Certified Lover Boy

A dominant return exploring fame, loneliness, and loyalty through a hazy blend of crunk and trap.

Certified Lover Boy is the sixth studio album by Canadian rapper Drake, released on September 3, 2021, via OVO Sound and Republic Records. Produced by frequent collaborators like 40, Nineteen85, and Vinylz, it features guest appearances from a massive roster including Lil Baby, Jay-Z, Travis Scott, and Future. Described by Drake as the first part of a trilogy that continues with Honestly, Nevermind and Her Loss, the album explores themes of fame, dominance in the music industry, misplaced loyalty, and tainted romances. Its hazy atmosphere blends hip hop, crunk, and trap elements, drawing comparisons to his earlier works like Take Care and Nothing Was the Same.

Quick Facts

Artist: Drake
Released: 3 September 2021
Recorded: 2019–2021
Genre: Hip-hop
Length: 86:02
Label: OVO; Republic

Lore & Background

The journey to Certified Lover Boy began in April 2019 when Drake announced work on a new album during a concert. By June 2019, he teased the project with an "Album mode" caption on Instagram. In December 2019, appearing at DaBaby's Toronto concert, he promised fans the album would drop to help them "turn up in 2020." The rollout faced delays; initially scheduled for late 2020, a January 2021 release was pushed back after Drake suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury requiring surgery. Despite setbacks, snippets of tracks like "TSU" (originally "Not Around") and collaborations with Roddy Ricch surfaced. The project was ultimately dedicated to the late models Nadia Ntuli, who died in a 2021 Dubai car accident, and Miss Mercedes Morr, found dead in Texas in August 2021.

Reader's Guide

Certified Lover Boy debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 613,000 album-equivalent units, marking Drake's tenth US number-one album and the largest opening week for an album in 2021. It set records for biggest opening-day streams on Apple Music and Spotify while achieving a then-all-time record of nine top-ten singles from one album. While critics offered mixed reviews—praising its structure but noting a lack of sonic variety and lyrical insight—the album won Top Rap Album at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards after being nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammys (a nomination Drake withdrew in December 2021).

Subsequent singles included "Girls Want Girls" (peaking at number two) and "Knife Talk" (peaking at number four). In August 2024, a leak of 100 gigabytes of media from an account named plottttwistttttt revealed unused artworks for the album, including three scrapped cover designs.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Champagne Poetry	Aubrey Graham, Noah Shebib, Micah Davis, Maneesh Bidaye, Jean-Andre Lawrence, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Gabriel Hardeman, Jr.	5:36
2	Papi's Home	Graham, Jonathan Priester, Oriyomi Ojelade, Jarrel Young, Mark Borino, Raynford Humphrey, Montell Jordan, Anthony Crawford	2:58
3	Girls Want Girls (featuring Lil Baby)	Graham, Dominique Jones, Ozan Yildirim, Mathias Liyew	3:41
4	In the Bible (featuring Lil Durk and Giveon)	Graham, Durk Banks, Giveon Evans, Shebib, Leon Thomas III, Eliel Afari-Brown, Austin Schindler, Simon Gebrelul	4:56
5	Love All (featuring Jay-Z)	Graham, Shawn Carter, Yildirim, Dylan Cleary-Krell, Thomas, Khristopher Riddick-Tynes, Christopher Wallace, Sean Combs, Steven Jordan	3:48
6	Fair Trade (featuring Travis Scott)	Graham, Jacques Webster II, Yildirim, Ebony Oshunrinde, Jahaan Sweet, Stephane Reibaldi, Charlotte Day Wilson, Kenneth Edmonds, Varren Wade, Marcus Reddick, Brandon Banks, Kyla Moscovich, Michael Gordon, Dernst Emile II, Teo Halm	4:51
7	Way 2 Sexy (featuring Future and Young Thug)	Graham, Nayvadius Wilburn, Jeffery Williams, Bryan Simmons, Lesidney Ragland, Fred Fairbrass, Richard Fairbrass, Robert Manzoli	4:17
8	TSU	Graham, Harley Arsenault, Noel Cadastre, Christopher Cross, Robert Kelly, Justin Timberlake, Timothy Mosley, Floyd Hills	5:08
9	N 2 Deep (featuring Future)	Graham, Wilburn, Arsenault, Kaushik Barua, Shebib, Alexander Lustig, Cadastre, Bernard Freeman, Chad Butler, Joseph McVey IV, Jay Jenkins, S. Carter, Leroy Williams, Jr.	4:33
10	Pipe Down	Graham, Thomas, Robert Fairfax III, Abdelhady Hafez, Anthoine Walters, Lazaro Camejo, Derek Kastal, Gebrelul	3:25
11	Yebba's Heartbreak (with Yebba)	Abigail Smith, James Francies	2:13
12	No Friends in the Industry	Graham, Anderson Hernandez, Yildirim, Nicolas Frascona, Robert DeBarge, Jr., Gregory Williams	3:24
13	Knife Talk (with 21 Savage featuring Project Pat)	Graham, Shéyaa Abraham-Joseph, Patrick Houston, Leland Wayne, Peter Lee Johnson, Jordan Houston, Rakim Mayers, Robert Mandell, Jerami Davis	4:02
14	7AM on Bridle Path	Graham, Ronald LaTour, Jr., Cleary-Krell, David Duodu, Bidaye	3:59
15	Race My Mind	Graham, Shebib, Scott Zhang, Nile Goveia, Wallace, Osten Harvey, David Axelrod, Michael Axelrod, Herman Blount, James Johnson Jr.	4:29
16	Fountains (featuring Tems)	Graham, Temilade Openiyi, Tresor Riziki	3:12
17	Get Along Better (featuring Ty Dolla Sign)	Graham, Tyrone Griffin Jr., Anthony Jeffries, Shebib, Cadastre	3:49
18	You Only Live Twice (featuring Lil Wayne and Rick Ross)	Graham, Dwayne Carter Jr., William Roberts II, Roosevelt Harrell III, Brian Reid	3:33
19	IMY2 (featuring Kid Cudi)	Graham, Scott Mescudi, Arsenault, Clifford Owuor, Ayoub Benfaress, Kaniel Castañeda, Eddy Bizimana, Dounia Aznou	4:12
20	Fucking Fans	Graham, Jahron Brathwaite, Cadastre, Shebib, Peter Ring	4:05
21	The Remorse	Graham, Anthony Hamilton, Shebib	5:51
Total length			86:02

Did You Know?

The album artwork was designed by English artist Damien Hirst and features 12 iOS emojis of pregnant women.
On August 6, 2024, a leak revealed three unused cover artworks for Certified Lover Boy alongside other scrapped media.
Billboards in various cities announced guest artists by hometown, with New York City revealing Jay-Z as "the GOAT."