Drake has faced a lot of pushback recently over his latest solo album, For All The Dogs. Unfortunately, that’s not where the outrage ends. After his social media spats with Joe Budden and Andrew Tate, he’s decided to lay low for a while.
Still, others, including DJ Vlad, are looking to Drake to make a statement about the ongoing conflict between the Israel and Hamas. Drake’s father, Dennis Graham, seemed to offered a response on his behalf over the decision to stay silent. During an encounter with TMZ Saturday, October 14, Graham shared his thoughts.
When asked if Drake’s Jewish heritage intensified his sadness about the tension in the region, Graham replied, “I’m sure it affects everybody. It’s just totally ridiculous… If you say something about this one, you are going to get criticized. If you say something about someone else, you’re going to get criticized… It’s best to say out of it, especially if you’re someone that’s well known.”
He continued, “Being a celebrity and saying something that favoring one against the other it’s going to come back on you. Just be quiet.”
This isn’t the first time Drake has been called out for being silent on political issues. In July, Ebro Darden referred to Drake’s lack of discussion on Black issues while filming the Apple Music show Rap Life Review, which he later walked back.
For All The Dogs is out now via OVO Sounds/Republic Records. Find more information here.
Last week, Drake finally unveiled his eagerly-anticipated new project, For All The Dogs. Following months of teasing, fans couldn’t wait to hear what Drake had in store for them on the new album. After it dropped, however, not everybody was impressed. Several critics have claimed to be disappointed in the 23-track LP, which features the likes of J. Cole, Yeat, Bad Bunny, SZA, and more.
Joe Budden, for example, took to his podcast to share that he misses the old Drake, claiming that he’s now “rapping for the children.” This clearly struck a nerve in the Canadian performer, who fired back with a lengthy message. Budden’s not the only listener to be less-than-thrilled with Drake’s latest offering, however. At the time of writing, For All The Dogs is scored at a 52/100 on Metacritic, marking the lowest aggregate score of all his projects so far.
Toosii recently took to Instagram to weigh in amid the negative feedback, coming to the hitmaker’s defense. According to him, those who aren’t into the new album simply don’t like it because it wasn’t created for them. “People in their mid-30s talking about how they can’t resonate with his music no more,” he began. “You’re in your f*cking mid-30s, you get what I’m saying?” Toosii went on to claim that those finding it difficult to relate to For All The Dogs just aren’t living the “lifestyle” of his primary demographic. “Now if the younger crowd don’t like the album then that’s what it is,” he added.
Toosii’s take has prompted various commenters to chime in, noting that Drake himself is nearly 37-years-old. While many agree with Toosii, others think his comments don’t disprove or discredit the criticism his new album’s received. What do you think of Toosii coming to Drake’s defense amid criticism of his new album? How are you liking For All The Dogs so far? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates on Drake and Toosii.
Last week, Drake dropped off his eighth studio album, For All The Dogs, after plenty of teasing. The 23-track project is jam-packed with high-profile features. J. Cole, Yeat, Lil Yachty, SZA, and more make appearances. One song even features the vocal stylings of Drake’s 6-year-old son, Adonis.
Another major artist, Yebba, also contributed to Drake’s new album on his track “Polar Opposites.” It features a dreamy sample of Yebba’s song at the end. It looks like the Canadian performer is a huge fan of her work and that song in particular, and he took to social media to let her know. “@yebbasmith drop the full song from end of ‘Polar Opposites,’” he wrote. “This is not a request it’s a demand [lock emoji].” She later responded, sharing his message on her own story. “Drake said it so we must,” she expressed.
She then shared a clip of the song in a later story, titled, “Waterfall (I adore you).” Yebba went on to post the song, which had been pitched down in Drake’s “Polar Opposites, in its original pitch. This sparked quite a bit of excitement from Drake. “Yes yes yes yes yes yes,” he commented. Drake and Yebba joined forces again back in 2021 for “Yebba’s Heartbreak,” which appears on his album Certified Lover Boy. The Arkansas-born artist isn’t the only one Drake’s shared his appreciation for amid the release of For All The Dogs, however.
Just ahead of the drop, Drake also showed love to Lil Yachty on Table For One, giving him a call to tell him how much he impacted his creative process. “I don’t think this album is what it is if I don’t get to run everything by you,” he explained. “The realest sh*t you can get is somebody that cares about you enough to tell you their real opinion.” What do you think of Yebba dropping “Waterfall (I adore you)” per Drake’s request? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
When Drake first revealed that he had an album on the way before 2023 wrapped, buzz instantly began to build. The project faced some notable delays, but earlier this month, For All The Dogs finally hit DSPs in all its glory. That same weekend, the father of one closed out his It’s All a Blur tour in Toronto with 21 Sav, marking yet another major milestone in his career. Drake’s first week sales numbers revealed that he had the seventh largest day in Spotify history thanks to his hard work, which he’s celebrating with a flashy new piece of jewelry.
