Rapper and R&B artist Drake released his 15th studio album on October 6th, titled For All the Dogs. It contains 23 tracks and has features from J. Cole, 21 Savage, SZA, and Lil Yachty. It starts off with a bang on “Virginia Beach”. It samples Frank Ocean, ending his hiatus from music. Junior Zach Roque commented on the song, “I was on the way to school listening to ‘Virginia Beach’ the day that the album came out. It immediately became one of my favorite tracks of the year. The song certainly set the tone for the rest of the album.” The next notable song would be “First Person Shooter” featuring J. Cole. This song has the best feature on the album, with Cole mentioning topics like the G.O.A.T conversation, and hinting at his upcoming album. He talks about the G.O.A.T conversation with the lines, “I love when they argue the hardest MC,/Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/We the big three like we started a league/but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali.”
In this stanza, he compares himself to K-Dot (Kendrick Lamar), and Aubrey (Drake). Another notable quote from Cole is, “I’m namin’ the album The Fall Off, it’s pretty ironic ’cause it ain’t no fall off for me.” Here, he gives a hint at the name of his next album, called “The Fall Off”.
Other popular songs on the album include “IDGAF” featuring Yeat, “Slime You Out” featuring SZA, and “8 AM in Charlotte”. “8 AM in Charlotte” is the consensus best song on the album. It has Drake going back to his old sound. Senior Nadia Kostecka said about the song, “I love the song. It is spun on a Conductor Williams beat, which is a collaboration I would have never seen coming. They clearly work very well together and I hope they continue to make music in the future.”
Overall, For All the Dogs was a very good album. It stacks up well with his past work. Who will win album of the year? Travis Scott’s Utopia, or Drake’s For All the Dogs? Only time will tell.
