It’s been a rough two years for the self-proclaimed “Boy”. We all know about the public beef with Kendrick and the reception of his music after the dust had settled.

It was not a position any artist would want to be in given their level of stardom and things were looking bleak. Despite that, Drake still had fans eager to hear his latest solo album titled ICEMAN.

A few weeks prior to the launch of ICEMAN I dove into some elements that would assist Drake in providing a great album for fans (which you can read here) who were anticipating a lot.

The four main pillars were: Avoid the beef, don’t chase sounds, keep it short, and work with 40. To my surprise, Drake hit most of these elements on ICEMAN which lent itself well to the overall quality of the project.

However, he also leaned heavily into certain aspects that hindered the heights of what this comeback album could be. Thankfully, they’re not numerous so addressing the issues will be relatively easy.

ICEMAN starts off a little lacklustre. The intro, Make Them Cry, is one of Drake’s weakest of any of his albums and a standout for the least interesting aspects of the album.

It’s not a terrible song because he does get introspective on what’s been going on in his life, especially post beef (I love how he mentions his one homeboy told him he lost his chain but it turns out he sold it), but the song highlights the biggest issue with the album which is the victim card. 

Drake raps with a victim mentality and it’s unbecoming of who we know the “6 god” to be. He mentions how it’s hard for him to dig deep and grow up, which might be all the way valid, but it looks “funny” coming from a guy who’s almost 40 and has been introspective his whole career. 

It’s never been a secret to him that industry friends and ties are fickle. He’s experienced betrayal and jealousy from various people and artists alike throughout his time in Hip-Hop, so some of these realizations come off as feigned introspection.

This victimhood he portrays is also sprinkled a few times throughout the album and each time it rears its head it’s followed closely by a bite of cringe. It’s a shame because he’s delivered some amazing intros (Tuscan Leather I’m looking at you).

The intro typically sets the tone or is the drawing hook for the album and track two is where the mood settles in, so starting off with Make Them Cry was a bit of a disappointment.

Drake follows up Make Them Cry with Dust: a self-aggrandizing track that indirectly talks about how he’s carried the game unlike his counterpart Kendrick Lamar. The “boy” illuminates how Kendrick hasn’t had nearly as many hits and that his wealth is unmatched.

This song falters on two fronts: as previously mentioned for what would make the a classic album, he feeds into the beef; which was to be expected but focusing on slaps would have been the better play musically. The other issue with this song, ties into his creative decision to beat switch almost every song. 

Throughout his career he’s crafted some of the best beat switching songs known to the modern world. Tuscan Leather, Cameras/Good Ones, No Tellin’, and Hours In Silence. But what worked for these songs is that the beat switches transitioned so well from one beat to another.

Lately it feels as if he’s simply sticking two beats together regardless of their sonic composition and it makes the listening experience feel schizophrenic and haphazard. It feels like an appeal to Gen Z and their TikTok brains. 

It should be stated that there are other beat switches that do work well on ICEMAN. 2 Hard 4 The Radio is a beautifully executed switch that feels euphoric and Whisper My Name also transitions magnificently. 

Dust doesn’t do what it needs to and if it was never heard in rotation again it’d be a pleasantry.

Issues addressed and aside, the rest of ICEMAN is a very enjoyable experience. That run of music from track 3 to track 18 could have been a perfect album in and of itself.

It’s as if Drake mimicked his rollout with the actual album itself: fans having to wait two years then dig through blocks of ice to finally get the goods they’ve been waiting for. 

We get some absolute bangers back-to-back with Ran To Atlanta and STFU Janice. Both songs are an exhilaration to rap and sing along to and the St. John the Baptist line goes hard.

Not a clue to how Drake and Future peaced things up, but if there’s one duo that needed to reunite from the aftermath of the beef it was these two, and thank God they did.

Drake delivers some chill vibes with Shabang and Plot Twist. Hearing these outside with a crowd throwing up fake gang signs to each other is a hilarious experience when you’re gone off the liquor.

Some of Drake’s best rapping comes in the form of Make Them Pay and National Treasures. During the beef former Raptor legend DeMar DeRozan rode for his home town of LA and popped out at Kendrick’s LA show to represent his city. 

It seems Drake definitely took offense because he delivered an absolute bomb of a first verse directed solely at DeMar DeRozan ripping him apart for his failures with the team before he got traded to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard. 

National Treasures’ original version with Toronto rapper Pressa’s verse is missed, but the new second verse is cool and the beat switch isn’t a detriment to the song like other songs on the album. 

There are some lacklustre bars sprinkled throughout some of these songs like on Make Them Pay Drake raps:

“These n***as measurin’ their dick size in millimetres” and on National Treasures he raps:

“The Iceman was a nice man now I’m hot & cold.” But every rap album features some level of cringe.

What’s more criminal than those bars are the two hit songs that everyone is sleeping on. That Kodak bop on Little Birdie could bring a statue to groove and Don’t Worry is the epitome of old school Drizzy that made incredible bops.

One large disappointment was the omission of the “iceman baby” sample at the end of Make Them Know as a full song on its own. It would have been an amazing sample to start the album with and then switch into a verse with a hard bass. Huge missed opportunity to let that sample squander as just an outro beat…

For all the embarrassment of the past two years and some lacklustre music, Drake has returned from a stone cold grave and shown the world that he still has some elements as to what made him great. 

ICEMAN is a solid comeback album. It’s not flawless by any means, but it serves as a reminder that his talent is still intact. 

Final Verdict: 7.8/10