Drake & PartyNextDoor's '$ome $exy $ongs 4 U' album review

A Drake and PartyNextDoor collab album had been teased for quite some time. The two Canadian artists have numerous collaborations throughout their careers, with both of them being featured on each other’s albums in the past.

The album also serves as the first project Drake has released since 2024’s infamous rap beef between him and Kendrick Lamar. After taking a loss in the rap battle by almost everyone’s account, most hip-hop fans were anticipating how he was going to bounce back.

Although there are extensive rumors that Drake’s next solo album is on the horizon, for now, we are left with the R&B centric collab album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. Drake, of course, is no stranger to collab albums. Both of his previous collaboration projects, What a Time to be Alive with Future and Her Loss with 21 Savage, are quality projects that are loaded with memorable songs.

However, we realize very early on in $ome $exy $ongs 4 U that this project is nowhere near the same caliber as most of Drake’s music. Almost immediately, the tracklist becomes rather boring and uninteresting with neither artist offering anything too exciting or nuanced.

The best song on the album is easily “Nokia,” a light-hearted banger that is one of the few tracks on the album that feels energized and vibrant. It has the potential to be the album’s biggest hit from a commercial standpoint.

Other highlights on the album include “Deeper,” “Die Trying,” “Pimmie’s Dilemma,” and “Gimme A Hug” — the latter of which is one of the few songs on the LP where Drake is rapping. “Gimme A Hug” also sees Drake addressing the feud, making it one of the more interesting songs on the album content-wise. Other tracks like “CN Tower” and “Brian Steel” are decent, but still too monotonous to uplift the tracklist that much.

The album’s extended length ultimately ends up running it into the ground as well. Clocking in at 1 hour and 13 minutes, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U is a slog to listen to from start to finish. Even with the handful of solid songs, the tracklist is overrun with unnecessary bloat.

The project also features two of the worst songs Drake has ever put out in his career in “Meet Your Padre” and “Glorious.” On “Meet Your Padre,” Drake adopts a comically bad Spanish accent that makes the song feel like a parody. To make matters worse, Drake’s lyrics on the song, which are a combination of English and Spanish, are quite corny.

On the song “Glorious,” Drake imitates Ice Spice's flow, going as far as using her “grah” ad-lib. The final result is one of the most insufferable songs Drake has ever released.

Furthermore, most of the songs on the album are lacking in quality when compared to the majority of PartyNextDoor’s solo catalogue, as well as his previous collaborations with Drake on tracks like “Preach,” “With You,” and “Recognize.”

Despite being a collaborative effort, PartyNextDoor feels like an afterthought throughout much of the album. So much so, that he isn’t even featured on a third of the album’s songs. In the end, he is never really given a chance to make a real impact.

$ome $exy $ongs 4 U, while not being completely horrible like some fans have suggested, will not do anything to add to the catalogue of either artist. In fact, it is fair to say that the album is the weakest project in either artist’s discography. Let’s hope that Drake returns to form with his upcoming solo album.

Overall Rating: 4/10