Is Drake's 'Certified Lover Boy' The Worst Album of the 2020s?

Since the dawn of the 2020s, a handful of albums stand out as potential options for the worst album of the decade. Maroon 5's most recent has received some of the lowest ratings, despite its popularity (JORDI has a 48/100 on Metacritic). But despite some better average ratings, Drake's recent output has come under fire for its extremely low quality. From Views to Scorpion to Dark Lane Demo Tapes, critics have been slowly dropping worse and worse reviews, topping the trend off with 2021's Certified Lover Boy. Here's what critics had to say about this Drake album.

The Needle Drop's Anthony Fantano was particularly critical. Citing a frequent complaint about Drake's recent music, Fantano complained about his boredom in the 21-track, nearly hour-and-a-half affair, which was equally expressed for the dreadful Scorpion. NME and The Independent, both well-regarded journals, used words like 'dull,' 'whin[ing],' 'bland,' 'boring,' and other harsh phrases. Few major critics gave a review one could consider positive.

One notable exception was Rolling Stone, where critic Jeff Ihiza actually considered that Drake's lack of insight into his state lent positively to the album. His toxicity and flippancy, both present on the album and in this review, are glossed over and even somewhat praised for their cohesiveness in the record. Needless to say, most other reviewers did not see this as a positive aspect.

There's no doubt that Drake's fans must have a high tolerance for the whims of his tough-guy facade and monotony. Whether it's worse than JORDI or not, most will agree that Certified Lover Boy is at least equal in low quality.

Metacritic Score: 60

AOTY Score: 57

AnyDecentMusic? Score: 5.5/10

Onedio Score: 4/10

★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

You can find Certified Lover Boy and every other Drake record, including his brand new 2022 album Honestly, Nevermind, on streaming services everywhere.