Certified Lover Boy

R. Kelly Has A Writing Credit On Drake’s New Album ‘Certified Lover Boy’

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Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy has been out for a few hours now, and between its release and now, fans have been carefully examining the project. That sleuthing has led to an eyebrow-raising discovery: R. Kelly has a writing credit on the album.

Along with Drake, the artists credited as writers on the song “TSU” include Harley Arsenault, Noel Cadastre, F. Hills, Timothy Mosley (aka Timbaland), Ronald Coleman (aka OG Ron C), Christopher Cross, Justin Timberlake, and Robert Kelly (aka R. Kelly).

As Genius notes, the song samples NSYNC’s 1997 song “Sailing,” a cover of Cross’ 1980 single. Furthermore, others have pointed out the song also samples Timberlake’s “Until The End Of Time,” which Timbaland co-wrote. According to WhoSampled, the song also samples Kelly’s 1998 song “Half On A Baby,” which is where his writing credit comes from.

It was reported recently that Kelly is attempting to sell the publishing rights to his back catalog. If somebody purchased the rights, Kelly would not profit from his song being sampled on “TSU.” However, it appears Kelly is struggling to find a buyer, so as it stands now, Kelly still owns his publishing rights and will therefore profit from “TSU,” which is becoming a much-discussed song on one of the year’s biggest albums.

Of course, Kelly has faced many allegations of sexual misconduct in recent years. Most recently, an alleged male victim of sexual exploitation by Kelly testified in court.

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO Sound/Republic. Get it here.

Fans Think Drake Slams Kanye West On The ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Song ‘7am On Bridle Path’

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It was reported recently that Kanye West was ready to fire back at Drake if Drake dissed him on his new album, Certified Lover Boy. Well, the album is out now, and it appears West may have some feuding to do, as fans think Drake addresses him on “7am On Bridle Path.”

First, there’s this lyric:

“You over there in denial, we not neck and neck
It’s been a lot of years since we seen you comin’ correct
Man, f*ck a ‘Respectfully,’ I just want my respect
They tried to label me mean, I say what I mean
People that could’ve stayed on the team
They played in-between.”

If those lines are about West, the first two could be interpreted as Drake alleging that West has fallen off in terms of the quality of his musical output. Furthermore, “Respectfully” may be a reference to Justin Laboy (aka Respectfully Justin), whose name popped up during the Donda rollout.

The song later continues:

“Give that address to your driver, make it your destination
‘Stead of just a post out of desperation
This me reachin’ the deepest state of my meditation
While you over there tryna impress the nation
Mind’s runnin’ wild with the speculation.”

The “address” line is an apparent reference to when West recently shared Drake’s address on Instagram. Bridle Path, by the way, is the name of the Toronto neighborhood where Drake lives.

Drake then seems to address his and West’s repeated reconciliations over the years and how their cease fires haven’t lasted for long: “Why the f*ck we peacemakin’, doin’ the explanations / If we just gon’ be right back in that b*tch without hesitation?”

Listen to “7am On Bridle Path” above and check out some reactions to the song below.

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO Sound/Republic. Get it here.

Drake’s ‘Lesbian’ Line From ‘Girls Want Girls’ With Lil Baby Leaves Fans Confused

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Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is finally here. The album presents 21 songs and guest appearances from a large cast of acts from all corners of the industry. Jay-Z, Lil Baby, Future, Young Thug, Lil Durk, Rick Ross, 21 Savage, and Kid Cudi highlight the rappers who appear on the album while Giveon, Ty Dolla Sign, Yebba, Tems, and others highlight the singers that are present on Certified Lover Boy. As fans listen through the album and put together their thoughts on Drake’s sixth album, many of them were left a bit confused by one of the rapper’s lines from a collaboration with Lil Baby.

On “Girls Wants Girls,” the rappers’ latest track together, Drake raps, “Yeah, say that you a lesbian, girl, me too.” The line was quite the unexpected one from the Toronto rapper and his fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the odd line. “Drake really just said ‘you’re a lesbian, girl me too’ man i’m going to sleep,” one person wrote in a post. Another fan wrote, “Why drake just say “say u a lesbian girl me too” ?????? HELLO ????”

