Drake - For All the Dogs ALBUM REVIEW

wow wow hi everyone Anthony fantano here the internet's busiest music nerd and it's time for a review of this new Drake album for all the dogs this is a brand new LP from rapper singer songwriter Aubrey Graham AKA Drake Toronto's very own it is his eighth full length LP and it is a follow-up to 2021s certified lover boy and yes I know he has dropped honestly never mind as well as the 21 Savage collab project since then but I think this record kind of goes to show that those albums where detours in a sense on for all the dogs Drake is really kind of getting back to what makes Drake Drake now certified lover boy was one of my least favorite Drake projects so far when it came out another unnecessarily long project with some of the most Preposterous creative lows of Drake's career endless winging about how lonely it is at the top stale shots over beef that is years old at this point and one of his goofiest singles to date way too sexy which is just a few Shades away from being a Lonely Island Song now of course this record did did have its moments here and there if you're getting 21 tracks from one of the industry's biggest artists you are going to have some bangers here and there but Drake has currently reached a point where he's almost too big to fail which is a dangerous scenario considering that he might be the music industry's most self-aware artist right now not dangerous for Drake per se uh more dangerous for us because he understands he can do basically anything at this point and it will create engagement so it doesn't matter if his writing is so par it doesn't matter if he riffs his way through an album that barely has any formal songs on it it doesn't matter if he's instigating beef that's unwarranted at the end of the day it's all more money in his pocket Drake's current strangle hold on the music industry is showing no signs of waning even with him having just announced a Hiatus after this record and if he does genuinely get some distance from the music industry at this point I hope it gives him an opportunity for a reset or something because for all of this projects novel hype and marketing uh plus that poetry book thing I feel like with Drake here we're getting another bloated head scratcher that leaves me wondering who exactly is this record intended for from front to back cuz he seems to be less interested in perfecting a sound and more interested in giving everybody a little bit of something while lacing this record with the kind of stuff that he knows is just going to generate conversation blowout features Rhymes that make you wise shots call outs subliminals and bars that could also be construed as such and all this is happening while narrativizing about how his success is hard-earned and all of his ex lovers are clownish and stupid like uh you know any given boyfriend in a Taylor Swift song So B basically This Record is the most Drake thing ever essentially and the formula is so clear now as I don't think Drake is driven to make albums that are good I think he's driven to make albums that are polarizing and also difficult to sum up cuz there's a variety of great and terrible moments on this thing and none of them are great and terrible and exactly the same way there's also a bit of theater of the mind going on with this record too as there are numerous tracks with long intros outros these transitional moments to bark radio breaks that have various people acting as DJs on this fictional radio station Snoop Dog shade which is for sure cool and adds a lot of fun and character to the flow of the record but at the end of it all it's the songwriting quality and the writing quality uh that this record is going to live or die by now I can give this to for all the dogs the album does start off pretty strong you have the opener Virginia Beach which may not be a tusen leather or a champagne poetry one of those uh Long Bar heavy Drake starters where he's got a great flow and Vibe going this track goes in more of an R&B Direction but the sung lines are really well conceived they're sticky Aubrey is absolutely floating on this beat which is honestly beautiful the Chipmunk vocal samples the string layers it's entrancing it's hypnotic and kind of reminds me of the the sort of beat Clams Casino would have made for asaki or Lil Bee Back in the Day Drake lyrically is also reminiscing about a relationship of love that actually used to have some substance to it some life to it it feels like there's genuinely some Focus to this track and even if there are bars like you know put a baby in you you're a hot m um I do think it's a good start to the project there's also amen that features Teo touchdown who is absolutely wonderful on the intro of this track his vocal lines his harmonies are gorgeous they're luxurious it is a classy R&B cut with some gospel splashes here and there Drake brings Some solid wrapping to the table yes of course there are a few eye rolles here and there lyrically that is to be expected but vocally musically the track is sound and while I love that Drake is definitely building up some momentum here we do get a quick nose dive on calling for You featuring 21 Savage which what the hell is this track you have an intro that lasts forever super tedious Drake doesn't really know how to fill it out vocally and it eventually just kind of goes into this long spoken word uh rant by some unidentified girl unidentified to me anyway she's going on about like a trip and drama and oxtail 21 Savages verse at the end of it is utterly average it's just several different moments and ideas jammed together into something that just is not a song following this we have fear of heights which is a pretty big switch up from Drake as it is him doing a rage style track in the vein of Playboy cardi you have those buzzing cycling sense he is getting really breathy and a little quietly aggressive on his delivery it's a convincing performance with a sick flow and it's kind of surprising that Drake jumps into this kind of vibe especially after such a slow and sleepy intro where he's dropping all of these you know of the anti and aunti bars that at one point he says that he has to stop because obviously it's a terrible Direction and a corny idea but there has been a lot of talk and theorizing as to whether or not some of these bars are in reference to Rihanna either way though Drake I guess he thinks he's cardi here but it's still