Certified Lover Boy
by Drake
User Score
3.5

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1158 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 253 out of 1158
  2. Mixed: 218 out of 1158
  3. Negative: 687 out of 1158
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  1. Tbone413
    Sep 17, 2021
    3
    it’s just not good, it’s the same boring beat every song with nothing unique, special or enjoyable and the features don’t really stand out either. It’s not the worst thing ever created but I just haven’t found anything to enjoy about it
  2. freshie
    Sep 7, 2021
    3
    Drake sounds like he has nothing to prove on CLB - in a bad way. CLB is filled with nostalgic callbacks to soundscapes that defined prior projects in Drake's discography. However, the songs fail to stack up pound-for-pound in terms of quality, compared to his earlier LP's that brought prominence to Toronto's most commercially successful rap export. CLB is prolonged in length with too manyDrake sounds like he has nothing to prove on CLB - in a bad way. CLB is filled with nostalgic callbacks to soundscapes that defined prior projects in Drake's discography. However, the songs fail to stack up pound-for-pound in terms of quality, compared to his earlier LP's that brought prominence to Toronto's most commercially successful rap export. CLB is prolonged in length with too many fillers and too many songs that are carried by features that outshine Drake. The project lacks artistic progression, innovation, and fails to add another layer to Drake's portfolio. It also lacks innovation and lyrical potency - leaving the project soulless and yearning for any form of significance beyond an unnecessary, irrelevant, and soon to be forgotten battle between a project released a week earlier.… Expand
  3. RockyRockatans
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Bland boring old Drake back at it, this time with no for sure radio hits. Feels phoned in. Skip this one.
  4. FlamesFan22
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    I think it’s now safe to say Drake is done. What a wild run it was though. This is probably the most generic and boring album drake has released to date. It’s the end of an era
  5. Ironic
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    SO MIDD lmaoooo "she say im a lesbian, I say me too" LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    only thing saving him is weezy feature
  6. ryandecarlo
    Sep 7, 2021
    3
    Repetitive, mundane and underwhelming. There are a few solid songs and the production on them is good. Some clever lyrics too but...Sadly, this was very disappointing.
  7. Dannyboy045
    Sep 7, 2021
    3
    After listening to this album 20+ times it's confirmed it's just not hitting for me. One or Two tracks grew on me but for the most part it's just missing that "it factor" that all other Drake albums had. imaginatively… Drake flopped. There’s no inspiration on that album. Just an ego-boosted flex of what he did and who said what to him..newsflash nobody really cares about his repetitiveAfter listening to this album 20+ times it's confirmed it's just not hitting for me. One or Two tracks grew on me but for the most part it's just missing that "it factor" that all other Drake albums had. imaginatively… Drake flopped. There’s no inspiration on that album. Just an ego-boosted flex of what he did and who said what to him..newsflash nobody really cares about his repetitive bars, unnecessary tracklist. It’s not good. Numbers don’t equal great music. This has been the same Drake for 8 years and just feels like we've been cheated and scammed with the lack of effort.… Expand
  8. Cod3nflame
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Meh. It’s an okay album. Not bad. Good at times. Not amazing. Same old Drake we’ve been hearing for almost a decade now.
  9. joshuat17
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    His worst album so far! Making it free in Spotify for a week was just too desperate
  10. bearface98
    Sep 6, 2021
    3
    Following the mediocre release of Scorpion we get Certified Lover Boy their were signs of what to expect from the album with its prerelease rollout with a laughingly bad album cover and a release of cringe inducing merch to go along side with the most embarrassing quotes on them. This was by far the worst LP released from Drake. Whereas we have gotten very mediocre projects in recent yearsFollowing the mediocre release of Scorpion we get Certified Lover Boy their were signs of what to expect from the album with its prerelease rollout with a laughingly bad album cover and a release of cringe inducing merch to go along side with the most embarrassing quotes on them. This was by far the worst LP released from Drake. Whereas we have gotten very mediocre projects in recent years including Views and Scorpion. Certified Lover Boy is a truly bad album. One that feels very bloated just for the sake of streaming numbers. Your main focus as an artist especially one who has been able to financially achieve what Drake has is to create the best body of work you possibly can. Not to release a bloated track list just for the sake of streaming numbers it’s truly pathetic to see artists especially of this caliber to sacrifice the quality of an LP just for more streams and is hopefully a trend that will end soon. With that said we see no growth from Drake here. Just the recycled style he has used for years but this time far less entertaining. Filled with cringey bars, uninspired performances, and tracks that sound very phoned in by drake. Drake has been heavily accused of using ghostwriters in the past but I have a feeling they were used seldom to none here with truly awful bars throughout. Drake gets constantly outshined by features here which is sometimes a good thing but is far too often the case on this project. Before the release of the album Drake took to restarting a beef with Kanye West one that feels he started for clout with his new album releasing. The beef got more intense with the realization that both Kanye and Drake were both releasing albums within a week apart. It looks like Drake will be winning the numbers game which he is great at. But when it comes down to the quality of music, Donda was a far better project. Drake even took to leaking a unreleased Donda track featuring Andre 3000 as a proclaimed diss towards Kanye. Much to his dismay the unfinished track sounds better than most of the tracks on Certified Lover Boy. So hopefully the next time Drake releases a project he’ll not focus on beef but on actually making a good album because this was very far from it. In conclusion Certified Lover Boy is another Drake album that we continue to see on the trajectory of loss of quality of music overtime only this time we see a more big loss of quality than usual, if we’ll see this pattern keep on continuing we’ll remember Drake as an artist who made some catchy hits and solid first projects but also an artist who refused to take risks and chose to stay with the same repetitive formula that never evolved until it was ran into the ground. I’m feeling a light 3 out of 10 on this project.