On Oct. 6, Drake dropped his eighth studio album, For All the Dogs. With twenty-three tracks and features from over ten artists, including SZA, Yeat, and 21 Savage, For All the Dogs generated extremely mixed reviews from listeners. Many fans were unimpressed with the album, rating it a 6.5 out of 10 on the music criticism site Pitchfork. This response begs the question: could Drake have fallen off? 

Throughout his career, Drake has experimented with many different genres, but he is best known for his classic rap verses. It seems that in For All the Dogs, Drake is trying to please fans by bringing back his iconic “broken” persona. However, he is not successful. The lyrics in this album simply cannot compare to the clever, well-written bars in his older songs. Heschel social studies teacher, Jeremy Goodman, well-known for his appreciation of contemporary music, said, “Dogs sounds good, but it doesn’t say much.” 

The highlight of For All the Dogs lies in its features, which gained a lot of traction from music fans across all genres. Referencing Yeat’s feature in “IDGAF,” fans joked that Yeat stole the show on this track. 

Goodman, an avid J. Cole fan, agrees that the features carried the album. “My favorite track is the song with J. Cole, but I think that Drake is past his prime,” he remarked. 

In spite of some dry lyrics, For All the Dogs has some great solo tracks, such as “Virginia Beach” and “What Would Pluto Do.” And, as Goodman said, Dogs still has elements of Drake’s iconic “sound,” showing fans that he still has the potential to create rich and engaging music. All things considered, Drake is not falling off anytime soon.