Drake’s ICEMAN rollout was always going to start arguments, but now the debate has moved from the album itself to the reviews around it.

Fans of the Toronto rapper are calling out Pitchfork after the publication gave ICEMAN a 4.8 out of 10. The review, written by Jayson Greene, described the album as an uneven attempt to “settle the score,” arguing that Drake repeats familiar themes and does not make the process feel especially fun.

For a lot of OVO fans, that score felt less like criticism and more like dismissal.

After the review went live, Drake fans took to social media to argue that Pitchfork did not give the album a fair listen. Some felt the review focused too heavily on Drake’s ongoing grievances without properly breaking down the writing, production or performance across the tracklist. Others said the criticism lacked nuance, especially when it came to how Drake addressed the fallout from his rap beefs and industry relationships.

The reaction has not been entirely one-sided, though. Some listeners agreed that ICEMAN is not Drake at his most effortless, especially because so much of the album is built around betrayal, score-settling and post-beef reflection. But among his core fanbase, the bigger issue seems to be that critics are treating Drake’s bitterness as a weakness, while fans see it as the whole point of the project.

The Pitchfork review also did not fully reject Drake’s new era. The publication gave its “Best New Track” title to “Cheetah Print,” his Maid of Honour collaboration with Sexyy Red, which makes the fan theory that Pitchfork is simply hating on Drake harder to prove.

Drake himself does not seem too bothered by the backlash. Over the weekend, he appeared to reflect on how some of his most celebrated work was once criticized too, sharing old negative reactions to his 2011 album Take Care on his Instagram Story. The point seemed obvious: the reviews can age, and Drake knows that better than anyone.