From Joe Budden To Charlamagne, Here Are All The Times Drake Clapped Back At ‘For All The Dogs’ Critics

From Anthony Fantano to DJ Akademiks, we’ve compiled a list of all the times Drake has clapped back at critics during his album cycle for All The Dogs.

Oct 12, 2023
Cole Burston / Getty Images

Since Drake broke out in the early 2000s, he has received endless criticism from his peers and rap fans. Very early on, he was labeled the “soft,” “sensitive rapper” because of his brand of music, which blended rap with R&B singing. And while many of his albums have gone on to sell millions and be revered as classics, first-day reviews stated albums like Take Care were “weak, repetitive, boring at times.” In response to the unfavorable criticism, Drake developed somewhat of a chip on his shoulder over the years, and it appeared in the music on albums such as Nothing Was the Same and Views. But now, it appears Drake is taking a much different approach. 


On Oct. 6, Drake released his eighth studio album, For All The Dogs. The album’s first-week sales projections are on pace to hit more than 400,000, but the project also received several negative reviews. Charlamagne Tha God said “nobody cared,” while Joe Budden took aim at Drake’s lyrical content, saying, “I want to hear adult `Drake.” While Drake is no stranger to backlash, it seems the recent feedback struck a nerve. The rapper has been on a vicious tirade, clapping back at anyone sharing a negative opinion about his latest release. This is the most online and combative Drake has been during an album cycle. And although it is shocking, it also makes for entertaining coverage. 


From Anthony Fantano to DJ Akademiks, here's a running list of everyone Drake has clapped back at during this album cycle. 

Cole Burston / Getty Images

Since Drake broke out in the early 2000s, he has received endless criticism from his peers and rap fans. Very early on, he was labeled the “soft,” “sensitive rapper” because of his brand of music, which blended rap with R&B singing. And while many of his albums have gone on to sell millions and be revered as classics, first-day reviews stated albums like Take Care were “weak, repetitive, boring at times.” In response to the unfavorable criticism, Drake developed somewhat of a chip on his shoulder over the years, and it appeared in the music on albums such as Nothing Was the Same and Views. But now, it appears Drake is taking a much different approach. 


On Oct. 6, Drake released his eighth studio album, For All The Dogs. The album’s first-week sales projections are on pace to hit more than 400,000, but the project also received several negative reviews. Charlamagne Tha God said “nobody cared,” while Joe Budden took aim at Drake’s lyrical content, saying, “I want to hear adult `Drake.” While Drake is no stranger to backlash, it seems the recent feedback struck a nerve. The rapper has been on a vicious tirade, clapping back at anyone sharing a negative opinion about his latest release. This is the most online and combative Drake has been during an album cycle. And although it is shocking, it also makes for entertaining coverage. 


From Anthony Fantano to DJ Akademiks, here's a running list of everyone Drake has clapped back at during this album cycle. 

Anthony Fantano

Drake responds to Anthony Fantano and exposes the REAL DMs he sent Anthony 😳

“Your existence is a light 1” pic.twitter.com/RKyzOS5esS

— Kurrco (@Kurrco) September 16, 2022
X
In June 2022, Drake released his seventh studio album, Honestly, Nevermind. The album marked a departure from his previous rap albums as it experimented with house and dance music sounds. While some fans praised Drake’s brave new direction, the album also received its share of criticism. Music critic and YouTuber Anthony Fantano was one of the first to state the album “was not good.” “This is Drake’s lowest point yet, in terms of the level of effort,” Fantano said in a YouTube review of the album. “He really put almost nothing into this record. It’s one note, badly produced, weakly sung, horrendously under-written.” Drake didn’t take kindly to the harsh review. On Sept. 16, 2022, Fantano shared a screenshot of a X (f.k.a. Twitter) DM he received from Drake. “Your existence is a light 1. And the 1 is cause you are alive,” Drake wrote, using Fantano’s 1 to 10 scale for rating albums. “And cause you somehow wifed a Black girl. I’m feeling a light to decent 1 on your existence.” Fantano didn’t seem to take the diss to heart though; he swiftly changed his X header to “Anthony Light 1 Fantano.”

Complex

@complex

Life is about perspective. First, award-winning poets, now IG models. Here's a review of Drake's new poetry book, inspired by a DM from the man himself. #drake

♬ original sound - Complex - Complex
In the lead up to Drake’s album, For All The Dogs, he dropped a poetry book with writer Kenza Samir, entitled, Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness. Naturally, Complex recruited award-winning poets to review and analyze the book. Among the reviews, New York Times bestselling author MacArthur Fellow told Complex, “None of these strike me as poems, because they’re not even attempting to push against any unknown in order to offer something revelatory or at least somewhat beautiful.” Again, Drake was not amused by the clever coverage of his book. He slid into Complex’s Instagram DMs with a snippy reaction and request. “Can you do an article now where the baddest Instagram girls in the world review my poetry book, not the head of the Mos Def fan club,” he wrote. We eventually obliged Drizzy’s request, and all things were forgiven. Check out the IG model review here.