a banger and somehow harder than a lot of what cardi has put out recently on his opium label don't tell me you scared little Drake don't tell me you scared little Aubrey then Drake is pretty much scratching the same itch on the following track daylight he thinks he's cardi twice and honestly this track's kind of a banger too interestingly toward the the end of the song uh we get this boom bap style beat switch where his son Adonis is spitting and it's a cute appearance it's endearing Adonis carries we also have a little carrying going on with the following cup firstperson shooter which features Jay Cole Cole goes absolutely off over this kind of sick Moody grimy beat talking about how he and Kendrick and Drake are the goats so on and so forth Drake's line toward the start of the track about this being as big as the Super Bowl but it's just two guys playing [ __ ] that they made in theud studio is pretty funny too and for sure it's going to go down as one of the biggest mainstream bangers of the year now surprisingly with this rage stuff Drake dips back into this well again with I don't give a [ __ ] which features Yeet another thing about this track that is a big surprise is that it features this a long expansive New Age ambient intro that has uh some jazz trumpet in there too it sounds almost like if Julia halter collaborated with Miles Davis it's beautiful it's genuinely a inspiring but then uh suddenly we get this annoying Benny X beat jumping in with um Yeet just going and while I don't mind ye and I like this production and I like this Vibe genuinely in certain contexts I just feel like lyrically this cut is just too dumb down even for Drake plus he feels like a feature on his own song here as again this feels like a yeet beat Yeet takes up most of the track and and he already dropped two good rage tracks on the record already we didn't need a third following this we have 7969 Santa which um feels like I'm listening to a drake dream sequence the beat is very faint he's rapping very introspectively and quietly on the song there are lots of ambient synth patches on the track and these disembodied Chief Keef samples playing very distantly there are some cringeworthy bars here and there but I I just feel like I'm in Drake's mind on this one in a weird way and you know it's not a bad cerebral switch up plus there's this beautiful Teo touchdown outro on the track and all this transitions us into the number one track featuring siza slime you out which admittedly since I have originally heard it has grown on me the vocal lines are strong the beat is fine it does the job sza's feature on the track is stupendous and I like that both Drake and siza bring their own separate narratives to the song so that it creates some tension the cute series of bars toward the end of the track that referenced the months of the year from Drake uh are fine maybe it's because there are elements of the track I enjoy more now maybe it's because hearing it next to some of the worst material on this record it's a far superior song either way I think this track is a highlight which I'm not sure I can say about Bahama's promises which for sure is bringing back some real old Drake R&B Vibes but all the bars about all the things we could have been and how you [ __ ] up my Bahamas trip just seems so petty and lame my Bahamas trip Haley you ruined my Bahamas trip the whole track feel feels more like a R Kelly style musical rant of you know rather than a song which is kind of funny given the bar later on the record where Drake is a allegedly judging uh someone who he's with for like you know bumping R Kelly in the whip things pick up from here though with tried our best which I think is genuinely a top 10 Drake song I do wish the straight flight line and the Shakespeare line just wasn't there but the vocals on this track are so much better than vocals on previous records not only in terms of performance but uh just also in terms of The Melodies he's busting out here it's a good tune it's a great structure Drake is seriously in his R&B bag again screw the world is a pretty fun interlude meanwhile Drew Picasso brings us yet again another R&B style musical rant which is where that R Kelly being bumped in the whip line pops up also moving like Snoopy and Charlie Brown you trying to dog the kid stop following this members only featuring party next door narratively is a track that seems like Drake just doesn't know what the hell he wants he's talking about his connections with this girl who he sees as being like you know too gangy too close or good with the guys I guess cuz there are so many tracks on this thing where he clearly wants somebody who integrates into his life integrates into his world but I guess they can't get too close to the point where you know they're they're good with his dogs to the point where he might think a bar like uh feel like I'm by cuz you're one of the guys girl but what's even more concerning and sus is the track what would Pluto do Pluto being the nickname of frequent collaborator and friend future and musically it's a solid R&B tune sure but I think we can agree this is not a strong or essential topic so I left that song feeling very aggravated uh and then went into all the parties which at the start has very good pacing a standout appearance from Chief Keef where he brings a pretty catchy refrain to the table but then the track kind of just Fizzles out from there has no idea as to where to go Drake repeats the same refrain that Chief Keef brought to the table but with like the beat slowed down then it just trails off with a terrible shot at the weekend for no reason whatsoever toward the end of the track there's also this very quiet and random interpolation of pet shot boys of West End Girls which again is totally coming at a left field and not even like shown off in the song in a way that is prominent or memorable I have no idea uh why he did it and did it so brazenly cuz seemingly there's no credit to pet shot boys on the track at least that's what they said on Twitter ADM and Charlotte I've talked about before in a review I think it's a banger and a half good single I like the direct boombat beat on the track Drake's delivery is solid too there's tons of standout bars on this one like that one about 15 years of domination things are bound to get kinky I would say the only Achilles heel of this track is that it yet again shows Drake not truly knowing what