You can listen to the song in the video above and read reactions to the “lesbian” line below.

https://twitter.com/LeanandCuisine/status/1433661990396997645?s=20

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO Sound/Republic. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Fans Fire Off Their First-Listen Reactions To Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’

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Finally, after eight long months filled with uncertainty and thinning patience, Drake fans all over the world rejoiced tonight as the rapper’s long-awaited sixth album Certified Lover Boy was finally released. The project was originally set to arrive back in January, but the rapper was forced to delay it following knee surgery and rehab from the injury. Finally, when the rapper completed the album, he began to roll out the red carpet for it. He “hacked” Sportscenter to reveal its release date, shared a controversial artwork for it, and took over billboards all over the country to share its guests.

However, all of Drake’s marketing goes to waste if Certified Lover Boy is deemed as sub-par by listeners. In total, the rapper’s new project presents 21 songs with guest features from Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Giveon, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Yebba, Project Pat, Masego, Rick Ross, and Tems. As it’s become customary in today’s music streaming era, fans wasted no time rushing to social media to share their first-listen reactions.

You can read their thoughts in the tweets below.

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO Sound/Republic. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Drake, Future, And Young Thug Flaunt Their Sex Appeal On The Braggadocios ‘Way 2 Sexy’

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Ladies and gentlemen, Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is finally here. Prior to its release, the last piece of music that fans received from the project came more than a year ago thanks to “Laugh Now, Cry Later” with Lil Durk. The Toronto rapper also released Scary Hours 2, but for the most part, things have been fairly quiet in terms of Certified Lover Boy content. All of that changed this week when Drake kicked things into high gear to prepare for the album’s arrival. The past few days were filled with opinions on its controversial artwork, billboard takeovers, and more, but at long last, Certified Lover Boy is finally here and it’s highlighted by “Way 2 Sexy” with Future and Young Thug. The track is a braggadocios effort that sees the trio speaking confidently of their sex appeal towards the ladies.

Elsewhere on Certified Lover Boy, listeners will catch additional appearances from Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Rick Ross, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Giveon, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Yebba, Masego, Tems, and Project Pat. Drake spent the week leading up to the release of Certified Lover Boy using digital billboards in each of the guest acts’ homes to reveal their inclusions on the highly-anticipated album

You can listen to “Way 2 Sexy” in the video above.

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO Sound/Republic. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Drake Finally Unveils The Official Tracklist For His Star-Studded ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Album

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The world is just hours away from finally receiving the music industry’s most anticipated album: Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. It’s a project that was supposed to be released back in January before the rapper opted to delay it after knee surgery and recovering from it forced him to take time off from placing the finishing touches on it.

Finally, after eight long months, Certified Lover Boy will soon be available for everyone to press play on, but before that happens, Drake unveils the official tracklist for the album.

Drake previously revealed the cast of guest acts for the album Certified Lover Boy, but did not share how they would be paired or grouped up until now. Altogether, the rapper’s new album boasts 21 tracks with features from Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Giveon, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Yebba, Project Pat, Masego, Tems, and Kid Cudi.

You can read the full tracklist for the project below.

1. “Champagne Poetry”
2.” April’s Home”
3. “Girls Want Girls”
4. “In The Bible”
5. “Love All”
6. “Fair Trade”
7. “Way Too Sexy”
8. “TSU”
9. “N 2 Deep”
10. “Pipe Down”
11. “Yebba’s Heartbreak”
12. “No friends In The Industry”
13. “Knife Talk”
14. “7am On Bridle Path”
15. “Race My Mind”
16. “Fountains”
17. “Get Along Better”
18. “You Only Live Twice”
19. “IMY2”
20. “F*cking Fans”
21. “The Remorse”

Certified Lover Boy is out 9/3 via OVO Sound/Republic.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Drake Adds Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Rick Ross, And More To The Star-Studded Guest List For ‘Certified Lover Boy’

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The world is just hours away from receiving Drake’s highly-anticipated album, Certified Lover Boy. It follows the promotion-heavy week that the Toronto rapper has put up to increase the excitement for the project. It includes “hacking” a SportsCenter broadcast to share the release date for the album as well as revealing its controversial artwork.

Drake also revealed Jay-Z, Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Giveon, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Yebba, and Project Pat as guest features on Certified Lover Boy. While the cast is already impressive enough, Drake revealed on Thursday that there are more individuals coming to the party.

