Drake desperately wants us to remember. The Canadian hip-hop behemoth is so focused on getting listeners to hark back to his glory days that he released not one, not two, but three albums in a single night: Iceman, Maid of Honour, and the inexplicably-titled Habibti.
At 43 tracks and two-and-a-half hours, the three projects feature an at-times angsty and always deeply-nostalgic Drake. He reaches back for the Blog Era days (“Firm Friends”), when times were simpler. He spins the block on all the women who thought he hated them (see: the entirety of Maid of Honour and Habibti). And he perplexingly brings the Kendrick Lamar beef back up, again and again, in addition to other disses.
Altogether, the trio of albums amount to a complete Drake experience, for better and for worse. Iceman is Drake’s hardest solo rap album in years, and it brims with tough talk and why-I-oughtas (“Whisper My Name”), which doesn’t really make sense anymore. Not to be outdone, Maid of Honour will likely get the most play this summer, thanks to the house-meets-dancehall stylings of the record (“Which One,” “Amazing Shape”), which Drake has previously experimented with on tracks like “Controlla” and projects like Honestly, Nevermind. Meanwhile, the R&B-steeped Habibti is lost at sea, buoyed only by the predictable, but effective, “WNBA.”
Below, Consequence reviews Drake’s three new albums through 21 key takeaways from his latest sprawling release.
01. Drake Feels Like He Walked Away Unscathed
Drake hasn’t absorbed the trauma of what he’s been through. I can understand why, the poor thing, but it’s becoming a bit of a problem. His output is mirroring his lack of self-reflection. In particular, Iceman is Drake’s unearned victory lap.
“Plot twist, the owl never sees the cage,” he raps on “Make Them Remember.” “The owl only wakes up to seize the day.” Similar to an owl not having the perspective to know that it’s in a cage, Drake lacks general self-awareness, which would really help him to process the fact that he walked away with more scars than he’s willing to admit.
02. He’s Still the Same Drake From the Blog Era Days
If you journey back to Drake’s second mixtape, 2007’s Comeback Season, you’ll come across a song called “The Presentation.” On it, Drake sounds absolutely giddy as he breaks down his clever bars. “I’m perfecting my craft using more cess/ Tryna make some cheese off a single is a process/ Get it? Kraft, single, cheese, process?/ Sit back and admire the talent that I possess.”
He revisits that playful energy on “Make Them Remember”: “As for these other suckers that’s tucked away/ I’m down to put bills on they face/ No wonder why they been duckin’ Drake/ Bills on they face, no wonder why they been duckin’ Drake? Ah.” He doesn’t sound as exuberant as he once did — if anything, he sounds exasperated — but Drake is still a fan of his pen. (Or his writers’ pen.)
03. He’s Beyond Ready to Get Out of His Deal
Drake is so damn tired of UMG. He says as much throughout Iceman. On the 21 Savage-assisted “B’s on the Table,” he asserts that he’s “fighting the man, not suing the rapper,” an allusion to Kendrick Lamar. “Make Them Pay” sees the MC arguing, “Fuck it, I’ll battle the label, fuck it, I’ll battle the majors, I’ll battle the stations ’til my ass is back in rotation.”
After a dismissal last year, Drake’s defamation lawsuit against UMG is in appeal. It’s widely speculated that Drake dropped three albums at once because he wants to fulfill his deal with the music company. If it’s true, we’ll find out shortly. Then we’ll finally hear from an independent Drake. I’m actually looking forward to that more than sitting with these three albums.
04. He’s Sending a Message with Production
Drake’s right-hand man 40 is the usual mastermind behind his albums, and he may very well still be in an executive producer role here. But Drake’s ear is forever to the streets, and he works with numerous up-and-coming and established producers across the three albums. Notably, Drake called on “Bay Area sound architect” P-Lo, who produced “2 Hard 4 the Radio.” In addition to the producer himself, Drake also nods to the West Coast by interpolating “Too Hard For the Fuckin Radio,” by the late Mac Dre.
Oakland-born rapper and producer Ovrkast. also landed placement on the highly-anticipated Iceman. His efforts can be heard on “Make Them Pay,” which samples soul singer Deniece Williams’ ethereal 1976 track “Free.” “2 Hard 4 the Radio” and “Make Them Pay” are two of the centerpieces of the entire rollout, and it speaks volumes that Drake sought out West Coast producers to make his loudest statements.
