So Drake dropped on Valentine’s Day and titled the album “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U.” Literally haven’t heard anything more Drake than that in a while. After a year of pointless drama with Kendrick that earned both of them too much money and Kendrick an unnecessary few Grammy’s, I’m glad Drake decided to turn the page and drop something new. But I’m surprised he even found the time between his lawsuits and genuine weirdness.
Unfortunately, I really am not one to talk. While Drake’s entire feminist facade is incredibly off-putting to me, he is the most consistent artist in my top 5 on Spotify every year. It’s not my fault Certified Lover Boy, Her Loss, and his work released before 2018 are so incredible. He can make a mean album, occasionally. Anyway, onto $$$4U.
This album serves as Drake’s third major collaborative album. A previous one being Her Loss with 21 Savage, which gave us all-time classics like “Privileged Rappers,” “Broke Boys,” and “Hours in Silence.” This time he paired up with PartyNextDoor for a Honestly, Nevermind and Dark Lane Demo Tapes-type project. I’m not complaining, since there’s way too many sleeper hits on both of those albums.
Champagne Papi’s V-Day drop was first teased at a PartyNextDoor concert in August 2024. After coming out as the surprise guest, Drake told the crowd,
On behalf of me and Party, we’ve been working on something for y’all. So, you get the summer over with, you do what you need to do. I know all you girls are outside. When it gets a little chilly, PartyNextDoor and Drake album will be waiting right there for you.
Please tell me you cringed as much as I did just reading that. These are the moments when I really can’t take anything he does seriously. The Canadian is really 38-years-old and still referring to his “girls.” Genuinely painful. Despite this horrific introduction, the album debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 charts. Since then, it hasn’t received nearly as much attention or success as his previous work. I think it just has to do with how specific the vibe is. It leans much more into Party’s scene than his.
One thing is for sure, this is a long album. At 73 minutes, I probably won’t relisten to over half of the songs. But there were a few solid ones I’ll keep for later. I agree with pretty much everyone else who tuned into the release, “NOKIA” is a hit. It’s upbeat, energetic, and really gets me wondering “where the f the function.” There’s also a solid beat switch that is just so Drake-coded.
I also really like “GREEDY.” Talk about Honestly, Nevermind, “GREEDY”’s heartbroken, let-me-drive-around-the city-all-night vibe parallels “A Keeper” or even “Overdrive.” Damn, I miss when that album dropped. Great release. But anyway, back to 2025 Drake.
The opening song, “CN TOWER,” isn’t bad, you just have to listen long enough for the beat switch. Also, I don’t mind “RAINING IN HOUSTON” or “DIE TRYING.” The second offers a much more experimental sound for Drake, and I’d say the acoustic guitar actually worked for him. One thing I do want to know is why he felt the need to hop onto song titles in all caps trend. It’s fine when GUNNA or Future or a trap-wrapper does it. But that artistic touch was useless for this album.
I almost forgot to touch on that horrid attempt at Latino music. “MEET YOUR PADRE” is almost laughable. He thought if he added a little acoustic, Chino Pacas, and bad spanglish together, he’d make moves in South America. Nah, wrong.
So to takeaway, these $exy $ongs weren’t bad, but they definitely didn’t live up to the normal quality Drake has put out. When you look at his other recent releases, from “Family Matters” to For All the Dogs, I guess it lines up with those. Maybe he just won’t give us another CLB anytime soon. But also, what was I supposed to expect from a PartyNextDoor album.
Iz FM 
Leave a comment