Drake, known for his rap music, is recognized for his unique voice and cool beats that separate him from other rappers. He had eight studio albums including Thank Me Later, Take Care, Nothing was the Same, Views, Scorpion, certified Lover Boy, Honestly Nevermind and For All the Dogs. His most streamed album on Spotify is Views, surpassing 11 billion streams. Drake’s personal streaming records top 88.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, making him the most listened to rapper in the world.
On April 20, Drake erected a massive 25-foot “iceman” ice sculpture in downtown Toronto as part of a promotional campaign for his new Iceman album. The ice held a hidden package revealing the release date of his new album. This was a quick way to grasp his fans’ attention and prepare them for his next drop.
His album was dropped on May 15 at exactly 12 a.m. ET. Although Drake only promoted the Iceman album, he surprised his fans with two additional albums, Habibti and Maid of Honour, shocking everyone with triple the number of songs expected to be listened to. With that, people had more songs to rank and compare with his older music.
His Iceman album started as an upset to people. “Drake’s music sounded more like he was talking rather than singing, which really disappointed me. I was looking forward to his new music; however, I will continue to listen to his older music as it is more enjoyable,” senior Bryson Filbert said.
Junior Kai Konno had a different experience listening to Iceman. “I liked his new album, with Whisper My Name being my favorite. I do still think his old music is better but the album doesn’t deserve any hate because the songs are still good,” Konno said.
In addition to his Iceman album, his listeners were astounded by Habibti. Senior Siena McCarthy said, “This album had a different vibe, however it wasn’t his best work. After being upset about Iceman, I was hoping for a better listening experience with Habibiti but it ended up not being as good as I wanted it to be.”
His Maid Of Honour album was intended to have a “house music” vibe. House music is a foundational genre of electronic dance music that sparked in club culture and is recently becoming popular. Drake’s intentions were for these songs in particular to be played in a club-like atmosphere. Junior Adriana Colomo said, “I love house music, it’s one of my favorite music genres. Drake has made house-like songs in his Honestly Nevermine album but in Maid of Honour, he did not execute the house song idea very well.”
Drake’s three new albums had mixed reviews. Some viewers were satisfied with all of his new music and some were disappointed in him. New music can be difficult to judge at first yet, it takes time for some to get used to the new beats and tunes. Junior Elena Bernal said, “I wasn’t impressed with his new albums but I believe we just need to give the songs time to play more. I usually don’t like new songs but I adapt to them with time.”
