Drake’s Certified Lover Boy
It is rare for a great artist to be both prolific and consistently excellent, as even a cursory review of the discography of Canadian rapper, vocalist and meme lord Drake will attest. Following two uneven collections of previously unreleased material—2019’s Care Package and 2020’s TikTok challenge chasing Dark Lane Demo Tapes—Certified Lover Boy (CLB) arrives as Drake’s first proper studio effort since 2018. Boasting a track list every bit as ambitiously bloated as Scorpion, but lacking the certified banger of a “Nice For What” (still Drizzy’s finest moment) or smash hit like “God’s Plan,” CLB does even less than its predecessor to justify its length despite a higher baseline level of quality and star-studded feature list. The great tragedy of the album material lies in the fact that as Drake is taking steps toward emotional maturity—as he does in admitting “fallin' outs help me build foundation” on “Love All” or finding peace in losing friends on “Fair Trade”—his formula sounds tired and uninspired. This is not to say there aren’t bright spots. CLB’s production is reasonably excellent, and at its best on tunes like the ruminative “7am On Bridle Path” (you know a Drake tune is serious when it references both a time and a place) and absurdly fun “You Only Live Twice” with Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. These moments, however, are far outweighed by cringeworthy inclusions like “Girls Want Girls” (who thought the line “Yeah, say that you a lesbian, girl, me too” was a good idea in 2021?) and “Way 2 Sexy,” which, despite its humorous music video, falls flat. Fundamentally, Drake still doesn’t know what he wants and it shows. Up to this point in his career, his embrace of superstardom has come without offering anything real to latch onto unless forced, as was the case with his son after Pusha T's "The Story of Adidon.” With some digging, however, there are small signs that Drake may at least be building some sense of self-awareness, and that can give fans hope that Champagne Papi may have another classic like If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late in him. Here’s hoping it arrives sooner than later for everyone’s sake.
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