For his latest piece of ice, the 36-year-old collaborated with jeweller Nadine Ghosn, who custom-made the piece for him. When showing the dog bone chain off to her Instagram followers, she revealed that it includes 18-carat gold, along with 50 carats of white diamonds and six pretty carats of pink.
As Complex notes, this isn’t the only chain we’ve seen Champagne Papi flaunting this month. Ahead of his birthday, Drake also had Alex Moss make him the “Crown Jewel of Toronto,” which boasts a diamond-encrusted figure of his hometown’s famous CN Tower. “A project with my brother for ending it in the 6 and dropping on the 6th in the 6,” the Scorpion rapper wrote on IG while flexing his cool new addition. “We call it the crown jewel @alexmoss. Any team that wins a chip we bring this straight to you for the whole off-season,” he encouraged his athlete friends who play in the 6ix.
Now that Drake has finally delivered on For All The Dogs, the next album hip-hop heads can’t wait to tap into is J. Cole’s upcoming project. The Dreamville head has been on an impressive feature run over the past few months, with some even suggesting that he cooked Drizzy on their “First Person Shooter” collab. Read more about that at the link below, and check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.
Lately, it seems as though everyone has something to say when it comes to Drake’s newest project For All The Dogs. Few artists command the spotlight quite like Drake. And the album has been a hot topic of discussion since it dropped last week. From the circulating back and forth surrounding the conversation Joe Budden had on his podcast, to various social media critics expressing their own opinions, reactions to this latest album have been mixed. It seems as though Drake has taken notice, and has been responding to some of the hate. Drake has certainly been in tune with the buzz surrounding his album. However, he hasn’t shied away from addressing some of the negative feedback. This all started when Joe Budden, on his podcast, offered a critical analysis of the album.
Moreover, audiences should recall that last week, Budden elicited a lengthy response from Drake who called him the poster child of failure. This came in response after Joe Budden critiqued the album and called Drake out for messing with 25 year olds. However, in a post that surfaced social media platform X today, one person took Drake’s side and said, “Y’all should stop tryna hide behind music critique and just go ahead and tell the personal stories of what bruh did to y’all lmao. Cuz this s**t is insane at this point.” Drake took notice of this and agreed. He reposted this stance on his story, and social media quickly caught wind of it.
This is all a testament to the direct interaction between artists and their audiences in the age of social media. Drake’s willingness to engage with comments, both positive and negative, highlights the power that online platforms have in shaping modern music culture. As the debate continues to unfold, one thing remains certain: the ever-present influence of social media in shaping the narrative around musical releases and the artist’s role in navigating this digital landscape.
“Na cus its a trend to ride the wave of hate nowadays. nobody was DR this much a few yrs ago,” one person commented. “I mean the album is good, very good at best. Not a great album but people acting like it’s horrible are just trolling or have an agenda,” another said. In other news, the numbers don’t lie. The first week projections For All The Dogs have been revealed, and the project had the seventh largest opening day in Spotify history. It has been reported that Drake sold 411K album-units in the first week. This is his biggest debut since 2021’s Certified Lover Boy. What’d you think of the project?
Last week, Drake dropped off his eagerly-anticipated new album, For All The Dogs. Though it’s been subject to mixed reviews, the LP was expected to be a major commercial success. It includes various high-profile features from an array of artists, like J. Cole, Yeat, Sexyy Red, SZA, and more.
As expected, there’s been a ton of buzz surrounding the project for months now. Fans couldn’t wait to see what kind of beef would be laid out amid the release, and how it would compare to the hitmaker’s other albums. It was projected to sell 400-450k album-equivalent units in its first week. Now, the first week sales are in, and they’re right on par with what was projected.
Drake’s For All The Dogs sold 411K album-equivalent units in its first week, marking his biggest debut since 2021’s Certified Lover Boy. The album also had one of the biggest opening days for a hip hop release this year on Spotify, garnering around 108.7 million streams. It passed Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape, Lil Durk’s Almost Healed, and more. Travis Scott continues to hold the No. 1 spot with Utopia, which got 128.5 million streams its opening day. For All The Dogs also had the seventh largest opening day in all of Spotify history. Drake passed up major releases like Kanye West’s DONDA, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, and more.
The release also put Drake over the edge with a Spotify record, as he hit 80 million monthly listeners earlier this week. He’s now the third most listened to artist on the platform, only behind Taylor Swift and The Weeknd. Despite the project’s commercial success, some critics have made their disappointment for the album known. Joe Budden shared his thoughts on his podcast, claiming that the Canadian performer needs to aim for a more mature sound. Drake fired back, however, claiming that Budden’s simply jealous of his success. What do you think of For All The Dogs? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates on Drake.
In a recent interview of The Breakfast Club, they invited a woman calling herself an “Aubrey Angel,” onto the show to discuss Drake. She claims to be a day 1 stan from all the way back when it “wasn’t cool” to like the rapper. In the segment, she explains that since his 2016 album Views, she just hasn’t been able to feel his music as much. While that’s a sentiment expressed by some, her comments were largely met with disagreement. Eventually, the discussion got heated enough that Drake himself weighed in.
