Labor Day Weekend Fun

It's officially Labor Day Weekend this weekend. I can't wait for the extra day. How about you? If you're looking for something to do, Arts, Beats & Eats returns Friday through Monday in downtown Royal Oak. It's always a big deal down there. Live music, food vendors, shopping, and more. And The Bounce will be out there too! Go see Mean Jean from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Friday and Saturday, and Lori Mac will be there Sunday and Monday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.

The Michigan State Fair is also going on at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. They have a midway, circus tent, live music, food, beer, and more. Everything you expect from a state fair, right?

And then U of M football returns this Saturday. It's always a big day in Ann Arbor. They're gonna be taking on East Carolina at noon at the Big House and I'm interested to see how pre-gaming is going to go because this is the first year they're actually serving liquor inside of the stadium. I don't think much will change. People have their traditions.

Drake Addresses Fans Who Are Upset That His New Album hasn't Dropped

I told you last week in the Scoop that Drake was dropping his "For All The Dogs" album last Friday. Well, that never happened and people were definitely upset. Drake addressed it while onstage this weekend saying he never promised the album would drop that day. Drake also left fans upset in Vancouver this week by postponing his first date there. It was just a couple of hours before the show was to start. Like, people were already there. Apparently something was wrong with the Jumbotron. They had just installed a new one in that venue and they were having problems with it so, he canceled the show. Here's a video of Drake onstage talking about his new album... https://twitter.com/N3RONEWS/status/1695390654640103492?s=20

50 Cent Couldn't Take The Heat

Speaking of postponed shows, 50 Cent had to postpone his Phoenix show yesterday due to extreme heat. They were supposed to perform outside in an amphitheater, but it was 116-degrees, which is too dangerous for anybody. So he had to cancel that. There's no word on when it's being rescheduled, but probably some time in the winter because I hear they've had like 90 straight days of over a hundred degree weather or hotter out there.

Fundraiser For Iconic Jazz/R&B Vocalist

Finally, I came across this story this morning and I want to send my thoughts to singer and icon Rachelle Ferrell. There's a fundraiser that has been posted due to unnamed health, wellness and life hardship at the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. I guess her care has been turned over to other people so they're requesting help for assistance with her. I'm a big fan of Rachelle. She was actually the first show I ever did at Soundboard and she would just call me on my personal cell phone and aske me how I was doing. Seeing if I was taking care of myself and reading books and stuff all the time. She's definitely an icon and Detroit loves her very much. If you can do anything to help, please visit this link... https://www.sweetrelief.org/rachelleferrellfund.html

To much disappointment, Drake fans were not blessed with a new album on Friday (Aug. 25). Fans expected an album to drop on Friday, and when it didn't, "No Drake" began trending across social media platforms.

"Drake. Why I wake up to no album," one fan wrote.

"Drake didn’t drop life has no meaning," one fan sarcastically commented.

According to a since-deleted tweet from Amazon Music, it convinced fans that they would be bumping some new Drake last weekend.

"Drizzy's son has a future as a cover artist. New @drake august 25th," the tweet read.

Previously, on Sunday (August 20), @ThePopTingz on Twitter reported that For All The Dogs will also be arriving on Friday. "Drake’s new album, ‘For All The Dogs,’ will reportedly be released next Friday, August 25th," they wrote.

Drake announced that his eighth studio album was on the way after he dropped his poetry book Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness.

"I made an album to go with the book," the 6God announced when the poetry book dropped in June. "They says they miss the old Drake girl don't tempt me," he wrote before adding "FOR ALL THE DOGS" in all caps.

He co-wrote the collection of poems with Kenza Samir. He and Drake have been working together for years on several of the Toronto rapper's projects, such as Views and If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late. The publisher’s website describes Titles Ruin Everything as a 168-page collection of never-before-published poems about “fame, romance, and relationships.”

For All The Dogs will follow Drake's last album Her Loss. The album was released in November and is a collaboration project between the Toronto rapper and 21 Savage. Drake's last solo album was Honestly, Nevermind which was released in June 2022.

Find out what we do know about For All The Dogs so far:

This new album is for the "day one" Drake fans. Drake announced that he would release his studio album when his poetry book, Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness, went on sale in June. The book took you to a QR code that read: "I made an album to go with the book. They says they miss the old Drake girl don't tempt me," he wrote before adding "FOR ALL THE DOGS" in all caps. The "old Drake" he is referencing how he distinguished himself from his peers by singing and rapping as well as blending R&B elements into his raps during a time when trap music was rising.
He did this with his debut album, Take Care and, most recently, his 2021 album, Certified Lover Boy. While we know that the album is on the way, there has been no single or visual released as of the time of this writing.

Barbz, this album is for you too. Drake confirmed that Nicki Minaj will be on his upcoming album For All The Dogs last month.

"Me and Nicki Minaj did our first song in like, a really long time. I got a lot of love for her," he told the crowd during a performance for his It's All A Blur Tour.

Nicki confirmed Drake's message by sharing a throwback photo of the two and tweeting, "Dricki," a combination of both of their names.

Both rappers were signed to Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment in 2009. The two have previously worked together on "Moment 4 Life," "Only," "BedRock," "Seeing Green," "Make Me Proud," and more throughout the years.

During Drake's August 11 Inglewood tour stop, he brought out Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny. In doing so he also shared with the audience that there will be a collab with him on For All The Dogs.

"I wanna tell y’all something, because y’all are L.A. and we love you," Drake told the crowd during a break between songs. "It’s been like six years since me and Benito did a song, so we got a song coming for y’all on my album and it’s real."

Drake and Bad Bunny teamed up for 2018's "MIA" and on a remix of the PARTYNEXTDOOR track "Loyal."

The artist behind the album cover for his upcoming album For All The Dogs is none other than Drake's son five-year-old son Adonis. The album cover is a grey stick figure portrait of a dog with red eyes on a black background. Drake welcomed his son in 2018 with French artist Sophie Brussaux. Adonis has also been present during the tour in which Drake had to address the crowd to behave since his son was in attendance.

"Look, to be honest with you, I can’t talk about t------ tonight in LA because my son is at the show for the first time ever," Drake could be heard telling the crowd. A fan posted a TikTok video of the moment on Saturday (Aug. 12)."So we’ve got to keep this real PG tonight. Y’all keep your bras on."

Take a look at the album cover below:

While fans were disappointed that Drake's album did not arrive on Friday (Aug. 25), Drake's addressed the album's potential release date. "I know everybody's upset that I didn't drop an album last night. I didn’t say it was dropping last night. So don't be mad at me," he told the audience. "I just said it was coming soon."

"It's not going to be that much longer, trust me. I'm finishing it up," he continued. "You know I got shows, everybody. But I promise you, For All the Dogs is on the way. I promise you, this album will be for you. I promise you it will be worth the wait," he added.

Take a look at the moment below: