"Certified Lover Boy Review:" Drake's Revelation As A Modern Day Hugh Hefner

When Certified Lover Boy was first announced back in early 2020, it was met with mixed reviews. Skeptics/critics pointed to the narcissistic nature of Drake, citing that naming his sixth studio album "Certified Lover Boy" is himself playing into his own toxicity. To many critics credit, this may be true.

Drake has this extreme sense of self-awareness and intelligently plays into his personality as a meme. From one perspective, this can seem self-absorbed. However, from my perspective as a marketing major, I view this project as genius marketing.

Hate him or love him, Drake is the most streamed artist globally and it is not even close. Every time Drake drops anything, he immediately shoots to the top of all major music charts. Now, with nothing left to prove, the one question that still remains is: "Can Drake still release quality, genre-pushing music?"

After listening to CLB, the simple answer to that question is...kind of.

While there are some incredible highlights on the album such as the tracks: "Fair Trade", "Way2sexy", and "Knife Talk" a large majority of these highlights are overshadowed by extended tracks that are incredibly boring.

Take the track "TSU" for example. While the chorus is incredibly catchy (something Drake has mastered at this point), the song is over five minutes in length and repetitive. Repetition is okay if it is spaced out. However, when the listener only hears the same four lines for more than half of the song, the track becomes mundane.

Repetition is also something that proves to me, as a listener, that the artist did not put enough effort in. The issue with Drake over the past few years is he is now complacent. Drake was named 'Artist of the decade' by Billboard and has nothing left to prove. Naturally, one would become content with a lifestyle like Drake's.

Unfortunately, this happens to many artists where their new work does not compare to their work of the past.

Take one look at the cover art. The biggest artist in the world used THIS as his cover art. Now, while I find this humorous and it plays into Drake's status as an internet meme, how can Drake be taken seriously as he wants to be with this cover art?

This is the interesting dilemma Drake faces as the biggest artist globally. Does he want to be taken seriously as a music titan? Or, will he continue to poke fun at himself in hopes of staying relevant?

Judging from this album...Drake does not seem to care too much about being taken seriously anymore.