DRAKE IS BACK, OR IS HE?

Drake is back! After a wait that feels all too short for an artist of his caliber, we have yet another Drake album. As a huge fan in the early 2000 teens, It now feels highly formulaic and repetitive outside Honestly, Nevermind, and a few singles here and there. With that being said, numbers don’t lie, and the man has done numbers that rival some of the greatest pop stars of all time. As a music enthusiast, It’s only fitting I give it an honest listen or two before I pass judgment. So, without further ado, here is my review of For All The Dogs. 

He opens the album up with bright chords, a Frank Ocean sample, and classic Drake Vocals that had me extremely intrigued. This was followed by a Teezo Touchdown assisted song with perfectly placed samples reminiscent of the sound Drake and Producer 40 established in 2011 with Take Care (my favorite Drake album). As a 28-year-old who grew up loving that record, I can’t help but hope the rest of this album has more of that old Drake sound I loved so much as a kid. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The album seemed to lack a distinct sound, depth, or any sort of concept.  In classic Drake form, this album has features from many of the hottest new rappers, where you can hear Drake piggybacking off their sound, a tactic Drake has used to stay relevant for almost fifteen years. With moments of greatness, this album seems like a collective of songs with no end goal in mind and far too many filler tracks that could’ve been left on the hard drive for the posthumous album. 

As much as I can sit here and critique Drake and the lack of depth or creativity over the last five years, he has clearly found a formula that’s seen him achieve what few people have been able to do, and that alone is worth noting. Whether or not this is an album I will be listening to, it is clear that is not the case for the masses. If numbers are Aubrey’s goal, he is very much achieving success, but if he’s looking to make classic albums, he might want to rethink the current formula.