Canadian rapper Drake “sounds a little tired of being Drake” on his new album, For All the Dogs (released on October 6th, 2023), said Mosi Reeves from Rolling Stone Magazine. After campaigning through his first poetry book and ten months of multiple delays, Drake finally released the long-awaited album. Throughout the album, he explores themes of relationships, desire, heartbreak, and his version of masculinity.

Many fans are excited about the first track on the album, “Virginia Beach”. Before the release, the song was suspected to be a diss track for Pusha T, Drake’s decade-long rival who grew up in Virginia Beach, VA. However, Drake instead constructs a conversation with what seems like a girl he wants to be with. As the song progresses, you can hear Drake starting to show the complexity of his feelings with what appears to be an on-and-off relationship. Drake writes good lyrics that flow with the other layers of the song, and “Virginia Beach” is a good example of his ability to balance and connect the different aspects of the music. This is one of the better songs on the album.

The third track, “Calling For You”, featuring 21 Savage, explores the feelings of desire, love and independence. Drake tells the story of meeting a girl in a club who he wants a serious one-on-one relationship with. The track starts with what seems like extra autotune in Drake’s voice, making it sound audibly shaky. This happens especially when Drake’s vocals get higher, which is never a good thing. However, the chorus was a nice touch as it adds a lot of meaning to the song. A distant, muted voice sings “callin’, callin’ for you” to show Drake’s longing to be with this girl. Then, a recording of an unidentified girl plays. She complains about how her man isn’t doing enough for her because he didn’t get her first-class tickets. This may preview Drake’s upcoming vacation he describes in “Bahamas Promises”, in which he tells listeners he doesn’t feel good enough for the girl he wants. Then 21 Savage comes in rapping about his masculinity and strength. While unrelated to the story behind the lyrics, this made the song more interesting by adding variation to the music.

Much of social media speculates that the fourth track on the album, “Fear of Heights”, is about Rihanna, whom Drake had an on-and-off relationship with from 2009-2016. Drake potentially references Rihanna’s famous song “Sex With Me” and her 2016 album, Anti. He continues to diss her: “And I had way badder bitches than you, tbh.” Drake also explains how “the chain on her neck is a A,” possibly referring to A$AP Rocky. If the rumors are true, I don’t appreciate his immaturity in dissing his ex from seven years ago. Despite this, the beat drop is smooth and works well. Drake then ruins this with some badly sung and rather disturbing vulgar lyrics describing women’s sexual appeals.

A memorable track, maybe the best song, is “First Person Shooter” due to its popular feature, J. Cole, and hype beat. This song is in a section of the album where Drake seems to be upset over his failed relationships, and turns to boasting about his success and money for lyrical content. I appreciate the rhythmic flow and musical variety within the song.

In “7969 Santa”, Drake raps about his heartbreak as he explores emotions of betrayal, disappointment, and hurt with lines such as “I don’t like the tone of your replies,” and “I just wanna get you off my mind.” The beginning is catchy, but Drake waits until two and a half minutes into the song to switch it up, therefore leaving the music flat and boring. When he finally changes the beat, he decides to introduce Teezo Touchdown who comes in with his overpowering and rather unpleasant autotune-infused voice and sings, “dogs will be dogs.” Many rappers have created fairly unfortunate songs where they represent themselves as dogs such as “It Ain’t No Fun” by Snoop Dogg. Teezo then starts howling but in autotune: “Ah-wooooooo” which ruins the potential of the song. Teezo adds a creative touch when he introduces the upcoming collab Drake has with SZA in the next track, “Slime You Out”, while playing a fake radio host on “B.A.R.K. Radio”.

One of the most popular tracks on For All the Dogs is “IDGAF” due to its well-known feature, Yeat. The song has a pretty opening, where an unidentified girl with beautiful singing expresses the struggles the rappers deal with behind the face of masculinity they feel they must wear. The song has good flow and production, and Yeat’s unique voice and incidental music style create diversity within the album.

The song “8am in Charlotte” is another highly popular track on For All the Dogs. The song has more chill energy and a flowy tone, making it perfect for night-time drives. Drake reflects on his success and expresses the struggles that come with it. “The money speakin’ for itself, I call it fortune-tell,” he raps. “You can get me back whenever, or, or don’t, you know?” He also speaks of rumors that circulate around him because others are jealous of his success. “Conspiracy theories start floating around like the Kennedy guy,” likely referring to the Kennedy assassination. The song is somewhat enjoyable due to how its layers intertwine with each other but it lacks a musical story because it never goes anywhere or has any variation.The entire four minutes and 26 seconds is the same throughout, which deprives the song of a true musical story.

Many people love “Rich Baby Daddy” (ft. SZA and Sexyy Red). Individually the artists sound great, but together they clash a little because their musical styles are too different. Drake and SZA describe the different perspectives of relationships and highlight the complexity of romantic feelings. Sexyy Red’s part is good and adds to the song, but she doesn’t contribute much to the story Drake and SZA are telling.

For a die-hard Drake fan, Drake can do no wrong, but For All the Dogs could’ve been better. There are a few good songs but it lacks substance since there is no important story to hear as Drake only talks about his unhealthy relationships and success.