RAWview: Drake - For All The Dogs

It’s been 3 days since the album came out. There’s 23 tracks! I’ve listened to it front to back at least 8 times. By force, rather than choice. I had to… just to understand it. Not because it’s woke, multi layered or deep. Just because it may be the most confusing album Drake has released!

'For All The Dogs' is Drake’s 8th Solo Studio Album. To put that into perspective Nas 8th Album was 'Hip Hop Is Dead', Kanye West’s was 'Yeezus' and Eminem’s was 'Marshall Mathers LP2'. They are arguably all questionable albums, that divide the core audiences of these superstars. The 8th album seems to be a twilight in a rappers career.

They are obviously super established in their abilities but they’re searching for something new, experimenting with the sound (Yeezus) and the subject matter (Hip Hop Is Dead). In fact the great Jay Z flirted with retirement on his 8th release, 'The Black Album'. In a way the 8th album marks a turning point in a rappers life, because they are too grown for the club, but too young for the Hall of Fame. Drake suffers from this feeling severely on this album.

The opening 5 songs, are a desperate attempt for Drake to sound like a young, hungry artist. The beats are vibrant, the topics are rambunctious, the arrangement’s of the song are lucid. I can see what Yachty has brought to this album as an executive producer. 'Calling For You', is straight out if his handbook - the falsetto autotune vocals and the lacklustre lyrics work for Little Boat, because of his character. It’s authentic to his alternative persona. But Drake struggles badly.

'Amen' sounds like a budget Kanye & Ty Dollar Sign collaboration. 'Fear of Heights', comes from the same page as his failed ‘Too Sexy’ release. And repeating ‘Shot em in Daylight x6’ followed by his son’s outro is the end of line for this train wreck.

I really could have turned the album off there on the first listen, but J Cole was next - the only Rap Super Hero capable of saving this album. Great production, nice subject matter, stadium energy and another mind blowing verse from Cole. He really showed Drake how to mature into rap with this verse. All the bravado is there, but the finesse and attention to detail in his writing shows - ‘Not Russia, but still apply pressure to ya’ cranium (Ukraine)’ - ridiculous. Then Drake turns into 21 Savage for the 3rd verse and loses the subject matter whilst imitating him.

The next 5 songs are a skip for me. 'Bahamas Promises' caught my ear, the shift in soundscape was welcome and Drake is singing better and leads into 'Tried Our Best' well. Probably the biggest of all the leaked songs, 'Tried Our Best', is a standout on the album. This is old Drake, brought right up to date, it reminds me of 'This B*tch is Crazy' off his early 'Comeback Season' mixtape. (Damn I need to revisit that tape, Drake was top tier on that.)

The final third of the Album is a mix bag of different sonics PARTYNEXTDOOR, Chief Keef, Bad Bunny, Sexyy Red and Lil Yachty all get added in for good measure. And as you can imagine from the spectrum of names listed, its a mess!

I’m not sure who Drake’s dogs are, but this isn’t for me. It’s hard to believe this is the same rapper that ‘Just wanted to be successful’ and told us his ‘Mother was florist’. We fell in love with Drake’s vulnerability, it was his form of confidence and it drew us in. This album gives the impression he is insecure - there’s nothing personal in the album. It feels like he is trying to give us anything, in hope that we like something… And his weird response to the critics, shows bigger signs of insecurity.

'For All The Dogs' is a collection of songs, with no cohesion. 'Nothing Was the Same', really was the most accurate title of all his albums, he hasn’t reached that peak in his craft since. He has been slowly falling from the clouds his head was in on that album cover, ever since. 'Certified Lover Boy', 'Honestly Nevermind', 'Her Loss' and 'For All The Dogs' have brought it to a crashing descent. Where he goes from here is up to himself, it is Drake after all. Hopefully, he ‘catches his wind’ and its plain sailing on the closing decades of a successful career. 3/10.