Eminem’s prediction about Drake may have come to fruition.
Amid the release of For All the Dogs, fans and critics alike have been weighing in on Drake’s most recent effort. The rapper is poised to earn his eighth No. 1 solo studio album as his latest project has dominated streaming over the past week. Meanwhile, some critiques have been less favorable than others as there are fans who believe that Drake’s album didn’t live up to the hype. While discussing it online, fans realized that this was quite literally what Eminem had rapped about three years ago.
Following the success of his No. 1 album, Music to Be Murdered By, in 2020, Eminem dropped a B-side project that featured the song “Zeus,” which became very popular for its blunt message to Drake. In the song, the lyrics warn, “I’ve seen them come and go, I’ve seen the hugest debuts / I’ve had a great view to see the game through / And, Drake, they’re gonna turn on you one day too / And the more you win, the sooner they do / They’ll be calling you a trash bin / Sayin’ that your new one isn’t better than your last and / Even if it is, once they start to turn their backs, they ain’t never comin’ back in.”
The track may have just aged well, but DJ Akademiks definitely stoked the fire when he made a post on Instagram with a snippet of “Zeus” highlighting the lyrics directed at Drake. In the comments, fans chimed in on the new album and what Eminem had seemingly prophesied. Drake stans were quick to defend the rapper against allegations that the album was a dud, while some believe the prediction about the hate Drizzy would get was right on the money. The takeaway, however, was the overwhelming view that, just like cancel culture, this may be just another toxic practice in the industry these days.
“We need to talk about hip hop culture and why we treat our legends this way,” one fan wrote. “It’s part of this toxic culture in Hip-Hop they don’t do this in other genres,” another chimed. Meanwhile, another fan claimed, “Drake’s last good project was Dark Lane Demo Tapes so he right.” Interestingly enough, fans have been murmuring about Drake’s new music and giving validation to Em’s prediction since last year after he dropped Honestly, Nevermind. Like a slow burn, it seems critics have doubled down on their discontent this year now that the Toronto rapper has another new album out for them to review.
In 2022, a Reddit post titled “Eminem’s Prophecy about Drake is coming true…” became a forum for naysayers to air out their grievances about Drake’s career arc. One commenter claimed, “Drake’s music has been receiving mediocre reviews since Views. This isn’t new at all.” One stan tried to put things into perspective when they wrote, ‘I’m pretty sure Em meant he would still make alright music just people will turn on him. What he put out yesterday is completely a** and deserves that criticism.” Another fan was quick to force accountability on the rapper, saying, “Naaaaa Drake did that to himself. Can’t release 4 albums in a row that sound the same and expect all the love in the world.”
The fact is, it’s all subjective. Many fans actually love Drake’s new album, while others don’t. Many have not enjoyed the last few albums that the rapper released, while others are still touting them. What is also true is that the internet chin-wagging does not negate the fact that For All the Dogs is already No. 1 in Australia and is on par to debut at the coveted spot in several other territories, including the US, Canada, and the UK.
They say numbers don’t lie; people do. However, in this day and age, it’s easy to imagine quite a few ways that numbers can be even more deceptive than people. So, what is the verdict then – are people hating just to hate, or should Drizzy pay keen attention to the negative criticism regardless of chart success?
