REVIEW: Drake ‘Certified Lover Boy’ 8 of 10
Sports Editor Will Lyons reviews the highly — anticipated Drake Album ‘Certified Lover Boy.’
The anticipation behind Drake’s ‘C.L.B’ project has been building for quite some time. After multiple delays the project is finally available on all streaming platforms.
Leading up to the September release, Drake had fans and skeptics ready after a few loosies were released like ‘Laugh Now Cry Later’ with Lil’ Durk and ‘Wants and Needs’ with Lil Baby. The consensus was undeniable, Drizzy is in album mode and after the wait, this better be an amazing body of work.
Adding to the suspense surrounding the album Kanye changed his release date and did a surprise drop of ‘Donda’ on August 29th. Was Kanye attempting to duck the smoke that comes with sharing a release date with the most commercially successful rapper in the last decade? Only Ye’ knows the answer to that question. But that move had a significant impact on rap fans, it increased the demand behind finally hearing C.L.B as fans were ready to compare and decide who had the more successful body of work.
Drake comes out swinging on ‘Champagne Poetry,’ adding yet another quality intro to his notable catalog. It feels like Drake has something to prove after under delivering on his last two albums (‘Scorpion’ and ‘More Life’). The album feels both focused and scattered at the same time.
The focus is in the bars and the well-crafted beats that are a display of the producer’s acumen of blending samples with the vocals from Drake and the many notable featured artists. It gets fuzzy for me trying to wrap my mind around the whole “Certified Lover Boy” premise. And after a a three year wait since his last album, I hate to say the album left me desiring a bit more.
Overall this is a decent project with only a few tracks that I could skip depending on my mood or the setting at the time. Drake treated C.L.B like an Avengers movie when it came to enlisting featured artists and notable producers. Standout features include TEMS, Yebba, Lil’ Baby, Lil Durk, Travis Scott, Future, and Rick Ross.
I omitted Jay-Z, 21 Savage, the Project Pat sample and Lil Wayne from the listed features because their verses were something more. Those artists took ownership of the track they were on. Jay uses every chance to remind us he is one of the greatest to ever touch a microphone, 21 has been bodying features lately and Lil Wayne is rapping with a bravado and lyricism that we have been missing for a while.
Getting back to the Kanye vs Drake situation leads us to ‘No Friends in the Industry.’ In this bounce heavy track Drake takes shots at the Chi-town native making the competition between the two even more fun. That takes us to the notable ‘Knife Talk’ featuring 21 Savage and Memphis legend Project Pat. Seeing Project Pat (and Three 6 Mafia) is always dope as their influence throughout rap cannot be understated.
‘Fountains’ is the other track that stands out as Tems absolutely went crazy. Drake does what he does best by paying homage to another culture’s sound this time returning to Nigeria to give us an amazing Afrobeatz vibe. ‘You Only Live Twice’ is a quality track, with both Rick Ross and Lil Wayne delivering high caliber verses alongside the self proclaimed 6 God. Drake ends the project on a high note with ‘The Remorse’ putting his noteworthy pen to work one last time.
Overall the project is noteworthy with a blend of tracks with replay value, great production and features/samples. I’m left desiring a bit more but a 21 track album with only a few skippables and one missed opportunity (not having a Nicki Minaj verse) is a success in my book. Drake’s first album release since 2018, garners a mix of sentiments on social media but the point is proven that the Canadian still has the juice among fans and when it comes to bars. On a scale of 10 Drake earns an 8.
