Jakob Milani
Sports Editor
[email protected]

It’s no question that Toronto rapper Drake, also known as Aubrey Graham, is on top of the music game and with his recent album, “Certified Lover Boy,” the success keeps on coming.

A project over two years in the works, “Certified Lover Boy” was initially set to release in the summer of 2020, but complications behind the scenes pushed the album back a few months. Then, in December 2020, Drake posted a video to his YouTube page teasing a January 2021 release. However, Graham suffered a knee injury, pushing the album back yet again.

Then, on Aug. 27, Drake took over SportsCenter to tease the album, announcing it was releasing the following Friday. This time, the Six God delivered, releasing his sixth studio LP and his 14th project overall around 1 a.m. Central Standard Time on Sept. 3.

Drake announced previously that this album will follow a specific theme, something we haven’t seen from him since the 2015 release of “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.” If the album title didn’t give it away, “Certified Lover Boy” has an overall theme of Drake’s love interests in life and his struggles with finding the right girl.

From the first track “Champagne Poetry,” we see what kind of style Drake is going for, with a dreamy R&B style sample over drums that sound similar to his style when he first started rapping. The beat switches up in the middle of the track, bringing in this Atlanta trap style, with Drake picking up the pace a little bit. This track plays a great introduction to the album as it shows what to expect for the rest of the project. For the most part, the tracks keep a similar build to their instrumentals, with some songs sticking with a more R&B style, some tracks using a more trap style beat and others using a combination of both.

Following the opening track, we get “Papi’s Home,” a party style track with Nicki Minaj providing vocals. Then we get “Girls Like Girls” featuring Atlanta native on-the-rise rapper Lil Baby, a song that feels like it caters to Baby with a trap style beat that allows him to have a much different flow from his past works.

“In The Bible” features Drake and Lil Durk rapping together over a bass-heavy instrumental that switches up halfway through the song, providing a more laid back beat for Los Angeles R&B singer Giveon to close out the track with some beautiful vocals. Graham follows this up with the track “Love All” featuring JAY-Z. The track has the two trade verses over a happier sounding R&B style beat, with JAY-Z delivering one of his best verses in years.

The next track is “Fair Trade” featuring Houston rapper Travis Scott, who also helped produce the song. This song is a highlight on the project with Drake both rapping and singing over a very party-esque instrumental and Scott shining in both his rapping and production. “Way 2 Sexy,” the next track on the list, features a sample of Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” making for one of the funnier tracks of the year. The song features Atlanta rappers Future and Young Thug, with Future on the chorus and Thug closing the track out with his verse.

Drake follows this up with “TSU,” a song with two different beats and two different styles, which makes for one of the better songs on the album. Future makes a return in the following track “N 2 Deep,” another song with a beat switch in the middle, helping Future produce one of his best verses of the year.

“Pipe Down” has one of the best instrumentals on the album and features Drake singing his heart out about his heart breaks in the past. This song is a personal favorite as it shows Drake at his top singing ability over one of the best beats in recent months. “Yebba’s heartbreak” is an interlude track featuring Memphis born singer Yebba Smith singing over a piano, a nice contribution to the project. Then we get “No Friends In The Industry,” which features Drake rapping over a Tron-like trap beat. This track proves to be a rap-anthem with a catchy hook and beat that keeps you interested.

“Knife Talk” with 21 Savage and Project Pat has Drake rapping over more trap beats from Atlanta born producer Metro Boomin making for another rap-anthem from Graham. He follows it up with a diss track aimed at Kanye West titled “7am on Bridle Path,” targetting West and his friend group.

The remainder of the album sees very few highlights, with the tracks “Get Along Better” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, “You Only Live Twice” featuring Lil Wayne and Rick Ross and “IMY2” featuring Kid Cudi being the only remaining tracks worth much of a listen, The final two tracks “F*****g Fans” and “The Remorse” feel very boring and leave much to be desired but don’t deliver.

With over 153 million first-day streams on Spotify, it’s easy to see just how much of a hold Drake has on the Hip-Hop scene right now. He was named “Artist Of The Decade” for a reason, after all. But as the days continue on, the streaming numbers continue to drop, leaving many to wonder if this is really the best this album could possibly have been. I give this album a 7.5/10, as it provides many highlights and some of the best production of Drake’s career, but the overall theme gets boring rather quickly, and with the album being 21 tracks long, it becomes a tough listen. It will be interesting to see where Drake goes from here, but one thing is for sure: people will be listening.