Iceman was one of the most anticipated albums for this year. It’s his first solo album since For All The Dogs which was three years ago. My listening experience with Drake is messy to say the least. Public perception of Drake has also become more divided, especially after the Kendrick Lamar feud. Besides that, the rollout for this album was kinda cool, with the block of ice and people breaking through to find the release date. It was pretty interesting. On the night just an hour or 2 before this albums release, Drake live-streamed some of the tracks and announced he was dropping 3 albums the same day. This really surprised me but not in a positive way. This felt absolutely out of nowhere and with the three albums out, they don’t serve his catalogue justice.
Iceman is the best out of this trilogy but, it’s still awful. First, let’s get out what I like. I don’t really have many positive things to say unfortunately. This album has some solid highlights like the intro Make Them Cry, National Treasure and the Whisper My Name. Whisper My Name also has a cold ass beat and Drake goes crazy on the song. They’re fun, and have really engaging production. What Did I Miss is mostly fine but the reason I don’t gravitate towards the track comes from Drakes insecurity, and the way he goes about this song is really odd. Throughout the song, he tried to make himself appear unbothered despite the antics that happened during and post beef
However, the production doesn’t have much variety to it. I can appreciate chipmunk soul being incorporated into Drakes music as I feel that he’s done well with it before. But, after a few tracks in, he doesn’t try anything that can surprise you which leads to the album being boring. Like this is some of the most bland chipmunk soul production I’ve heard. It’s like early Kanye but stripped of any personality and progression that made those beats memorable. The production doesn’t evolve or atleast have drastic changes besides a slightly or vastly different tone in his voice. Janice STFU is a prime example of this, but the auto tune is so abrasive and annoying I can’t take it seriously.
This damages the album even more especially considering the buildup for it was pretty good with all the marketing, so that was massively disappointing.
But, by far the biggest issue with this album is its writing. There are plenty of songs that should work and be enjoyable but his attitude makes them unbearable especially post beef. They’re terrible, corny and cringy. Like it was so bad that I was genuinely taking notes on all the shitty bars I found. To hear that he’s still on this beef isn’t surprising to be honest but it’s honestly annoying and frustrating. I wouldn’t have much of an issue with this if he made this album last year instead of $$$4U. Even if you dislike this album, at-least he was trying to put it behind him and I thought we were going somewhere. But NO, it’s like a character getting their arc reseted in the sequel and of course, that wouldn’t work because we already saw this individual develop. He could have further built this up and considering the other two albums he released, the only qualifications I can give those is that at-least he’s trying to have fun and putting this feud behind him. The writing just feels nonsensical. The tough guy menacing vibe he tried to give just doesn’t work.
The disses on Kendrick are also just so weak and pathetic. I won’t sugarcoat this but one example of this is on the song Make Them Pay, where he directly responds to the “fuck the big three it’s just big me” by adding “there were too many chefs in the kitchen.” Like uhh what? That’s all you have? If you’re going to revisit one of the biggest rap feuds of the decade, I’d expect a fresh angle or a memorable punchline. Instead, many of the responses feel underwritten and don’t really advance the conversation. It’s the same for 2 Hard For The Radio where the lyrics feel like a parody. I won’t lie, this feels like a ripoff of Squabble up. It’s even worse considering I do not like that track at all so you’d probably guess that I hate this.
Naturally, this overlaps with the bars I have Many of the lines here are laughably bad. And like I said earlier I have a whole list of notes I wrote and the timestamp of these tracks. Here are the examples
“Sis, you gotta be kiddin’ like nephews and nieces” (Make Them Cry 3:26)
“Y’all bout to make me richie like Lionel, for real” (Dust 0:28)
“Yeah, and when you run into the Iceman, what you gon’ do except freeze?” (Whisper My Name 0:55)
“I’m doing my big one, you doing the little one, what kind of man are you, a middle one?” (Whisper My Name 2:38)
“How many more interviews y’all gonna do just to get Ice to chill?” (Janice STFU 2:24)
“What kind of switch, not Nintendo” (Shabang 1:14)
“I rack up a tab in chanel’ cause I do buy everything like I’m Middle Eastern” (Make Them Pay 1:18)
“I’m greater than everybody like some shredded cheese” (Make Them Pay 3:24)
“Check signin’ is my kink, pushin’ out ink, I feel like a squid” (National Treasures 1:50)
“Yeah girl, I’m goin’ up, I’m goin’ vertically.” (Little Birdie 1:48)
“I reserve this like I’m indigenous. Barber from 6 went broke. And he under my arm like I’m ticklish” (Make Them Know 1:55)
I almost never take notes while listening to an album, but the writing here was so distracting that I just had that itch to write.
The performances are also an issue here and it’s been prevalent for a lot of my listening experience with Drake. Often, his flows feel recycled and some performances or processed to death like on JANICE STFU. I’m also not sure what the hype is with shabang. The lyrics feel like something I would possibly hear on a nursery rhyme. It is so fucking unbearable and it is painful to listen to. I struggle to find what’s so enjoyable about this? I’m all for us having divisive opinions but this is one that I simply can’t understand.
Even though this is 18 tracks and is a much greater improvement than having 25 songs, it still feels bloated and too long.
Lastly, majority of the features are lacking and it sounds like they don’t even wanna be there. Take 21 Savage on B’s On the Table. Why is he here? He sounds bored and exhausted. Future is the only exception to this, as his flows are engaging and he brought more energy even if it’s a short feature. But, the song Ran To Atlanta doesn’t work because Molly Santana ruins it and it comes from the fact I cannot enjoy Molly’s voice. Drakes first verse is also corny. The second verse though, he goes off. I do have some concerns though as how did Future and Drake decide to collab? Future was the one that pretty much was involved in jumpstarting this beef into mainstream territory with Like That.
All in all, Drake releases yet another bad album and disappoints me again. I really hope Drake can make an album I like again soon but even then, it seems like that’s too much to ask. This is some of the lowest lows he’s hit.
