Certified Lover Boy
Daddy's home. Fresh off the back of some recent beef with Kanye West, Toronto native Aubrey Graham aka Drake aka Drizzy aka The Boy, has finally dropped his highly anticipated (and highly delayed) 6th studio album Certified Lover Boy. In 2018 when Drake dropped the 25 track record-breaking Scorpion, he received some backlash over the length of the double LP and assured fans he would take a more finite approach when creating his next album. It should then come as no surprise that CLB is 21 tracks and a whopping 4 minutes shorter than his previous body of work; so technically he wasn't lying, I guess? CLB sees Drake teaming up with fellow rappers and regular collaborators including Travis Scott, Future, Young Thug and Lil Baby, as well as some artists he hasn't worked with in years such as JAY-Z and Kid Cudi. With many people commenting on Billboard’s Artist of The Decade’s ability to stay relevant for so long, I along with many other fans were eager to see the material he would serve up on his first proper release of this decade. So, is Drake still able to produce a strong album and continue his dominance over the rap genre?
Considering Spotify announced that CLB has broken the record for most album streams in a single day (previously held by Scorpion) I would say yes. However, an increase in streams doesn't necessarily equate to an increase in music quality. For the most part, CLB sees Drake doubling down and sticking to what is comfortable instead of experimenting and switching up his sound. I felt like I had heard many of the tracks previously, as sonically and lyrically there is nothing separating this album from anything Drake has released over the past five years. After multiple listens from front to back I can safely say that there isn’t much that showcases his new Certified Lover Boy persona he’s flaunted over the past year. Tracks such as 'Girls Want Girls' and 'In The Bible' have some ridiculously bland beats where Drake sounds uninspired. A majority of tracks are sonically very similar to each other, giving the album a dragging feeling where you really notice the length of the project. Classic Drake themes such as relationships and women quickly feel stale and are only broken up by a few tracks that tackle different subject matters.
'No Friends In The Industry' and 'Knife Talk' attempt to take the album in a different direction in terms of content and sound with some harder beats and attitude coming through. On 'No Friends', a fired up Drake raps about his constant beefing with numerous artists in the industry but still coming out on top. This track feels like a cross between 'Nonstop' and 'Energy' and Drake slides over the almost phonk-like beat (which I wish he leaned in to a little more). 'Knife Talk' is an example of the chemistry between Drake and 21 Savage, with both artists delivering hard bars about gangs, fame and women. The beat is great and sounds like a cut off of 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s Savage Mode II. 'Fair Trade' with Travis Scott is to no surprise a highlight off the album with a solid instrumental, sample and beat switch that the pair are known for. Scott bodies the beat, coming through with strong bars and a flow that takes me back to his Rodeo days.
'Way 2 Sexy' is an extremely tongue-in-cheek track which sees Drake team up with Future and Young Thug to rap about, you guessed it, being way too sexy. The beat samples the classic Right Said Fred song 'Im too sexy' and is in my opinion the best beat on the album. This song walks an extremely fine-line between being funny and being cringe, leaning more towards the latter had the hilarious music video for this song not been released. I do appreciate that Drake can lean into meme culture and create a track with this much character. As of this moment I'm unsure whether this is going to be a smash or a flop.
I could touch on every track on CLB but I won't, as I would be repeating myself with every song mentioned. It's strange to think that Drake has actually been in pretty decent form lately, with a lot of his recent features being straight up fire. 'Wants and Needs' off of his recent Scary Hours 2 pack is one his best releases in years, with both Drake and Lil Baby going nuts over a crazy trap beat. 'Laugh Now Cry Later', which strangely didn't make it onto this album, was a hit with a solid instrumental and flow from Drake and Lil Durk. Even his feature on 'Popstar' featured a unique flow with some hard hitting bars. Yet collaborations with these same artists and producers come off feeling bland through CLB's entirety.
Off the back of the surprise Donda release earlier this week, I was excited to see what Drake was going to bring to the table, and honestly thought we would be getting two of the best albums of the year within the same week. Ultimately, we ended up with two monster albums, with one of them sounding experimental, bold and inspired, and the other feeling safe, repetitive and bland. Drake hasn't lost it and by no means is this a bad album. CLB will do well and sell a lot of copies, but I hope he finds some inspiration and creativity along his journey to the next album.
STREAM AND DOWNLOAD Certified Lover Boy HERE
