As an avid music listener, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to listen to and write a review covering Drake's newest Album, "For All the Dogs." Although I don't love Drake, I tried to keep the review as unbiased as possible. I also wanted to note that there will be more album reviews to come on this blog. I love listening to music, so it is almost surprising that it took this long to write my first. Also published to my school newspaper for the month of October, the full article is below.
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Over the years, Drake’s music career has had its highs and lows. Although his recent work hasn’t quite been on par with what it once was, he still manages to release a listenable album just about every year. Earlier this month, Drake kept true to this quota and dropped his newest album, “For All The Dogs.” Just over an hour and a half in length, “For All The Dogs” brags an impressive feature list, including artists such as SZA, J Cole, 21 Savage, Yeat, and more. While the feature list is indeed impressive, the general reviews of the album haven’t been as forgiving. So, is the album really worth listening to?
Drake opens strongly, with probably my favorite song on the entire album. With a uniquely recognizable Frank Ocean sample and an overall dreamy atmosphere, “Virginia Beach” sets your expectations high for the rest of the album. After some forgettable songs, you are met with two unforgettable and exciting songs, in “First Person Shooter” and “IDGAF.” First “Person Shooter” is up there with “Virginia Beach” for my favorite song on the album, with a perfectly executed feature by none other than J Cole. Transitioning into a completely different type of song, “IDGAF” sounds like it is straight off of a Yeat album, with an unexpected Drake feature. This song is easily the most fun on the album, and probably the song I will be listening to the most on my own time. Skipping Chief Keef’s out-of-place sample on “7969 Santa,” comes another exceptional song in “Slime You Out,” featuring SZA. Again showing the versatility, or maybe messiness of the album, Slime You Out takes on a completely different genre of music, showing elements of R&B. Unfortunately for Drake, from here on out the album seems to get progressively worse. Outside of “8am in Charlotte,” every song preceding “Slime You Out” proves to be both underwhelming and forgettable. Seemingly pointless features from well-known artists are prevalent in many of these songs.
Similar to Drake’s music career, this album clearly has its highs and lows. Because of its highly anticipated feature list, the fact that half of the features were in forgettable songs crushes any expectations any listener might have had. To Drake’s defense, the album does have multiple songs I will definitely listen to in my free time and probably add to some of my playlists. However, if you look at the album as a whole, I do not think the album in its entirety is worth a listen.
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