, and when done correctly the results are fantastic. However, some are better than others.
Drake’s approach varies from the Buffalo rapper, in that he relies on alternative or subtle choruses (if none at all) instead of featured artists. His features are much less common. They may add a different flavor, but they often stand to do something that Drake cannot execute himself, which is admirable, or boost streams, which isn’t. So if the emphasis isn’t on the chorus, or some substitute like Westside Gunn’s features, where is it? The answer, for much of this record, is nowhere. The result is a lot of boring music, 8 songs by my count. That’s 8 out of 23 that have no replay value.
If you check the writers credits for any song on this record you might be floored by the quantity of names involved. With that many minds at work, Drake is able to formulate clever ways to subtly write in choruses. The problem is I don’t want subtlety. That defeats the purpose. A chorus is supposed to provide a different flavor to the song as well as a jumping off point for the next verse. It’s a tool. On “Members Only” it allows for the subtle stylistic divergences of PARTYNEXTDOOR to stand out. On “What Would Pludo Do”, the chorus is a launching point for cutting verses. If you think I'm just listing songs I enjoyed, check this out. The chorus on “7969 Santa” works well too. Not only does it stand as a consistent return point for a misguided performance from Drake, it sets up Teezo Touchdown’s feature, which turns out to be the highlight of the song.
Drake has far too much firepower in the studio to put out boring music. Sticking to the chorus-focused format that many artists, including Drake, have found success with historically, seems like a good strategy to me.
Drake is one of the most polarizing artists alive. He leans into it, and then, as a reviewer, I can’t help but do the same. This album certainly plays into that. From the postponements, to the inclusion of his son's art and rapping (which keys the tires of a solid fifth track), he created a spectacle outside of the music. However, I’m more interested in the music, always. Here’s what I heard:
Surprisingly, the album wasn’t unbearably long. I still can’t justify the length, but aside from Drake’s typically high level of bloat, it isn’t egregious. By bloat I mean unnecessary tracks, extra length on songs, or anything else that doesn’t add or take away from the experience. If you cut all the bloat from Drake’s previous two solo albums, there would be no albums. In that sense he’s improved this year. I was also struck by his lyricism. While it isn’t the stuff of other actively elite rappers like Pusha T or JID, it was much improved over his releases the last few years. However, one big disappointment is the absence of the Drake anthem. This is not an expectation of most artists, but Drake has a tendency to drop chart-topping, culturally enormous songs. While this album has some great tracks, it doesn’t have a “God’s Plan” or “Toosie Slide”. This doesn’t speak to quality, as there are probably five songs on this record better than those two, but I don’t know if this record will create the months-long ripple effect we’re accustomed to seeing from Drake projects. I’m mostly positive though. From an album construction standpoint, I’ve accepted that Drake has a lot of misses. His highs determine the quality of a Drake release, his lows or critical scores, do not. Thus, my score won’t reflect how much I enjoyed For All The Dogs, his best album in a while.
For All The Dogs is a 4.75.