Drake fans are breathing sighs of relief as the star rapper has shared the release date of his next studio album following months of speculation.
After first teasing the album’s release in July, the Canadian musician has revealed that his eighth album, For All the Dogs, will be available on Friday 22 September.
Drake – born Aubrey Graham – announced the date on social media late on Wednesday (6 September), using a vintage video of his father, Dennis Graham, performing in the 1990s.
The clip shows a club emcee introducing Graham as his cousin, before the soul singer launches into a song with his accompanying band.
As a caption to the video, Drake, 36, simply wrote: “FOR ALL THE DOGS SEPTEMBER 22”.
Fans of the “Hotline Bling” star celebrated the announcement in the comments section of the post, with his father also commenting in response.
“Awwwwwwww thank you Son,” Graham wrote. “1991 Toronto Canada, seems like a hundred years ago, For All the Dogs.”
The first look of the album’s cover art was released in August, showing a hand-drawn white dog with red eyes on a black square background. The image was created by the rapper’s five-year-old son, Adonis.
Drake regularly shares updates on his son’s life on social media, including the moment Adonis watched him perform live for the first time during his show in Los Angeles in August.
In 2021, Adonis accompanied his father on stage as Drake accepted the Artist of the Decade Award at the Billboard Music Awards. The child clung to his dad’s leg while he gave his acceptance speech.
Before For All the Dogs, Drake’s last album release came in November in the form of Her Loss, a joint project with 21 Savage.
In a departure from his more reliable hip-hop sound, Drake also released a house-inspired album, Honestly, Nevermind, in June 2022.
Though few details have been released about the content of his forthcoming album, Drake confirmed that it will include a feature from his long-time collaborator and label mate Nicki Minaj during a show in Detroit, Michigan in August.
Outside of his musical ventures, the “One Dance” rapper recently released his first book of poetry in June. A collaboration with songwriter Kenza Samir, the collection is called Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness.
