Certified Lover Boy - Drake
On September 3rd, 2021, the only man you know named Aubrey released his 6th studio album, Certified Lover Boy. Less than 20 hours after the project dropped, Drake broke Spotify’s record for Single-Day Album Streams. CLB showed Drake’s versatility as a rapper, singer, and songwriter. It showed why he’s so unbelievably famous. And it showed that whether you love him or hate him, you have to appreciate him.
The album was slated to drop in January of 2021 but was delayed due to Drake's hectic schedule of rehabbing a torn ACL, and… actually, that's it. He had nothing else going on. Either way, the album is a slapper. With its car-shaking production, star-studded list of features, and bank of one-liners for suburban white boys like me to use in captions, Drake gave fans an unforgettable listening experience.
From the first track, it's clear Drake's going all out. "Champagne Poetry" is six minutes of straight bars. While this song may drag on, it gives listeners hope that the Drake of the If You're Reading This It's Too Late era is back. Things pick up in "Girls Want Girls" featuring Lil Baby. These days every Lil Baby song is a hit, and this is no exception. Overlooking some eyebrow-raising lines like "you say that you a lesbian, girl me too," this one is veryy solid. "In the Bible" with Lil Durk and Giveon was a highlight as well. The song marks Durk's second Drake feature, and similar to his appearance in "Laugh Now Cry Later," he goes off. It's a shame his verse wasn't longer because he absolutely crushed it.
I’ll admit, the album has its questionable moments too. “Way 2 Sexy” was nuts. I can’t imagine how much they paid to clear this sample. Also, what was Kawhi Leonard doing in the music video? On an equally strange note, I didn’t need to spend 60 seconds listening to a list of cities in Texas on “TSU.”
Now, the elephant in the room here is Drake’s beef with Kanye West. Let’s get one thing straight. I love both artists. I love both new albums. But I hate hearing about rap beef. Why can’t these rich people get along? What if other rich people had beef? Like Jeff Bezos writes a diss track about Elon Musk. And Elon retaliates by posting Bezos’ home address online. They would never. I can’t say it wouldn’t be entertaining, though.
Drake uses “7am on Bridle Path” to throw some light punches at Kanye, but honestly, it was a weak diss so I’m not gonna bother quoting it. Otherwise, Drake goes crazy on this track, as he does in all songs named after a time and place (see “5am in Toronto” and “4pm in Calabasas”). He delivers the line “I’m aiming straight for the head, not aiming to please” which is bound to be one of those one-liners I mentioned earlier.
see what I mean?
I was tearing up ten seconds into “IMY2” which features Kid Cudi and a spoken-word intro from Juice Wrld. Drake sings his loverboy heart out, and Cudi’s feature does not disappoint. Another favorite of mine is “The Remorse,” which follows Drake’s pattern of no feature, no chorus, and nothing held back outros. Seriously. The final songs in his albums are always hidden gems. Check out “Do Not Disturb” and “6pm in New York.”
Everybody likes an easy to read list, so here are two:
Best Songs:
IMY2 (ft. Kid Cudi)
The Remorse
N 2 Deep (ft. Future)
Hot Takes:
The list above (?)
Jay Z’s feature sucks
Pineapple belongs on pizza
Lil Wayne has the best verse
Drake’s CLB haircut is cool
Overall, the album lived up to the hype. Drake and his ghostwriters outdid themselves on this one. If Take Care is a 10/10, Certified Lover Boy is an 8.6/10. Just my opinion.
Which emoji on the album cover is the hottest? Lmk in the comments.