On September 3 at two o’clock in the morning EST, Drake released his long awaited album, “Certified Lover Boy.” 

The album has been received by some as a response to Kanye West’s album, “Donda”, due to the proximity of their releases. Kanye West’s album, “Donda,” only released five days days before. 

CLB on its own is a solid album. Although, when it’s compared to other Drake projects like ”Take Care” or “Views” it just doesn‘t have the same kick. ”Certified Lover Boy,” in relation to other Drake albums, is a pretty boring album. 

One of the main issues with this album is how superficial it is. Most appearances from Drake on this particular album just seem to have been him going through the motions.

The project itself lacked substance and any clear direction. While listening, each song felt out of place in succession to the previous track. The album itself  was all over the place while simultaneously sounding the same throughout. 

Although 21 Savage’s performance was phenomenal and actually made “Knife Talk (with 21 Savage and Project Pat)” one of the best songs on this album, it was totally out of place on this project. Even though it was paired with Drake’s grimy performance on “No Friends In The Industry,”’ it had Yebba’s angelic performance to contrast it right before. 

There seems to be a lack of vision on the project that leads to it sounding more like a Drake mix-tape and not a Drake album. 

One of the most promising parts of this album, if not the most redeeming part is the features. With appearances from regulars like Lil Wayne and Future, this album had a very familiar and safe sound. 

There’s also some new faces alongside Drake like Giveon. Scott Mescudi a.k.a Kid Cudi and Drake squashed their long standing beef with the track “IMY2 (with Kid Cudi).” 

The most memorable parts of the album are the more questionable portions that had listeners scratching their heads. A prime example is the hook of  “Girls Want Girls (with Lil Baby)”. Drake refers to himself as a “lesbian” because he too likes women. The only reason he hasn’t been cancelled for this is because it was Drake. Imagine if DaBaby released this, he would never do another live performance.

“Way 2 Sexy (with Future and Young Thug)” is memorable for the weirdly interesting subject matter and very iconic music video. The fun song showcased Drake, Future, and Young Thug‘s friendship on a song. They went into the studio and just had fun with the song. 

The most impressive track was “In The Bible (with Lil Durk and Giveon).” Drake, Giveon, and Durkio all gave auditorily pleasing performances. Their intricate voice fluctuations and smooth vocals throughout the song just make the entire track worth listening to.

Despite the promising features, this album is nothing special compared to the rest of Drake’s discography. 

Drake had a similar issue like most artists these last few years by making a seemingly directionless album, but at the end of the day, it’s Drake. 

Each track individually sounded very high quality, and obviously is in the upper echelons of 2021 music. 

As sad as it is to say, Drake’s minimal effort is better than the majority of music that has been released in the last year. 

Drake’s only real competition this year are Kanye West with “Donda,” Tyler, the Creator with “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST,”  and J. Cole’s “The Off-Season.”

The problem that Drake has is that his album doesn’t seem to have too much longevity. After a few listens, the album itself is quite forgettable if Drake isn’t a personal favorite of the listener. 

Regardless, Kanye and Drake dropping albums with less than a week between them is a good sign for the rest of 2021. Playboi Carti is possibly teasing an album set to be released on the Thirteenth of September. 2021 is making a fourth quarter comeback and is getting us ready for a holiday season filled with amazing auditory experiences.