OPINION

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Editor’s Note: Some of the songs mentioned below may contain profanity. 

By Ava Riddle

In the last week of August, the rap community was blessed with the release of two highly anticipated albums: Kanye West’s Donda, and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. Due to the proximity in dates of both albums’ releases and multiple shared feature artists, fans have been fiercely debating over which album is better. 

Kanye and Drake. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Donda, West’s tribute to his late mother, was released on August 29. The 27-track album is dazzled with featured artists such as JAY-Z, Playboi Carti, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, DaBaby, Marilyn Manson, and more. West spent nearly the entire summer publicizing and producing Donda, even renting out and living inside the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta to finish it. Within the first day of its release on Apple Music, Donda earned more than 60 million streams. 

Certified Lover Boy was released by Drake on September 3, just five days after Donda. Its 21 tracks include features from the likes of JAY-Z, 21 Savage, Travis Scott, and more, many of whom are also featured on Donda. Drake had teased the release of his sixth studio album since December 2020. When he posted the cover art for the album, a white screen filled with twelve pregnant woman emojis, many fans were skeptical. 

But despite initial skepticism, within one day of Certified Lover Boy’s release, it was shattering records. Certified Lover Boy topped the charts of streaming services, earning over 150 million streams on its first day on Spotify alone. From a popularity perspective, Certified Lover Boy seems to topple Donda easily. Certified Lover Boy was even able to outstream Donda’s entire first week within three days. However, popularity on the charts doesn’t necessarily equate to being the better album. There are clear distinctions and differences between the albums that could tip the scale of which is better depending on the kind of listener. 

Donda has a gospel-like ethereal tone to it that some fans have enjoyed, but others have disapproved of. It certainly takes risks within the realm of hip-hop, with never-before-heard samples and beats as well as religious messages within his lyrics.

One of the most popular songs from Donda, “Off The Grid,” showcases Kanye’s religious perspective mixed with more traditional, beat-heavy hip-hop verses. Right before you think the song is about to end, the beat dramatically drops, and Kanye goes into his final verse. He raps, “I keep it clean, but it could get messy-I talk to God every day, that’s my bestie-they playin’ soccer in my backyard, I think I see Messi-And this money could never neglect me-I pray that my family, they never resent me-And she fell in love with me as soon she met me-We both got a bag but my bag is more heavy-We have to start countin’, it’s gettin’ too petty-You not a real stepper, you can’t overstep me-Just sit back and listen and watch how He bless me.” Only Kanye could pull off a verse that rhymes “Messi” with “me.” The verse as a whole is undeniably catchy and powerful paired with the beat cutoff. 

Another popular song from the album, “Hurricane,” has clear connections to gospel music through the use of The Weeknd’s vocals. The song as a whole sounds ethereal, and verses from both Lil Baby and Kanye pair surprisingly well with the vocal chorus. Within his verse, Kanye appears to tell a message of how he once sinned through neglecting his family and relationships. He raps, “Architectural Digest, but I needed home improvement-Sixty-million-dollar home, never went home to it-Genius gone clueless, it’s a whole lot to risk-Alcohol anonymous, who’s the busiest loser?” Lyrics like these make the song, as well as Donda as a whole, feel like a genuine reflection of Kanye’s current mindset. 

On the other hand, Certified Lover Boy is a classic Drake album. The beats sound familiar, but the features from artists like 21 Savage give Drake a more modern feel. Drake’s ear-catching verses give his album a signature, somewhat obnoxious appeal that keeps fans flocking back to him. 

Arguably the most popular song on the album, “Champagne Poetry” starts off strong with a beautiful sample of the song “Michelle” by The Beatles. Drake’s voice suddenly interjects the sample, as he raps: “I’ve been hot since the birth of my son-I remain unfazed, trust worse has been done…It’s the pretty boys versus the petty boys-Sold already got a whole new set of toys.” His narcissistic verses throughout the rest of the song sharply contrast the romantic sample at its start. As a result, the song feels sloppy and disconnected.  

Another popular song from the album, “Girls Want Girls,” echoes the same narcissistic energy, but in an arguably catchier manner. Drake starts the song off with a ear-catching verse, rapping “say that you a lesbian, girl, me too.” Things only go downhill from there: later he raps “cannot play a player, bae-I grew up with Drea faith-I done seen the realest ones come and leave a crazy way-had to take my spot, it wasn’t somethin’ they just gave away-sorry to all my fans that might’ve caught me on a crazy day.” As he is a thirty-four year old artist, I don’t think anyone wants to hear Drake call someone “bae,” or brag about his “crazy” days. Although the song has a good beat and catch to it, it reeks of Drake attempting to connect with youth culture in order to snag profits. 

According to most publications in the music industry, Drake’s album seems to slightly pull ahead of Kanye’s. The popular online music publication Pitchfork gave Certified Lover Boy a rating of 6.6 out of 10, claiming that the album “sounds good but feels labored.” Meanwhile, they gave Donda a 6 out of 10, stating that it “arrives barely finished and with a lot of baggage.” Other publications, including Rolling Stone, Vulture, and more seem to agree with the overall opinion that both albums are mediocre but Certified Lover Boy pulls slightly ahead on production quality. 

So, which is truly the better album? I asked several Collegiate students for their opinions.

Sam Feder (‘22) chose Certified Lover Boy, claiming that “Drake just won artist of the decade, so all he needed to do was drop, and it made everyone happy.” Feder’s right; there is no question that Drake owns the charts. 

Elizabeth Hagan (‘22), Alexandra Brownstein (‘22), and Cam Holdych (‘22), however, chose Donda. Holdych in particular claimed that while Certified Lover Boy “is an album engineered towards nothing but making money,” Donda has been able to turn “topics such as gospel and religion into a hit album that is both innovative and unique.”

I agree with Holdych’s take on the albums. In this case, popularity doesn’t equate to superiority. Donda is easily the better album; its sound is purely mesmerizing, whereas Certified Lover Boy sounds repetitive and dependent on features to take away from the pain that is Drake’s voice. The fact that Donda is also a tribute for West’s mother gives it a meaningful sound that places it above Certified Lover Boy, which Drake dedicates on his Apple music description as “a combination of toxic masculinity and the acceptance of truth.” Without a doubt, I would choose to listen to Donda over Certified Lover Boy, and I recommend that music fans everywhere should do the same.