One of the greatest rappers of this generation, a widely known and loved artist, Drake, recently released his newest album, For All the Dogs. After a long awaited album, postponed by delays and teased through song leaks, the album finally released for the public on October 6, 2023. This album created an uproar from fans and critics.

Manan Chaudhary, a sophomore at Briar Woods High School, and a major Drake enthusiast was awake till the second the album was released. His enthusiasm for the album only grew as Drake pushed the release farther and farther.

“I believe that by postponing his album, Drake was able to garner a larger exposure as many media outlets would talk about his album which in turn resulted in a larger number of listenership,” explained Chaudhary. 

Pujya Smart, another sophomore at Briar Woods HIgh School, had a slightly different reason for awaiting this album. As a major fan of not only Drake, but also SZA, Smart had double the amount of excitement for the upcoming album.

Smart had a slightly different idea as to Drake’s postponing of his album as she shares that fans were the ones to assume that he was releasing the album earlier. 

“Drake only postponed it once. It was just the fans that thought it was coming out the first two times,” said Smart. “Also if he hadn’t postponed it, we might not have gotten Rich Baby Daddy on the list,” continued Smart. 

Drake’s “For All the Dogs”, consisted of a total of 23 tracks. A large amount of these tracks included features from other popular artists which greatly contributed to how the songs were created. 

“My favorite song was Virginia Beach as it was soothing and contained a Frank Ocean sample which played well with the lyrics,” said Chaudhary. 

Many people enjoyed the album, but like most, there was definitely some criticism for certain songs as well.

Dhruva Devarakonda, a sophomore at Briar Woods, loved the album overall, but definitely had a lot of constructive criticism to give as well. 

“My least favorite song on the album is Gently,” shared Devarakonda. “Nothing about that song stood out to me and honestly, it didn’t even feel like a Drake song when you listen to it.”

Smart also shared her opinion as to what she believed was the least optimal song on the album.

“My least favorite song would probably be Fear of Heights,” said Smart. “I don’t know why but I just didn’t vibe to it,” she continued. 

As Drake’s album was huge news as it first came out, people from all around the world tuned in to listen to it. 

A student at Rock Ridge High School, Moussa Koroma, claims to be a die-hard Drake fan. However, out of most people, he was one of the people to like it the least.

“I rank it 6th out of all of Drake’s Albums,” said Koroma. “There wasn’t anything on that album that was worth waiting that long for. His other albums were so much better,” continued Koroma. 

Chaudhary also shared a similar view to Koroma on Drake’s album as well.

“The album did not live up to [my] expectations as it did not find its way into my personal top three ranking of 2023 albums,” stated Chaudhary.

Additionally, Devarakonda viewed the album similarly, but had a different approach as to how others would view it.

“I personally didn’t like the album because it just didn’t suit Drake’s usual stuff,” said Devarakonda. “But I can see why [other] people would like it,” continued Devarakonda.

On the opposite end, Smart found the album to be one of the best she has heard thus far this year.

“The album was really good because it had a mix of old Drake and new Drake,” explained Smart. “I would say it’s really different from all the other albums Drake has released [and] the features were on point,” continued Smart.

With a little over 514 million streams, Drake made his way to the top of the US Billboard 200 with his album, For All the Dogs. As a massive hit, this album has gained both positive and negative views on its tracks.