Just like he did for the guest features that were revealed on Thursday, Drake used digital billboards from across the country to share the additional features for Certified Lover Boy. Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Rick Ross, Masego, and Nigerian singer Tems will also join Drake on his upcoming album. The rapper used shared the news on billboards in all of the additional guests’ hometowns except for Lil Wayne, whose birthplace of New Orleans is currently in the midst of extended power failures due to Hurricane Ida.

You can view the billboards announcing the new guests in the posts above.

Certified Lover Boy is out 9/3 via OVO Sound/Republic.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kanye West’s Team Will Reportedly Reignite His Drake Feud If He’s Trashed On ‘Certified Lover Boy’

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As Drake fans have noticed, the rapper has been putting up billboards in various cities promoting the impending release of his album Certified Lover Boy. But right after the Certified Lover Boy promo appeared, Kanye put up a number of Donda billboards in Drake’s hometown city of Toronto, seemingly trolling the rapper. But it now seems as though Kanye is waiting for Drake’s album to drop to see if reigniting their beef is worthwhile.

According to a report from TMZ, the Donda rapper’s manager, Bu Thiam, says that things are “cool” between Ye and Drake as of now. But that could all changed depending on the content of Drake’s Certified Lover Boy album. If Drake opts to take some shots at Kanye on any of the songs off his upcoming album, then Ye would “almost certainly” have to reply.

TMZ recently caught up with Thiam at LAX, who spoke to the situation. “Listen, it’s two creatives taking jabs at each other but it did get rectified,” Thiam said. “We’ll see. [Drake’s] album comes out, I think in a couple days, Friday, so depending on what he says on his album. We’ll see.”

Certified Lover Boy officially drops on Friday, and Drake has shared which collaborators are set to appear on the album. So far, the rapper has confirmed features from Jay-Z, Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Giveon, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Yebba, and Project Pat.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Fans Think Kanye West Is Trolling Drake With His New ‘Donda’ Billboards In Toronto

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Drake and Kanye West have feuded here and there over the years, and now the pair seems to be back at it again. The two recently traded jabs via verses and text screenshots before West posted Drake’s Toronto address on his Instagram. It appears West may be intent on keeping this spat alive, as some speculate that his latest Donda promotional move was intended to add fuel to the fire.

Fans have noticed that giant billboards for Donda, which have a plain white background with the album title in bold black text, have popped up in Toronto. This comes after Drake has been making use of billboards to share apparent Certified Lover Boy lyrics and reveal some of the artists who are featuring on the album. Furthermore, Kanye’s new billboards are in the city’s Yonge-Dundas Square, which is where Drake’s billboards are.

Some think that this is a deliberate jab at Drake:

It’s worth noting, though, that BlogTO likens Yonge-Dundas Square to Toronto’s version of New York City’s Times Square, which would make the bustling area a logical spot for West to push Donda, feud or no feud. The publication also notes that the Donda images are part of a rotation of ads that cycle through the digital billboards and therefore aren’t a constant presence.

So, while it’s possible that this was a calculated anti-Drake move from West, another explanation could be that West and his team simply chose a prominent area in a major North American city to promote the new album.

Drake Reveals Jay-Z, Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, And More As Guests On ‘Certified Lover Boy’

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After months of delays and an often-irritating waiting game, Drake finally shared the release date for his upcoming album, Certified Lover Boy. The rapper “hacked” a Sportscenter broadcast to reveal September 3 as the official date, then later shared quite the controversial artwork. Now he’s unveiled the guest features for the project in a very creative way.

Drake posted the names of his guests on various billboards. Among those set to appear include Jay-Z, Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Giveon, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Durk, Yebba, and Project Pat. The billboards for the artists were placed in each one’s respective state. For instance, Jay-Z’s was in New York, Lil Durk’s was in Illinois, both Giveon and Ty Dolla Sign’s were in California, Atlanta played home to Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, and Lil Baby, while Project Pat and singer Yebba’s were in Memphis .

You can see some examples below:

Lil Durk’s is set to appear on the album’s lead single “Laugh Now, Cry Later,” but it’s possible that he and Drake worked on multiple songs. Just like with the rest of the guests on the album, we’ll have to wait until Friday to find out.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Certified Lover Boy is out 9/3 via OVO Sound/Republic.