Hip-hop fans across the globe spent the summer months anticipating the release of major albums from two of the most renowned artists in the music industry: Kanye West and Drake. As Drake dropped his much-anticipated album 鈥淐ertified Lover Boy鈥� Sept. 3,聽 a heated debate ensued among hip-hop listeners, comparing his album to Kanye West鈥檚 鈥淒onda,鈥� released Aug. 29.聽
As household names and significant figures in the hip-hop genre and the wider music industry, both albums have risen to the top of music charts worldwide. Within the first week of the release of 鈥淒onda,鈥� 14 songs from the album claimed places on the Spotify playlist 鈥�.鈥� Comparatively, 鈥淐LB鈥� has set a new Spotify all-time record for most album streams in a single day.聽
West drew inspiration from and later dedicated 鈥淒onda鈥� to his mother鈥檚 death in 2007, which adds a sentimental element to the album. The album consists of 27 songs, rendering it a lengthy one hour, 48 minute listen. 鈥淐LB,鈥� on the other hand, is comprised of only 21 songs and is a one hour, 26 minute listen.聽
West has a variety of featured artists on his album 鈥� The Weeknd, Jay-Z, Roddy Rich, Kid Cudi and Don Toliver 鈥� all of which are established names in hip-hop. These artists provided a more melodic and mellow tone to songs such as 鈥淗urricane,鈥� 鈥淛ail,鈥� 鈥淧ure Souls鈥� and 鈥淢oon.鈥� The laid-back mood emulated by these songs encourages listener relaxation.
Reciprocally, features from artists such as DaBaby, Baby Keem, Travis Scott, Lil Yachty and Fivio Foreign add energy to the more fast-paced songs. The stark contrast between the faster-paced and more mellow songs created nuance in 鈥淒onda.鈥� Often, this contrast ruins the meaning of an album, yet West creates excitement by implementing this technique in his songs.聽
The stark contrast between the faster-paced and more mellow songs created nuance in ‘Donda.’
鈥淒onda鈥� was ultimately worth waiting the two years elapsed since West鈥檚 prior album release, 鈥淛esus is King,鈥� on account of its range of selection. Even so, I would not choose to add these songs to my playlist given the lack of energy and quality one would hope for. Particularly in comparison with typical Kanye West songs, 鈥淒onda鈥� did not provide songs of equal quality or catchiness.聽
Contrastingly, 鈥淐LB鈥� follows Drake鈥檚 2020 release of 鈥淒ark Lane Demo Tapes.鈥� Akin to 鈥淒onda,鈥� 鈥淐LB鈥� has a range of features from renowned rappers: Lil Wayne, Travis Scott, Jay-Z and more. Unlike West, who worked with the majority of his featured artists for the first time on 鈥淒onda,鈥� Drake鈥檚 features are familiar to listeners as they have collaborated with Drake on widely-streamed songs prior to 鈥淐LB鈥�.聽
Despite Lil Baby鈥檚 underwhelming feature on 鈥淕irls Want Girls,鈥� the song was unexpectedly slow-paced and lower quality than other songs on the album. However, the other artists featured undoubtedly pulled their weight and solidified their ranking as the best songs on the album.
鈥淔air Trade,鈥� 鈥淜nife Talk鈥� and 鈥淵ou Only Live Twice鈥� are the best 鈥淐LB鈥� songs incorporating artist features, while 鈥淣o Friends In The Industry鈥� and 鈥淧api鈥檚 Home鈥� stand out as songs without features.聽
聽Although 鈥淒onda鈥� contains more collectively enjoyable songs, the album is inconsistent in overall quality. Hence, 鈥淐LB鈥� contains more songs worthy of adding to playlists for future listens. If West had removed the songs that were not dead weight, his album would have certainly come out on top. Drake鈥檚 鈥淐ertified Lover Boy,鈥� without a doubt, wins the edge in this debate.
