"For All The Dogs"
Updated: Nov 11, 2023
By James Yu Nov. 9, 2023
When I opened the track list for Drake’s newest album, “For All The Dogs,” my expectations for the project fell the instant I saw the song “Rich Baby Daddy.” After listening to the album in its entirety, I came to three revelations. First: “For All The Dogs” met all of my abysmal expectations. Second: “Rich Baby Daddy” ironically is one of the better songs on the album. Third: Drake is like a baby daddy—sometimes he comes home with the milk (i.e. a good album), and sometimes he leaves the house and never comes back. I wish that daddy Drake never came back.
The spoiled milk which Drake brought home pours into my ears on track one, titled “Virginia Beach.” Before spoiled milk rots, it is fresh—just like “Virginia Beach,” which begins with an immaculate instrumental that merges a moody vocal sample with an ethereal synth in order to evoke a sentimental, reflective feeling in listeners. However, the second Drake’s vocals arrive, my ears shrivel up. Drake’s vocals are dry and flat, with their only redeemable quality being the hysterical nature of the lyrics themselves: “Birkin is croc like the rubber shoe, I swear that I'm not tryna smother you.”
The rest of the album is made up of similar spoiled dairy, with songs such as “Bahamas Promises” and “Amen” being akin to Drake coming home with strawberry milk and buttermilk because he ran out of ways to make his spoiled milk albums new and refreshing. However, to give Drake credit, in an album filled with spoiled milk, Drake brought some fresh dairy. “First Person Shooter,” which features rapper J. Cole, has cohesive bars with a refreshingly simple and serious tone and “IDGAF,” which features punk rapper Yeat, opens with a poetic vocal sample before descending into a rugged yet smooth verse by Yeat, with additions of Drake’s mediocre vocal. Although both songs are great listens that have earned spots on my playlist, they sound more like J. Cole and Yeat songs with Drake features rather than Drake songs with their features.
Overall, it seems Drake only releases good music when he has someone else to lean on. However, just like how a cow’s measure of monetary value is in the milk it produces, if Drake fails to deliver, his album may actually only be “For all the Dogs.”
About the Contributors
James Yu
staff writer
James Yu is a sophomore at Leland High School and a staff writer for The Charger Account. During his free time, he's obsessing over Speech and Debate, is an active Boy Scout, and hanging out with friends.
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