Drake Breaks Apple Music and Spotify Records With ‘Certified Lover Boy’
With “Certified Lover Boy,” Drake’s has broken the 2021 record for most-streamed artist in a day on Apple Music. “Certified Lover Boy” is also Apple Music’s most-streamed album within a 24-hour period in 2021, achieving the honor just days after Kanye West’s “Donda” broke the record on the streaming platform.
Drake also set a new record on Apple Music for biggest album debut ever, surpassing his own from 2018 when “Scorpion” debuted with 170 million streams.
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On Spotify, Drake nabbed another distinction as “Certified Lover Boy” became that platform’s most-streamed album in a single day, also beating his own “Scorpion.”
“Certified Lover Boy” debuted today after multiple delays. Drake announced in Oct. 2020 that it would come in Jan. 2021, but postponed the release for health reasons, then said on Caffeine in June it would be out by the end of the summer. After that, he teased the new Sept. 3 release date in a cryptic SportsCenter video before officially confirming it in on Monday in an Instagram post revealing the album cover (but keeping the track list a secret). The cover, a white background adorned with 16 emojis of pregnant women, received viral response on social media, including a spoof by Lil Nas X. “Certified Lover Boy” finally came an hour after its expected release time.
The 86-minute album features 15 guest artists across its 21 tracks, including Jay Z, Travis Scott, Future, Young Thug, Kid Cudi, Lil Baby and more. Additionally, Drake gave writing credits to several artists. Opening track “Champagne Poetry” involves an interpolation The Beatles’ “Michelle” and credits John Lennon and Paul McCartney. “Way 2 Sexy” borrows from Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.” “TSU” credits Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and, controversially, R. Kelly. Drake didn’t reveal the track list until two hours before “Certified Lover Boy” dropped, and guest artists weren’t officially announced at all — except for on the billboards Drake erected in their hometowns from Chicago, Ill. to Lagos, Nigeria.
Read Variety‘s review of “Certified Lover Boy” here.
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