Certified Lover Boy is the sixth studio album by Canadian rapper Drake, released on September 3, 2021, by OVO Sound and Republic Records.
Similar to Drake's previous releases, the album predominantly deals with his views on fame and success, particularly his dominance within the music industry, alongside misplaced loyalty, tainted romances, feuds, and loneliness.
[3] In March, on Instagram Live, Drake confirmed a finalized version of "Not Around", a leaked song later retitled to "TSU", would feature on Certified Lover Boy.
[8] Drake later previewed two new songs, one an unreleased track titled "Lie to Me" and the other a demo version of his 2020 DJ Khaled collaboration "Greece", on Instagram Live.
[15] The album generally surrounds individualism;[16] similar to Drake's previous records, it predominantly deals with his views on fame and success,[17] particularly his dominance within the music industry.
[14] Craig Jenkins of Vulture called Certified Lover Boy a "patient trickle of Drake lore and fan service that could have come out as is at almost any point along the last decade in his career".
In the mixtape announcement shared on his Instagram account, Drake revealed that his sixth studio album, then untitled, would be released sometime in the third quarter of 2020.
[28] On March 5, 2021, Drake released an extended play titled Scary Hours 2, a sequel to the 2018 EP, to generate further anticipation for the upcoming album.
[32] Making an appearance on Fri Yiy Friday on July 30, a radio show on Sirius XM channel Sound 42, Drake revealed that Certified Lover Boy "is ready.
[46] The music video for "Knife Talk" featuring 21 Savage and Project Pat, was released on November 4, 2021,[48] The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
[54] On August 6, 2024, Drake released 100 gigabytes of data which included behind-the-scenes clips, tour rehearsals, studio footage, and three unheard tracks; he posted them on an Instagram page named "plottttwistttttt".
Amongst the 100 gigabytes of data, several unused artworks were uncovered for previously released Drake albums, including Honestly, Nevermind (2022), Her Loss (2022), For All the Dogs (2023), and a scrapped sequel of Care Package (2019).
[67] Okla Jones of Consequence said, "Drake's new release may lack some of the variety of his previous albums, but its concepts and musical structure make for a solid body of work".
It's frustrating: the songs aren't bad, and in some cases they're excellent, a reminder of the unflattering emotional honesty that initially set him apart from his peers.
[62] Nathan Evans of Clash said, "Aubrey Graham hands over his fifth project to cross 80 minutes, an hour and a half smorgasbord of all-new tracks.
In his defence, the Drake cuisine is far too extensive and varied at this point, but this dilemma has been around for a number of years now and some sort of sacrifice for a better, more cohesive project has to be made if he wants to release another classic".
[63] In a mixed review, The Arts Desk's Harry Thorfinn-George stated, "A lot of CLB feels rehashed, but the way it captures Drake at an awkward junction in his life is intriguing".
[61] Gary Suarez of Entertainment Weekly said, "The new album is like watching the eighth season of a sitcom and growing hyper-aware of all the recycled jokes and actors' laugh lines".
[81][82][83] It broke Apple Music and Spotify 2021 records for largest streaming debut within a single day, beating Drake's own previous album Scorpion (2018).
[86][87] In the United States, Certified Lover Boy debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart as Drake's tenth consecutive chart-topping album in the country.
[93] As of December 27, 2023, Certified Lover Boy was the thirty second best-selling album of the year according to Hits, moved a total 862,000 album-equivalent units.
[95] In February 2022, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Drake was the world's fourth best selling artist of 2021, behind BTS, Taylor Swift and Adele.