… Expand
  11. liyema_mpompi
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Drake Had a 3 year break from album spree. this album sounds like a compilation of scraped songs that didn’t make it to a romantic movie soundtrack . What makes this outrageous is the fact that he pushed it back with 9months raising more anticipation only to give us a below mid & boring themed project even travis scott could save. i will give it 3/10 because of effort and because he isDrake Had a 3 year break from album spree. this album sounds like a compilation of scraped songs that didn’t make it to a romantic movie soundtrack . What makes this outrageous is the fact that he pushed it back with 9months raising more anticipation only to give us a below mid & boring themed project even travis scott could save. i will give it 3/10 because of effort and because he is drake ❤️.… Expand
  12. SmithViews
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Drake needs growth. He is talking about the same topics he rapped about a decade ago.
  13. Hem9nt
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Drake has done it once again , another mid-album.
    Even the star studded features couldn't save it.
  14. Gabrielachan
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    I really had high hopes for this record but all my hype died when Drake released the cringe cover, the awful merch and the corny lyrics on the billboards. But I was still hoping the album would be better: it isn't.
    The mixing is AWFUL, honestly some songs I had to pause simply because I couldn't stand how bad the mixing was; the lyrics are cringy worthy and the album features a very    I really had high hopes for this record but all my hype died when Drake released the cringe cover, the awful merch and the corny lyrics on the billboards. But I was still hoping the album would be better: it isn't.
    The mixing is AWFUL, honestly some songs I had to pause simply because I couldn't stand how bad the mixing was; the lyrics are cringy worthy and the album features a very problematic song that sexualized lesbians in a very disgusting way (and I am lesbian so not the best experience). The featurings feel waaaay off, it's almost like Drake included them just for the hype and that's awful. The record feels generic, Drake is clearly trying to make scorpion 2.0 but this is so much worst. I liked some of the samples and instrumentals - the beats are REALLY solid - also Drake's flow is probably his best in a long time (which isn't saying much), but the album overall is his worst project and it feels way too long    … Expand
  15. Nikohunt
    Sep 4, 2021
    3
    Same soft signing drake nothing special here there’s a couple of songs drake stays in his lane this album you would forget in a week
  16. Hololuk
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Realmente mas de lo mismo de Drake, mucho relleno creo que es muy flojo este album, tal parece que Drake solo se dedica hacer lo que desde 2012 hace.
  17. Jorge_J
    Sep 5, 2021
    3
    Boring… I’m sure it will chart well and score a couple of hits but it’s a tired formula. Not a lot pushing Drake’s music forward. If you’ve heard Drake joints in the last few years you won’t find anything new in this album
  18. bbatran
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    I'm giving it just a 3/10 because the album is very bland and boring. And I'm a fan of Drake, but no song stands out. Ended up just skipping tracks in 20 minutes. Not even comparing it to DONDA, but I was expecting so much more.
  19. BigDJohnWick
    Sep 22, 2021
    3
    Drake's rapping doesn't land on this one, the bar "say that you a lesbian, yeah me too" just summarizes Drake in this album, super lackluster, production is boring and uninventful, the only good thing about the album is that some choruses are TikTok worthy, but the rest is bland and terrible.
  20. hsch
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    This album is almost as painfully boring as Scorpion with about as much filler. The only good songs here are the opener which is immediatly followed by four of the most bland drake songs ever made. The travis wayne future thugger cudi features are the only thing saving this bland uninspired project that I just can't help but feel is rushed. A real snoozer. The cover art is easily the mostThis album is almost as painfully boring as Scorpion with about as much filler. The only good songs here are the opener which is immediatly followed by four of the most bland drake songs ever made. The travis wayne future thugger cudi features are the only thing saving this bland uninspired project that I just can't help but feel is rushed. A real snoozer. The cover art is easily the most boring and lack luster thing i have ever seen. Once again another drake album where he talks about sex, money and his enormous ego. The beats sound about all the same. Not even future saying "too sexy" could save yet another bland uninspired album. Donda>>>>>>>>>
    Stay mad drake fans.    … Expand
  21. joyrd23
    Sep 4, 2021
    3
    Terrible album, it's the same thing drake has been pushing out for 6 years, how do people genuinely listen to this and say yeah this is it

    Only 2-3 good tracks which are carried by the production rather than substance.
