Last week was a big moment in music in which Kanye West and Drake both released their long-awaited albums. Kanye released DONDA on August 29, while Drake dropped Certified Lover Boy on September 3. People instantly swarmed to Twitter and took sides in whose album was better, which one was higher quality, and which one flopped. However, this beef is not new and has been ongoing for years. Social media constantly critiques the albums while their fans take sides through subtweets, Instagram polls, and Tiktok videos.
Personally, as a Drake fan, I have more to say on Certified Lover Boy than with DONDA, but I think that both artists dropped some quality content.
Kanye’s discography contains thoughtful songs about his life like “Moon” and “Pure Souls” while Drake’s album has a mix of party songs, soon-to-be RnB classics, and rap songs. Songs like “Girls Want Girls” and “Way 2 Sexy” have already appeared on popular social media sites like Twitter and Tiktok, and “Pipe Down” and “Get Along Better” have become my personal favorites. Kanye’s “Hurricane” and “Jail” have dominated the charts, as well as all the other songs in DONDA. Both albums include big-name artists like Lil Baby, Jay-Z, The Weekend, Travis Scott, Future, and Kid Cudi while also including up-in-coming artists.
Drake has a history of bringing new artists into the public eye, otherwise known as “The Drake Effect”, in which anyone who has a Drake feature blows up. Certified Lover Boy is no different in which he features Giveon, Yebba, Project Pat, and Tems who can all possibly blow up after his release. This is especially evident in Drake’s Dark Lane Demo Tapes album in which Giveon’s feature on “Chicago Freestyle” propelled his career and popularity. This is true for PARTYNEXTDOOR, The Weekend, Fetty Wap, YG, and Meek Mill.
Due to this popular sensation, Drake’s albums and his career, in general, are impactful to hip-hop culture. Certified Lover Boy, along with his other discography, is a combination of new and old artists which creates a dynamic sound and experience.
In contrast, Drake’s previous albums such as Views, More Life, Nothing Was The Same, and Take Care are superior albums due to the content, beats, and general composition of the songs. Certified Lover Boy has beats but fails to include the depth that DONDA provides.
Although many haters tend to criticize Drake for being mainstream, fake, and repetitive, his music is still fire and the numbers on the charts don’t lie. You may claim to not like Certified Lover Boy, or Drake in general, but in a few weeks, you won’t be able to go anywhere without hearing his music.
While many people will continue to compare DONDA and Certified Lover Boy to each other, the two pieces are very different in which Kanye is for the culture and Drake is for the people.