Alongside his nationwide tour and foray as an author, publishing a poetry book named Titles Ruin Everything, Drake is back in a bigger way than ever.
Hitting the road for the first time in five years, the 6 God’s It’s All A Blur Tour has been a launching pad for his upcoming eighth studio album, For All The Dogs. The tour’s July 5 kickoff at the United Center in Chicago was an inkling to the album’s imminent release, which was confirmed to drop on Sept. 22 after officially sharing its announcement video on Instagram.
However, the record has now been delayed until Oct. 6, coinciding a message Drake posted on Instagram, where he contemplated canceling the tour or finishing the album before it ends. He chose the latter, as it will conclude in his hometown of Toronto on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 — very fitting for an album release.
“Okay, my dilemma I am faced with is either cancel shows to finish the album or I complete the mission and drop the album before the last show,” he wrote. “I owe you all these memories we are building and anywhere we have missed to date, we will be spinning back for sure. FATD October 6th. It’s only right…”
In the interim, Drake shared the album’s lead single “Slime You Out” featuring SZA on Sept. 15, as well as teasing his long-awaited track with Yeat in the official NOCTA Glide 2023 commerical. This will be both artists’ first collaborations with Drizzy. “Search & Rescue” could appear to be the project’s leading effort, yet, there is no confirmation of this.
Initially rumored to drop on Aug. 26, Lil Yachty and Drizzy himself dispelled discourse of its release last month. “I know y’all mad the album didn’t come out last night, [but] I didn’t say it was. I said it was coming soon,” he said. “I’m finishing it up though, it’s coming very soon, but you know I’m doing shows and s**t. ‘For All The Dogs’ on the way… if you’ve ever loved anything I did in the past, this album is for you. It’ll be worth the wait.”
Drake has teased the record on almost every stop of IAAB, which has featured a slew of special guests, such as J. Cole, Teezo Touchdown, Zack Bia, Lil Yachty, Lebron James, Bronny James among more stars. “My album is coming very soon,” he said last week in Los Angeles. “I love it with all my heart. I’m very excited about it… I’m just trying to get it perfect for y’all.”
FATD’s initial announcement came via full-page newspaper ads for Titles Ruin Everything in the Los Angeles Times, New York Post, the Houston Chronicle and more. The cover advertisements held QR code that linked to a website where the forthcoming LP was revealed in a short statement. “I made an album to go with the book,” Drake wrote. “They say they miss the old Drake girl don’t tempt me. FOR ALL THE DOGS.”
“I’m tired of everybody coming up to me, [saying] man… we miss that old Drake man. We need that old Drake man… Imma give it to you then”
Drake on IAAB Tour
Drizzy’s off-the-cuff news not only coincided the poetry novel, but is reportedly taking fans back to an older side of his sound. This will follow Drake’s summer 2022 album Honestly, Nevermind and Her Loss last October, which inherently tied together the first IAAB show.
For All The Dogs will be the fourth record in Drake’s reported $400-500 Million re-signing to Universal Music Group following his 2018 studio album Scorpion, which recently celebrated its five-year anniversary on June 29. UMG CEO Lucian Grainge described the contract to Variety as an “expansive, multi-faceted deal,” that would cover Drake’s “recordings, publishing, merchandise and visual media projects,” per HipHopDX.
Reportedly, the Toronto icon was supposed to drop on the same day as Young Thug‘s BUSINESS IS BUSINESS, saying “you owe me this time” in an Instagram post amid Thugger’s rollout.
As Drizzy settles into “It’s All A Blur,” performing classic B-side cuts like “Look What You’ve Done” and “Feel No Ways” among others, For All The Dogs might be tailor-made for Day 1 fans.
This story will be updated.
