Drake confirmed today via Instagram that his new album Certified Lover Boy is out this Friday, September 3. This is news enough for people to get hyped about online—but then the album cover was also confirmed. And, well, it’s definitely unexpected. It shows the pregnant emoji twelve times, in a grid, depicting women with varying hair color and skin tones. All their eyes are brown, however.
Many thoughts, many questions: Will this album be about childbearing? Pregnancy? I mean, Halsey already did a pretty excellent job with her own recent extravagant imagery of her real-life pregnancy for an album cover. Now, here we stare at 12 cartoons, holding their bump, grinning at the life they’re about to release into the world. Or maybe they’re grinning because they’re on a Drake album cover.
Of course, such a ridiculous cover has fueled some hilarious reactions, including Lil Nas X’s reimagining dedicated to his own album rollout. This is exactly the kind of absurdity expected from major artists to create a trending topic and maybe even have fans question the taste of their beloved celebs. But this a clear case of memeable content.
“MONTERO” THE ALBUM
OUT SEPTEMBER 17, 2021 pic.twitter.com/M7qVwV1uOu— MONTERO ???? (@LilNasX) August 30, 2021
And then it begs an even greater question: Has Drake ever had a good album cover? The rapper known for his cheesiness has never been subtle about that. He shocked us not only with the surprise mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, but also with the childish scribble from New York graffiti artist Jim Joe that serves as its cover. Then there was the strange Where’s Waldo–like Views, where Drake is anatomically too big for such a photo (no disrespect to the original pic taken by photographer Cait Cronenberg, daughter of David, by the way). Then, of course, there’s the child-like depiction of Drake for 2013’s Nothing Was the Same, which is probably his least cringey cover, but is equally remember for the memes that followed. The rest of his albums feature Drake in various moods: melancholy, bravado, mystique.
If the rumors are true, Certified Lover Boy is a baby-making album. It’s about love and the miraculous result of it. It’s also coming out on Labor Day weekend, another cheesy-ass nod to the album’s supposed theme. Sure, Drake makes art. But I don’t look to him to be an artist—and I definitely don’t look to him for subtlety.
Android niggas looking at Drake’s new album cover???? pic.twitter.com/Is5MdPU1XY
— ????????????????????????????????????????♰ (@wiIIycactus) August 30, 2021