“was this interview already on the schedule? Who is this…” Drake commented underneath a post of the clip. Expectedly, fans of the rapper rushed to his defense. They called her out for being just one person with an opinion and pointed out that she didn’t represent all his fans. Rapper and singer Toosii took to the comments to weigh in on Drizzy’s side as well. “People have this thing where they paint this definitive picture in their head that the artist you were 5 years ago that’s who you always are. People change, things change. He can make the same kind of music but how is that going to resonate to your now mid 30 year old body?” he said. Check out the full response and fan reactions below.
Drake just released his new album For All The Dogs. The project is expected to be absolutely dominant commercially, as most of his projects are. The record itself is a shoe in to top the Billboard 200 and expected to push almost as many units as the rest of the top 10 combined.
Two songs from the album are also competing with each other on the Hot 100. “First Person Shooter” with J. Cole and “IDGAF” with Yeat are both contending for the top spot. After “Shooter” emerged as the early favorite “IDGAF” began to creep up and the songs are now neck and neck. What do you think of Drake and Toosii’s responses to a fan saying she fell off his music after Views? Let us know in the comment section below.
Whenever two rappers are featured on a song together, there’s a competitive spirit that seeps in: who had the better verse? Over the past week, there’s been one song on everyone’s minds that perfectly fits into that conversation. Moreover, J. Cole and Drake teamed up for the first time in ten years for “First Person Shooter,” one of the best cuts on Drizzy’s album For All The Dogs. Now, we have a pretty authoritative voice to weigh in on who bested the other lyrically on the tracks. Dreamville’s own J.I.D recently spoke to Never Is Forever and, in a TikTok clip, had a pretty interesting conclusion.
“Yeat,” the Atlanta native answered jokingly when asked who had the best verse on “First Person Shooter.” “I know,” J.I.D said with a laugh when the interviewer tried to correct him. It seems like he didn’t want to have to pick between the two, or just thought that (for meme-related reasons or being genuinely impressed) Yeat just outdid both of them. Then, the interviewer asked the “Half Doin Dope” MC to pick specifically between J. Cole and Drake, and the truth came straight from the heart. “I’ma go with J. Cole all day, it wasn’t even close. We love Drake though, but…”
With the run that J.I.D’s been on in the past few years (and all the great music to come very soon from him), it’s fair to say that he would wash either Cole or Drizzy these days. That aside, though, this got fans debating about “First Person Shooter” again, although most people agree with his take. However, let’s not downplay Drake’s performance, as he had some sharp bars and also had two beats to work with. The important thing at the end of the day is that a great record emerged from it, one that stands out within and beyond the project it sits in.
Meanwhile, what do you think of this take? Do you think that it’s a no-contest victory for North Carolina on “First Person Shooter” or did the 6 God prove why it landed on his album and not Cole’s? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, log back into HNHH for the latest news and updates on J.I.D, Drake, and J. Cole.
Drake’s For All The Dogsis probably going to have at least one more song from it go No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts; it’s Drizzy, after all. Moreover, he already cinched one of those with its lead single, the SZA-assisted “Slime You Out,” and there are plenty of other successful tracks that either deserve or could commercially nab the top spot on the charts this week. However, it’s really a race between two songs that are performing the best right now sales-wise. These are the J. Cole collab “First Person Shooter,” their first in about ten years, and the Yeat-dominant “IDGAF,” their first collaboration ever.
As you can probably guess, there are a lot of “firsts” involved in this saga, and that’s not even the most important one. J. Cole and Yeat’s features are actually head-to-head for their first number one hit ever on the Billboard Hot 100. Even though it’s not one of their solo tracks, it would still be an amazing achievement for either artist. The rage sensation would get it and cement his place as a top dog in the game right now, whereas the Dreamville artist could finally nab one of the very few accomplishments that his decades-long career is missing.
Of course, this also represents a bit of a curious and almost metaphorical showdown. Will the buzzing banger win, representative of a new generation, or will the lyrically dense performance from J. Cole come out on top, showing that the pen is the ultimate mark of a great song? Either way, it’s fair to say that both tracks deserve the accolade, and we’re sure there are no hard feelings between the two artists. As for Drake, even though both his features outperformed him on these tracks in this writer’s opinion, the album’s success is probably drowning that out right now.
Meanwhile, it’s important to address the following in this conversation: chart placements don’t matter, at least artistically. No amount of sales can match the excitement that these team-ups brought to fans, and they’d still love it with just ten streams or ten billion. So whatever happens come Billboard‘s updated charts, let’s praise that J. Cole and Yeat actually put some effort into what many view as a relatively effortless project. Hopefully they take turns throughout a couple of weeks and they can both reach this milestone. For more news on them and Drake, stay up to date on HNHH.
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.
For All The Dogs Starts Strong With “Virginia Beach”
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.”
“Bahamas Promises”
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.
Drake Gets In His Feelings On “Drew A Picasso”
“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.
“Members Only” feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR
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.
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