  22. Gunsun
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    I thought it was going to be Drake type from 2011 and 2013 but no, this album is definitely Scorpion pt 2 that simple. In songs that have feats it seems that Drake is the feat. Could be better.
  23. Itayshoham
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    pretty mid ngl, felt very uninteresting at points and overall nothing we haven't heard from Drake. some very cringe bars, one of Drakes weaker projects. Great potential features misused imo, just not a big fan tbh.
  24. Vformusika
    Sep 4, 2021
    3
    Nothing special. same staff over and over again. He can make HUGE hits but not a good album.
  25. DondanotanL
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Nothing new from drake on this album. Same lyrical topics and themes. Flows and melodies we have heard before. I do enjoy some of the production but is super lackluster and bloated. Considering we waited 9 months for it.
  26. JayBMac
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    I’m a big Drake fan and has him in my top 15 favorite music artists/acts of all time. But it pains me to say that never has an album that has disappointed me while I had little to no expectations. CLB is the worst Drake’s album I’ve ever listened to. Even to the point where I kinda hated this album, not because it was horrible, but because it’s the same old Drake. I was bored to the pointI’m a big Drake fan and has him in my top 15 favorite music artists/acts of all time. But it pains me to say that never has an album that has disappointed me while I had little to no expectations. CLB is the worst Drake’s album I’ve ever listened to. Even to the point where I kinda hated this album, not because it was horrible, but because it’s the same old Drake. I was bored to the point of frustration, most of the features felt wasted (especially Future and Travis Scott), and even some of the songs would have been better if Drake was left out because the features were giving more than he did, there are no bangers, and the same stuff Drake has been talking since I was in middle school. Maybe I’m just really spoiled by Drake’s music from 2009 to 2015, but this album ain’t it and the weirdest part is that I kinda hated CLB so much that it made me appreciate Views and Scorpion more and I didn’t like those albums.… Expand
  27. tovlah
    Sep 4, 2021
    3
    Drake stuck in his comfort zone... CLB sounds like a 3rd disc from Scorpion, which already sounded like a 2nd disc from Views. Evolution is necessary for an artist like Drake, who is at a crossroads at this point. Either he heads in a new direction sonically and thematically, or he will become a parody of himself. All in all, CLB is a bad album, which at a first listen, sounds like youDrake stuck in his comfort zone... CLB sounds like a 3rd disc from Scorpion, which already sounded like a 2nd disc from Views. Evolution is necessary for an artist like Drake, who is at a crossroads at this point. Either he heads in a new direction sonically and thematically, or he will become a parody of himself. All in all, CLB is a bad album, which at a first listen, sounds like you heard it all before. Shame...… Expand
  28. luke000
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    There is maybe 1 or 2 songs at best, that i want to come back to and play multiple times.
    Such a disappointing album.
  29. yungcola
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Boring. Bland. Cudi’s feature is great, but not him, nor Baby, Travis Scott, Durk, or even Wayne can save this album.
  30. CRUSTYGUCCISOCK
    Sep 3, 2021
    3
    Beat choice was great, flows were odd to say the least some lyrics are just comically bad “she said she was a lesbian, me too”. some features phoned in their bars or just took over the song completely. The two songs that shined above the rest would be yebbas heart and IMY2, but that’s mostly because of the energy and heart of the featured artists.
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Most Discussed Album of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. RapReviews.com
    Oct 19, 2021
    45
    It’s beige, hollow music and that’s what ultimately frustrates your dedicated rap listener because it doesn’t make sense why it’s so damn popular. When you throw the poor writing on top of this, and some real hit-and-miss production into the mix, “Certified Lover Boy” may well be Drake’s worst album.
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  2. Slant Magazine
    Sep 13, 2021
    40
    Drake comes across as an artist who’s bought into his mythos and persona a bit too ardently. ... The production on Certified Lover Boy is svelte yet airless, filled with lots of solemn piano lines and muted snares but absent of big flourishes or attempts at pop crossover. It’s an approach that’s likely aiming for tasteful restraint, but the effect is languid and rather directionless.
    Read full review
  3. The Observer (UK)
    Sep 13, 2021
    40
    Things start promisingly with the undulating Champagne Poetry dextrously reflecting on loneliness (“career is going great, but now the rest of me is fading slowly”), while Papi’s Home recalls early Kanye, of all people, with its sped-up samples and laid-back flow. Later, however, that playfulness calcifies into headline-grabbing stunts. ... This is an album destined to be filleted for various #mood playlists, anchored only by its creator’s untouchable fame.
    Read full review
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