Charlamagne Tha God

Drake calls out Charlamagne tha God on his IG story.

“You kinda weirding me out. You really obsessed with me. You look in the mirror and wish you saw my reflection.” pic.twitter.com/4nyzPgrIEQ

— 6ixBuzzTV (@6ixbuzztv) September 25, 2023
X
On Sept. 15, Drake released his first single off For All The Dogs, “Slime You Out” featuring SZA. Unsurprisingly, the single debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but not everyone was impressed by the single. Charlamagne Tha God, in particular, shared his opinion of the track on an episode of “Brilliant Idiots,” saying, “nobody cared” about Drake’s newest release. “Drake put out this record Friday, and people just getting to the lyrics on a Monday? That’s not Drake-like,” the radio personality continued. “He’s gonna be fine regardless. I just think that it’s also—you look at the album cover, you hear the title For All The Dogs, I think that we was looking for something a little more harder, a little bit more aggressive.” Catching wind of Charlamagne’s review, Drake swiftly responded on his Instagram Stories, labeling the on-air talent an “off brand Morris Chestnut. He continued: “Are you ok Lenard?? You kinda weirding me out g. Like you really obsessed with me or something for years like you look in the mirror and wish you saw my reflection type shit…whatever you gotta do to let it out I’m sure your 435 loyal fans will stand by you ya fucking goof.”

Joe Budden

Drake's response pic.twitter.com/AgOxGVZyMw

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) October 7, 2023
X
Drake and Joe Budden have always had a frenemy-type of relationship throughout the years, but their relationship seemed to take a dark turn after Budden shared his critique of Drake’s new album on The Joe Budden Podcast. “I want to hear adult Drake rapping for adult people. That’s my issue with him today,” Budden said on the episode. Budden also criticized Drake, who turns 37 in October, for hanging with streamers like Kai Cenat and young rappers like Lil Yachty. Drake came back, guns blazing in a lengthy message on Instagram: “@joebudden you have failed at music… You left it behind to do what you are doing in this clip cause this is what actually pays your bills. For any artist watching this just remember you are watching a failure give their opinion on his idea of a recipe for success… a quitter give their opinion on how to achieve longevity… You switched careers cause the things that pop into your brain had you broke living cheque to cheque and the raps you write had 450 men showing up to your shows in dusty Enyce jeans to screw up their face to Mood Muzik 29 and pretend you are the goat.” While Drake’s message was pretty lethal, Budden didn’t seem to take it personally. He responded with an Instagram post of him relaxing in a pool while looking at his phone. And on Oct. 11, he cheerfully read Drake’s message out loud on The Joe Budden Podcast.

DJ Akademiks

View this video on YouTube
YouTube

For whatever reason, DJ Akademiks has seemed to be in or around Drake’s inner circle for a few years now. Drake has previously hit Ak up with information about his forthcoming projects and other news. But most recently, the two reached a hurdle in their friendship. It all started when the streamer told fans that Drake would be calling into his stream to talk about For All The Dogs. The call didn’t come through, though, and that’s where the drama began. According to Ak, Drake texted him during his stream the next day, writing, “damn bro, you salty? Ak also recalled “not everything was too nice” in Drake’s message. Since he was live at the time, Ak decided to respond to Drake’s text the next day. It’s then that he found out where the smoke was really coming from. “He hits me back and says, ‘yo dog, I’m going to be honest with you, I didn’t even watch the stream. Yachty hit me up and said, ‘Ak going crazy on you.’” Luckily, the exchange didn’t end as heated as it began days earlier. During a livestream, Akademiks suggested the two were back on better terms. 

Elsie Not Elisee

Elsie is the most honest girl in the world & Drake is just sassy about it
😂 pic.twitter.com/daplXyfQgr

— S (@gomolemohey) October 7, 2023
X
Shortly after For All The Dogs dropped, TikToker Elsie took to her platform where she shared her review. “This album, it was a no for me,” she declared. While she goes on to say that some of the songs and features were OK, she says the album overall was “extremely disappointing.” Well, that didn’t seem to sit right with Drake, because the rapper shared a screenshot of her on his Instagram Stories with a sarcastic caption: “Thanks Elsieee.”

Drake

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