For All the Dogs

On January 21, 2023, during his free concert at the Apollo Theater, Drake teased the release of an album, saying he wanted to "strike up more emotions, maybe this year". He also responded to the negative reception of his previous few albums, stating: "I've thought about a bunch of things in life, but at this moment in time none of those things are stopping making music for ". On June 23, Drake announced that his poetry book titled Titles Ruin Everything, which was co-written with songwriter Kenza Samir and previously teased in summer 2022, would be released on July 14. One day later, full advertisements on the front-page of the New York Post contained an incorporated QR code. Upon scanning, the QR code redirected to a landing page with a picture of two puppies above a statement: "I made an album to go with the book... They say they miss the old Drake, girl don't tempt me. For all the dogs". Its title was soon officially confirmed by OVO and Republic. During his performance in Detroit on July 9 for the It's All a Blur Tour, his co-headlining tour with 21 Savage, Drake announced that Nicki Minaj would appear on the album, which however did not happen for unknown reasons. He also announced Bad Bunny would appear on the album during his performance in Los Angeles on August 13, who is featured on the song "Gently". Eight days later, Drake revealed the album artwork, drawn by his son, Adonis Graham. On August 22, Amazon Music announced on social media that the album would be released in three days along with praising Adonis for the drawing, but the statement was later deleted. On September 6, Drake confirmed the album would be released on September 22. Two days after the announcement, he shared a trailer video for the album, which was a flashback of his father, Dennis Graham, performing on the Canadian television series Stormy Monday with Danny Marks, in the early 1990s. On September 15, 2023, Drake released the lead single of the album, "Slime You Out", which features American singer-songwriter SZA; the song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Drake his twelfth US number-one single and SZA her second. A day later, he announced that the album would be delayed by exactly two weeks and would be released on October 6. On October 5, Drake released the second single, "8AM in Charlotte", and revealed the tracklist.