Hip-hop phenomenon Drake is set to drop his eighth studio LP “For All the Dogs” on October 6, 2023. The album was originally set to drop on September 22, but Drake decided to postpone it as he’s still finishing up the final leg of his “It’s All a Blur Tour.” On Drake’s Instagram story, he went on to say that “It’s only right” for the album to drop on October 6th, as that will be the date he performs in his hometown of Toronto, Canada. 

 Ever since he first stepped foot in the rap scene, Drake’s pull on people has been magnetic. Even here at Milken Community School, Drake has the students buzzing. I spoke with Nikou Zar 23’, and he said that as an “avid Drake listener, I can’t wait to hear him come out with new music and produce new things.” 

Drake’s most recent project, Her Loss came out a little bit less than a year ago, and was a collaborative album with 21 Savage. His last solo album was Honestly Nevermind, which was released June 17th, 2022. This project received a profuse amount of backlash  from the hip-hop scene, as Drake went out of his comfort zone, dropping a full dance album. Milken student Andre Maddahi 23’ said that while he liked “Honestly Nevermind”, he’d like to see Drake “dive back into a more rap-focused album, as that’s where some of, if not his best records have come from.” 

Drake first began his album rollout on June 24, with the release of his poetry book titled, “Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness.” Only a couple weeks after that announcement, Drake began his “It’s All A Blur” tour alongside 21 Savage. While this tour highlights all of Drake’s past hits in his career, he couldn’t help but get his fans excited for what’s to come with the release of his next album. He began teasing his album more and more, even giving us a couple of clues on who might be featured on the album. On September 15th, Drake released the lead single for the album, called “Slime You Out”, featuring R&B singer SZA. This was the first time that the two had collaborated on a song and it did not disappoint, as it charted at number 1 on the Billboard Top 100. The two artists complemented each other extremely well on this record. Drake shows the progression of his past relationships, through each of the months, and per usual SZA’s vocals were out of this world. The song already serves as a staple in my daily rotation. 

On July 8th, Drake was in Detroit continuing his “It’s All a Blur” tour, where he announced that Nicki Minaj would be featured on his “For All the Dogs” album. Drake and Nicki Minaj have collaborated on a multitude of songs throughout their respective careers, and it looks almost certain that we’ll be getting another on October 6th. 

Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny was in attendance for Drake’s August 13th show in Los Angeles, where Drake announced that the two have a collaboration on the way. Drake then addressed the LA crowd: “It’s been like six years since me and Benito did a song, so we got a song coming for y’all on my album and it’s real.” Drake and Bad Bunny last collaborated in 2018, through their mega-hit record, called “MIA,” charted at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 100. The last confirmed feature for Drake’s “For All The Dogs”, is Lil Yachty. This should come as no surprise, given that Yachty and Drake have been seen spending a significant amount of time with one another. Whether it was Yachty accompanying Drake on his “It’s All A Blur” tour or Drake going on Lil Yachty’s podcast, we’re finally getting a real collab from these two. Music video director and videographer Cole Bennet just recently went on the YouTube page Kids Take Over, and announced that the song Lil Yachty and Drake have coming out is titled, “Another Late Night”. 

I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’re in for yet another classic Drake album. This album’s postponement has only caused the expectations for this project to go even higher, and let’s hope the 6 God delivers.