he wants cuz while he raps repeatedly about uh letting beef slide and kind of just wanting to be a more peaceful person he's also kind of instigating beef not just here but all over this record BBL love is loaded with some of the most ridiculous bars on the entire project but Drake is clearly being kind of silly and just taking the piss on this one I wouldn't take anything happening on this track too seriously but simultaneously if the song does expose something it's that when Drake is being serious he's not that much less silly and tongue and cheek than he's being on this cut which makes me wonder how seriously should we take you when you are being serious the song gently featuring Bad Bunny is just in my opinion completely a non-starter as Drake sees bad Bunny's appearance as a reason to yet again mimic another accent in a terrible [ __ ] fashion I live like Sopranos italios what is he doing what is he doing does Drake know that you know you can just let somebody from a different country or culture rap on your track without like impersonating them like imagine if Taylor Swift had Rosalia on a track and then just saw that as caused to be like yeah a bibla rich baby daddy is uh another track on this record that despite it being kind of a hot mess I sort of love it it features sexy red it features a super driving Galloping dancable beat uh siza is on the track too and it's completely completely unhinged especially with sexy red jumping in with uh some runchy bars with talking about twerking for Drake I don't think this track is going to be for everybody but uh there is an outtro on it that I frankly at least for me even though I liked the cut kind of ruined it thanks to Drake dropping some very Beauty contemplative R&B style bars like a post-nut Clarity I came to my senses and weirdly enough there's another interpolation on this cut of uh a Florence and the Machine song This Time credited though with Drake singing about how the dog days are over things on the tail end of This Record really start to get boring with another late night where Drake throws out open threats toward anybody making you know Millie Bobby Brown jokes we have a light quirky trap beat on this cut it feels like the vibe of a little yachty song so so of course it makes sense that Lil yachty is on the track uh however Lil yachty's feature on this track is trash my [ __ ] know it's us without open either of her eyelids and also she had big tits like Billy eyelish but she couldn't sing weird that Drake would put a little yachty song on his record only for Lil yachty to [ __ ] it up away from home sees Drake uh rapping in a very monotonous repetitive fashion as he is kind of walking down memory lane recalling all of this stuff that he had to do or go through in order to get to where he is today and the tone of this track is just kind of confusing to me because in so many ways even though things have panned out very positively for Drake he still seems like really bitter about some of the stuff that has transpired in the past some of which doesn't even seem that bad or serious or you know even if you did take it as such wouldn't these be obstacles for you to sort of like overcome or you know just stuff that you had to move through in order to get to where you are now the most confusing moment is uh this spot where he mentions esparon as Spalding such a r random person to like throw a jab at for no reason and moments like this just make lines like to keep it real I wasn't really gangster until now I was living on a cloud I was quiet as a mouse kind of funny because like would a real gangster be going at esparon as Spalding's throat no then the closing track pull her opposites completely unnecessary while it does tie up uh some of the loose ends on the record in regards to you know this really crappy relationship that he's been singing and rapping about and how toxic and divisive it's been by that same token on this cut Drake is sort of diagnosing this girl with bipolar disorder does he know that that's the case which is kind of weird and sus and look I I cannot let go of bars like you tried to grease me but we're not in mikos like why and again I feel like Drake has kind of dropped all pretense for bringing us any songs at this point he's just kind of like you know riffing and whining through these tracks and to be honest this record really could have ended at 8:00 a.m. in Charlotte and it would have been the better for it cuz once again with this LP we're just getting a lot of Drake bloat maybe he was a bit more strategic about placing it all toward the end but it's still there so look ratio of Bops to flops on this thing it is better than what we had on clb that for sure is true I was happy and impressed to see Drake do as well as he did with some of these rage Cuts with some of these cuts that had more focused songwriting and went in more of an R&B Direction you have some of those classically Drake moments as well on this thing like 8 a.m. and Charlotte but it's still not a well groomed and consistent record and I think Drake unfortunately uh just doesn't really have the full capacity to edit himself effectively at this point as there are so many bars and tracks just flying on this thing that don't really add to the overall Vibe of the record they weigh it down they bog it down or just moments that are tacky and tasteless and just straight up terrible Drake album is going to Drake album essentially at the end of the day and I'm not really sure if there's too much else to say about for all the dogs I'm feeling a strong five to a light six on this one transition have you given this album a listen did you love it did you hate it what would you rate it you're the best you're the best what should I review next hit the like if you like Please Subscribe and please don't cry hit the Bell as well over here next to my head is another video that you can check out hit that up or the link to subscribe to the channel Anthony fantano Drake Forever

Channel: theneedledrop

Views: 1,066,039

Keywords: album, review, music, reviews, indie, new, lyrics, listen, track, concert, live, update, the needle drop, anthony fantano, vlog, talk, discussion, music nerd, song, drake, drizzy, champagne papi, 8am in charlotte, slime you out, sza, features, rap, hip hop, pop, trap, r&b, fatd, reaction, j cole, teezo

Id: iixeWvFOC1k

Length: 17min 22sec (1042 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 11 2023