The wait is over! Toronto rapper Drake has officially released his latest studio album, Certified Lover Boy.
After delaying the album in January to nurse a leg injury, Drake rolled out a unique and captivating promotional campaign leading up to the project’s release. While making some guest appearances—including a big one on a single by Toronto artist Smiley—and a highly publicized and consumed feud with Kanye West, there has been no shortage of promotion fueling CLB’s anticipated arrival. He’s also spent part of 2021 breaking more records, and being named Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards.
A couple of days ago, billboard ads started popping up in major cities across North America, giving fans an idea of who to expect on CLB as guest features. A few days earlier, he “took over” US sports network SportsCenter with an ad to announce CLB’s September 3rd release date. The ad made it seem as if Drake’s team had hacked the SportsCenter feed to broadcast their own message… Something similar to what The Joker did in the last movie. Interestingly enough, not long before that, Kanye had posted a photo of The Joker in a chaotic group chat that allegedly featured Drake. Coincidence? Maybe not.
It remains to be seen if Drake can out do the massive success he saw with his fifth studio album, Scorpion, which debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with 732,000 album-equivalent units. One thing is for sure, Drake fans have been hungry for new music and have been counting the minutes for CLB’s arrival.
You can find Certified Lover Boy on Apple Music, Spotify, TIDAL, and various other digital streaming platforms via OVO.
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