Drake's "For All The Dogs": 5 Highlights

Last Friday, Drake unleashed his eighth studio album, For All the Dogs. In the days since its release, the 23-track effort has been met with mixed reception from die-hard fans, casual listeners, and publications. Drake albums tend to divide listeners, and this album is no different. While celebrating his latest release, Drizzy showed that he was not afraid to clap back against his biggest critics, especially Joe Budden. He even sent shots at Parks, a co-host of The Joe Budden Podcast. Drake also posted a screenshot, laughing off harsh comments under HotNewHipHop’s original Take Care review on his Instagram story. 

Now that For All the Dogs has been out long enough to establish itself among Drake’s most recent releases, here are five highlights from the album. This list focuses on instant favorites from For All the Dogs. Therefore, it excludes the previously-released singles “Slime You Out” featuring SZA and the Conductor Williams-produced “8am In Charlotte.” Listed in no particular order, take a look at the selections below.

Fans can always count on Drake for a compelling intro, which he provides on “Virginia Beach.” The instrumental features a reversed and sped-up sample from 40, guaranteed to excite fans. “Virginia Beach” also contains a phenomenal flip of “Wiseman” by Frank Ocean, a song originally meant for the Django Unchained soundtrack. It was eventually featured in the 2015 film Southpaw. “Wiseman” is a lesser-known Frank Ocean song as it only saw an official release on Ocean’s Tumblr page in 2012.

Further, For All the Dogs also references Frank Ocean’s “Pyramids” on “Tried Our Best,” which is another standout track. Drake tends to rap on his intros but opts to sing on “Virginia Beach,” setting the tone for an album filled with songs reminiscing on past relationships. 

Arguably, the best song on For All the Dogs is “First Person Shooter,” which sees Drake and J. Cole reuniting for their first song since “Jodeci Freestyle.” Cole undoubtedly contributes the best feature on the album, continuing a run of incredible features throughout 2023. Over an energetic beat, he raps about numerous topics, including fake beefs and not falling off despite naming his next album, The Fall Off. Cole also compares himself and Drake to the “Spiderman meme” and says the two and Kendrick Lamar are the hardest MCs. 

Drake supplies the energy on the chorus, boasting that he’s “big as the Super Bowl.” “First Person Shooter” also includes a beat switch where Drake flexes on his haters. He boasts that he’s a No. 1 song away from beating Michael Jackson’s Hot 100 Record and uses “a Grammy as a doorstop.” J. Cole amazes with a stellar verse, and Drake spits his toughest bars on “First Person Shooter.”

This highlight on For All the Dogs is a slow ballad where Drake voices his frustrations with a girl named Hayley. He sings about her “broken pinky promises” and that she “f*cked up [their] Bahamas trip.” Though tired of her apologies, he still misses her as he reminisces about what they could have been. “Bahamas Promises” is easily Drake’s best vocal performance on the album. A vignette of raw emotion, it is also one of the better relationship-focused tracks that feels more sincere than the album's other R&B tracks.

“Drew a Picasso” is one of the more vulnerable moments on For All the Dogs. It stands out with its moody instrumental, reminiscent of the Views era. Drake sings about a relationship that came to a tumultuous end, longing for the girl to come back to him. “You’re mine,” he sings in the chorus. “I can’t picture you with him, that’s just so embarrassing / I want to die,” he continues before ruminating on his regrets and taking digs at her new man. Drake is clearly in his feelings on this song, which is one of his artistic specialties.

Drake reconnects with PARTYNEXTDOOR on “Members Only.” The Toronto natives and OVO labelmates have never missed when collaborating, and this track is no exception. This downbeat R&B song sees Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR crooning about a girl who is so tight with his crew that she is a member of the “gangy.” The catchy melodies recall previous collaborations like “Since Way Back” and “Come and See Me.” A particularly noteworthy line is when Drake sings, “Feel like I’m bi, cause you’re one of the guys, girl.” It is certainly a humorous lyric reminiscent of the “say that you’re a lesbian, girl me too” lyric from “Girls Want Girls.” Ultimately, Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR are an unbeatable duo when it comes to their heartfelt R&B songs. Their latest collaboration is a definitive highlight on For All the Dogs.

[via]