"Early signs suggested that "Iceman" would constitute a return to Drake's tough-talking ways in the wake of his humiliating defeat, and indeed that's largely what the album delivers over plush yet hard-hitting beats. Yet with "Maid of Honour" and "Habibti," the 39-year-old born Aubrey Graham is also showcasing his other dominant modes: globe-tripping dance-music hedonist (on the former) and callow-sensitive R&B lover boy (on the latter)."
"Clearly, the sheer volume and breadth of music here is meant to serve as a kind of shock-and-awe campaign designed to jolt us back to a time when Drake seemed to rule over not just hip-hop but all of pop music. (Don't forget that 2018's "Scorpion" contained 25 tracks.) What do you make of his super-sizing effort here? Does it speak of an overflow of creativity - or of an inability to edit?"
"After spending the better part of a year teasing his first solo album since 2023 - and his first, more importantly, since losing the epic rap battle that climaxed with Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" - Drake finally dropped "Iceman" late Thursday along with two other albums whose existence took much of the world by surprise: "Maid of Honour" and "Habibti.""
"Together, the three LPs comprise 43 new songs from the Toronto-born rapper and singer who's been searching for a path back to the pop-cultural perch he occupied for much of the 2010s. To assess his progress, The Times' Mikael Wood and August Brown took a preliminary listen then exchanged some thoughts. Drake's guests on the albums include 21 Savage, Central Cee, Sexyy Red, Popcaan and Future, the last of whom appears on "Iceman" in a song called "Ran to Atlanta""
Drake released Iceman along with Maid of Honour and Habibti, presenting 43 new songs. The releases follow a period of teasing and come after a high-profile rap battle defeat. Iceman leans toward tough-talking rap over plush yet hard-hitting beats. Maid of Honour emphasizes globe-tripping dance-music hedonism, while Habibti focuses on callow-sensitive R&B love-song material. The combined output is framed as a large-scale attempt to shock and reassert Drake’s earlier pop-cultural prominence. The albums feature many guests, including 21 Savage, Central Cee, Sexyy Red, Popcaan, and Future, who appears on Iceman in “Ran to Atlanta.”
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]