Alongside his nationwide tour and foray as an author, publishing a poetry book named Titles Ruin Everything, Drake let the dogs out in a big way.
Unleashing his eighth studio album, For All The Dogs (Oct. 6), the 23-track effort is a sample platter of sonic allure; packed with beat switches, prolific features and producers (BNYX, Conductor Williams and more are among usual OVO suspects in Boi-1da, OZ, Noah 40 Shebib) that paint the 6 God as a premier curator above all.
The record debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earning 402,000 first-week units. This marked Drizzy 13th No. 1 album of his career, also tying Michael Jackson with 13 No. 1 singles (“First Person Shooter”).
Ringing in the announcement of their joint “BIG AS THE WHAT Tour” this week, the duo also kept momentum with the visual for “First Person Shooter,” which sees Cole’s “spider-man Memel bars come to life in the live action heavyweight bout, directed by the iconic Gibson Hazard (Metro Boomin, Lil Uzi Vert and more).
Among the many headlines FATD brought forth, “First Person Shooter” takes the cake, which sees Drake and J. Cole link up on a track for the first time since “Jodeci’s Freestyle” in 2013. The stank-face banger achieved a No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100. It was J. Cole’s first-ever chart-topping hit. The pair rocked the stage together at Cole’s Dreamville Festival earlier this year, igniting calls for a long-awaited link up. It’s aforementioned visual has our vote for video of the year.
Alongside Cole on “FPS,” Lil Yachty, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Yeat, Teezo Touchdown, 21 Savage, Sexyy Red, Chief Keef and his son Adonis were also featured on the 86-minute project. FATD proves to be an amalgamation of Drake’s sonic stylings throughout the years — mixed with the brash intensity of new wave, sexy drill and reggaeton (courtesy of Bad Bunny on “Gently”). The highlights are within Drake’s R&B performances, swooning on “Bahama Promises,” “Polar Opposites” (my favorite), “Members Only” and “Tried Our Best.”
Yachty (5) and Teezo (2) produced a handful of cuts on the record, lending their vocals on “Amen,” “7969 Santa” and “Another Late Night.” Drake sampled Frank Ocean’s “Wiseman” on the intro track “Virginia Beach.” SZA stuns once again on “Rich Baby Daddy” with Sexyy Red, which follows FATD‘s transportive lead single “Slime You Out,” as a special guest appearance from Snoop Dogg as the host of BARK Radio plays off the record’s canine aesthetic.
Best friends Boat and Drake linked up for the visual to “Another Late Night,” directed by Cole Bennett. The evolution of Bennett’s Lyrical Lemonade is not only recognized as a fixture of the culture, but an undying representation of hip-hop lore.
What’s most surprising wasn’t the record’s sheer versatility on first listen, but its stunning second single “8AM in Charlotte,” where timestamp Drake takes over a beat fashioned by Griselda-adjacent god Conductor Williams — a collaboration few saw coming. Amid its release during the wee hours of Oct. 6, Drizzy said that this might be his last album “for a little bit” in the latest episode of TABLE FOR ONE.
“I probably won’t make music for a little bit, I’m gonna be honest… I got some other things that I need to do for some other people that I made promises to but I probably won’t make music for a little bit. I’m gonna be real with you. I need to focus on my health, first and foremost… I have a lot of other things that I would love to focus on so I’mma lock the door to the studio for a little bit… I don’t even know what a little bit is. Maybe a year or something. Maybe a little longer.”
— Drake on taking a break on TABLE FOR ONE
Before ‘The Dogs’ ran wild…
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 eighth studio album. 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.
The record was delayed until Oct. 6 after Drake shared a message on IG, where he contemplated canceling the tour or finishing the album before it ends. He chose the latter, as IAAB will conclude in his hometown of Toronto on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 — fitting for the album’s arrival. In the interim, Drake shared “Slime You Out” featuring SZA on Sept. 15, as well as teasing his long-awaited track with Yeat in the official NOCTA Glide 2023 commercial.
“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…”
With multiple release dates floating ahead of its drop, it was first rumored to drop on Aug. 26, where Lil Yachty and Drizzy swiftly dispelled discourse of its release. “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 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 at IAAB’s LA stop. “I love it with all my heart. I’m very excited about it… I’m just trying to get it perfect for y’all.”
Drake: The Poet…
FATD’s initial announcement came via full-page newspaper ads for his poetry book, 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 alluded to him was taking fans back to an older side of his sound. Tracks like “Polar Opposties” and “Members Only” with PND feel like a renaissance of 6 God anthems, perfect for brisk walks in the Fall.
FATD follows Drake’s summer 2022 album Honestly, Nevermind and Her Loss last October, which inherently tied together the first IAAB show.
It’s also 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.
As It’s All A Blur concludes in Toronto this weekend, For All The Dogs is not only tailor-made for Day 1 fans, but assumes the soundtrack for Drizzy’s hometown finale.
This story will be updated.
Listen to ‘For All The Dogs’ below!