The Meaning Behind Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Album

2021 has seen a lot of hotly anticipated albums drop from artists who have been on otherwise long hiatuses, and a lot of Drizzy fans were excited to hear the latest medley effort from the Canadian rapper. Certified Lover Boy has seem to divide people, but a review consensus is that the album doesn't take enough "risks." But that hasn't stopped tons of people from checking Drake's collection of new songs out, and many want to know what the album's title is all about?

The theme of Drake's latest effort seems to focus solely on the push and pull of wanting/rejecting the idea of committing to a lifelong monogamous relationship. Pitchfork writes that Certified Lover Boy opens with "Champagne Poetry" which appears to showcase a Drake committed to the idea of marriage. However the album's closing song, "The Remorse" sees a drastic shift in his mental state. He raps: "Can’t picture bein’ a hubby, finger too stubby to fit a ring on."

So "certified lover boy" is basically all about Drake's justification for wanting to commit to being a player, which appears to be supported by its much-memed album cover.

Crafted by known English artist Damin Hirst, it depicts a variety of pregnant women emojis of different ethnicity — a testament to powerful how powerful an agent for cultural diversity Drake's f**kboyism is.

Although Certified Lover Boy is being called a "safe" effort by Drake, there are some moments in the collection of tracks that seemed to truly surprise. One song airs out some of his own less-than-savory behaviors, like sleeping with fans, or getting into little spats with the ex boyfriends of women he only views as casual-relationship material.

In the lead-up to Certified Lover Boy's release, Drake helped promote the album by putting up billboards in the hometowns of all its featured artists: Lil Durk, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, JAY-Z, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, Future, Lil Baby, and Thug. Drake has worked with these long-popular artists, but also features a couple of lesser-known rappers: Yebba and Tems.

Donda was released with a lot of surprising omissions fans who attended private listening parties on the album were perplexed to see gone. Drake had his hands on the track and during a Sirius XM Sound 42 radio broadcast.

The track features a verse from Andre 3000, but the decision to release on a "clean" only version of Donda meant that Andre's bleeped verse wouldn't hit the same way if put on the record.

Something that the rapper/singer expressed not only understanding, but regret that the song was being used to only amplify the animosity between the two men.

Andre 3000 released a statement, as per Rolling Stone, stating: "A few weeks ago Kanye reached out about me being a part of the Donda album. I was inspired by his idea to make a musical tribute to his mom. It felt appropriate to me to support the Donda concept by referencing my own mother, who passed away in 2013."

He continued, "We both share that loss. I thought it was a beautiful choice to make a clean album but, unfortunately, I didn’t know that was the plan before I wrote and recorded my verse. It was clear to me that an edited ‘clean’ format of the verse would not work without having the raw, original also available. So, sadly, I had to be omitted from the original album release."

He also addresses the fact that he was included on a song he wasn't aware was going to be a verbal attack on Drake, "The track I received and wrote to didn’t have the diss verse on it and we were hoping to make a more focused offering for the Donda album but I guess things happen like they are supposed to. It’s unfortunate that it was released in this way and two artists that I love are going back and forth. I wanted to be on Certified Lover Boy too. I just want to work with people that inspire me. Hopefully I can work with Kendrick on his album. I’d love to work with Lil’ Baby, Tyler and Jay-Z. I respect them all."