An album for the loverboys of the world
By Nic Longstreet
Well, another Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and whether or not you had someone, Drake made sure that everyone felt the love. After months of anticipation (kinda) and updates, $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U, the collab album from Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR, has arrived.
It showcases both artists in their respective elements, PARTYNEXTDOOR is doing his usual singing about love, and Drake is dipping his toes into the loverboy aesthetic he’s perfected. The album also sees him going back to the subliminal disses that he’s so well known for (“f*** a rap beef/I’m tryna get the party lit” on “GIMME A HUG”).
The beef that had the world captivated for the past year seems to be on the back burner of the album, although multiple moments make one question whether or not Drake is as unbothered as he lets on. And you might notice there’s a lot of Drake being mentioned; what about PARTYNEXTDOOR? Isn’t this a collab album? It is… in spirit. There are six solo Drake songs, and on the ones where it isn’t just Drake, he’s the main man.
The album isn’t bad; it just feels like a lot of Drake throwaway songs that just happen to have PND on them. It feels lackluster and half hearted at best. There are a few good songs, such as CRYING IN CHANEL, GIMME HUG, and fan favorite NOKIA, but other than that not much to say. It’s 21 songs and a run time of over an hour for mediocre songs. For as long as it took to make, and the hype surrounding it, one would think there would be hit after hit. That’s just not the case.
A particularly low point in the album is MEET YOUR PADRE, which, unfortunately for us, features Drake serenading us in Spanish. Nobody asked for that, nobody really needed that, but here we are in 2025 with a Spanish-singing Drake.
Now despite this scathing review, the album had some success; it went number one in 72 countries, with 56.6 million streams worldwide, and he boosted the profile of a new artist, Pimmie. The Drake effect is still alive and well.
It falls short of a classic collab album, but it has some songs that could be on a playlist, but that depends on who you are. Overall, this just isn’t the comeback album any Drake fan was hoping for.
