Drake’s new album “Certified Lover Boy” and Kanye West’s “Donda” have both been released within close proximity of each other. The recent reignition of the feud between the two moguls did nothing but help the performances of both albums.

Both dropped noteworthy albums that will easily dominate the playlists of music listeners across the world. So far, Kanye has only had 309,000 units sold due to his unconventional release date, while Drake has already sold over 500,000 units in under a week and is projected to sell a little over 600,000. Both Ye and Drizzy are responsible for the two biggest releases of 2021.

Kanye dropped a harmonious gospel rap album with pop influences. His album quite possibly has the most stacked roster of features, at the point that they are 53% of the album. He has the most prominent rappers of the current generation and utilizes them in a very meticulous manner. His revolutionary production shines on this album with all types of instrumentals that somehow meld together to create an amazing experience.

Drake dropped his introspective R/B album where he tries to reflect a little more on most of the songs, and just seems to be having fun on some of the others. Drake seemed to contact his favorite friends in the game for features, having  Rick Ross, Future, and Lil Wayne just to name a few.

These two albums were received quite differently off of their initial rollout. Kanye’s erratic and constant edits made it hard for fans to stay super engaged after being rescheduled a number of times. Drake did subtle advertising around the country and then simply dropped the album.

One of the greatest comparisons to make with these two albums are the features, with both containing absolute legends of the game. Jay-Z, Lil Durk, Young Thug, Lil Baby, Kid Cudi, and Travis Scott. Travis Scott and Kid Cudi sounded exponentially better on “Donda” than on CLB, while Jay-Z and Lil Durk both sounded better on CLB than on “Donda”. Both Lil Baby and Young Thug dropped verses that could only really be compared and judged by the listeners, so it’s left to opinion for those two.

Drake seemingly took the safe route with this album. He uses a variety of traditional Drake instrumentals and tries to remake his hits with them. A few of the songs on this album sound a lot like some of Drake’s bigger hits, the best example being “Fountains(feat.Tems)”, which sounds very similar to his hit “One Dance”. 

Kanye obviously took a lot of creative risks on this album, and his large song count reflects that. Songs like “Hurricane ” and “Pure Souls” were the product of a risk ending well and tracks like “Remote Control” reflect the opposite. Fivio Foreign dropped arguably the most impressive verse on the album. Not necessarily because it was the best, but because of how much his previous work didn’t reflect this level of skill. 

With an impressive track count of twenty-seven songs, no artist, even Kanye, is liable to have all of them be hits. Although all twenty-seven weren’t impressive, a good portion of them were. 

With all of the delays and edits on the album, it was apparent that some of the songs on the album seemed a bit unfinished. The song “Jail” has its instrumental play for almost an entire minute after its finished. The song “Jesus Lord” lasted for eight minutes and fifty-nine seconds while its part two lasted for eleven minutes and thirty-one seconds. 

Regardless, the synergy of the gospel-like music with his old rap roots make for an amazing album. The creativity involved with the construction of these songs helped bring out the best in those involved. 

Off of initial impressions, Drake’s album was a bit of an easier listen and sounded really good, but after a few listens the songs initial allure depreciates heavily. On the contrary, Kanye’s album was a bit difficult to listen through the first time because there was so much to figure out. But after the first few listens it sounds a lot more put together than the first thought. 

Overall “Donda” was a more fulfilling and enjoyable experience than “Certified Lover Boy”. The creativity and synergistic variety of music on “Donda” trumps Drake’s album. His album was too safe and didn’t try anything new that could have made it memorable.

Regardless, these two legends dropped some of the best albums of this year and brought a lot of music listeners hope for the state of 2021’s music.