{"id":11148,"date":"2023-10-17T08:08:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T14:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rctc.edu\/echo\/?p=11148"},"modified":"2026-01-20T07:12:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:12:31","slug":"rajs-reviews-drake-for-all-the-dogs-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/rajs-reviews-drake-for-all-the-dogs-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Raj’s Reviews: Drake – For All The Dogs (2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/i><\/span>After a delayed rollout due to his <\/span>busy tour run<\/span><\/a> with fellow rapper 21 savage, Drake\u2019s 8<\/span>th<\/span> studio album, <\/span>For All The Dogs<\/span><\/i>, is finally here. While this was hyped to be<\/span> a <\/span>return<\/span> to the \u201cold Drake,\u201d it contains the same inconsistency that\u2019s dampened his discography since <\/span>Views<\/span><\/i> in 2016.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We start off with a strong opener, \u201cVirginia Beach,\u201d that contains obvious shots at his longtime ex <\/span>Rihanna<\/span><\/a>, and subliminals at Pusha T (who\u2019s married to <\/span>Virginia<\/span><\/i> Williams<\/span><\/a>). The album continues with a standout feature from Teezo Touchdown on \u201cAmen,\u201d and a mediocre verse from 21-savage on \u201cCalling For You\u201d (best thing about this song is the over-the-top skit of a girl complaining about her personal chef who only cooked jerk chicken and oxtails). We get more digs at <\/span>badgalriri<\/span><\/a> on \u201cFear of Heights,\u201d and bars such as \u201cLike tennis indoors, we squashin\u2019 n\u2014\u2013,\u201d on \u201cDaylight.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Just when I thought the album would put me to bed, Jermaine Cole came and set off the fire alarm. Excuse my bias, but this has to be verse of the year right now. Drake holds his own with a mean second verse speaking on the irreverence he feels from the industry (like he received from <\/span>Joe Budden<\/span><\/a> after the album\u2019s release), despite doing <\/span>numbers like Michael Jackson<\/span><\/a>. \u201cFirst Person Shooter\u201d is far and away the best song on the album.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIDGAF\u201d is another masterclass by producer BNYX and rapper Yeat, and spawned yet another <\/span>viral<\/span><\/a> Drake meme.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast forward three tracks to \u201cScrew The World \u2013 Interlude,\u201d we get a hard-hitting, grungy ode to the legendary DJ Screw which leads us into the second half of the album.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside of \u201c8am in Charlotte\u201d, \u201cRich Baby Daddy (featuring Sexyy Red and SZA)\u201d, and an insanely catchy hook on \u201cWhat Would Pluto Do,\u201d the rest of the batch feels like Drake\u2019s attempt to give us the <\/span>old<\/span><\/i> him, but it falls short due to poor songwriting and lack of substance.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, this album felt like it was lacking any sense of direction to make a compelling, holistic body of work. In the past, he used the copout of referring to <\/span>More Life<\/span><\/i> as a \u2018compilation\u2019 rather than an album, ep, or mixtape. Perhaps he should stick with that formula.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SONGS:<\/strong> \u201cFirst Person Shooter\u201d, \u201cAmen\u201d \u201cScrew The World \u2013 Interlude\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GOOD SONGS:<\/strong> \u201cVirginia Beach\u201d, \u201cIDGAF\u201d, \u201c8am in Charlotte\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

OK SONGS:<\/strong> \u201cRich Baby Daddy\u201d, \u201cWhat Would Pluto Do\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

-Raj Douglas<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a delayed rollout due to his busy tour run with fellow rapper 21 savage, Drake\u2019s 8th studio album, For All The Dogs, is finally here. While this was hyped to be a return to the \u201cold Drake,\u201d it contains the same inconsistency that\u2019s dampened his discography since Views in 2016.\u00a0 We start off with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1050,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[45,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-entertainment","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1050"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}