In August and September of 2021, the two hottest albums of the year dropped. Kanye West’s DONDA and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. Both albums have certainly caused some intense controversy all throughout America, but I don’t think either album was that good. 

   Because this is my stance, I believe this review is truly unbiased. I also think that this is a “contest” just to see who has more loyal fans. 

   Both albums have features from some of the hottest artists out, like Lil Baby on “Girls Want Girls” by Drake, and Fivio Foreign and Playboy Carti on “Off the Grid” by Kanye. Personally, I would have to give the award for best features to Kanye. 

   These albums share artists such as Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and Jay-Z, but DONDA features many more new artists that I have never even heard of. DONDA also has more features in general, with a whopping 32 featured artists compared to CLB’s 16. 

   As an individual artist, the best feature on either album was Fivio Foreign. As far as best featured verse goes, I’d give it to Lil Baby on “Hurricane” by Kanye West. Although CLB lost this one, its best feature is 21 Savage on “Knife Talk”. 

   Let’s look at numbers. With over 613,000 copies moved, CLB sold more in the first week compared to DONDA’s 309,000. Kanye held the record for more streams for a couple days, with a total of 357 million streams, but Drake passed and nearly doubled that by the end of the first week. 

   It’s clear that Kanye’s fans are lagging. I do feel as though Drake does have a larger following; not only that, he has a larger following of young people. We are the ones to rely on when it comes to streams and sharing media. 

   Along with features. DONDA also has more tracks. Kanye’s album has a total of 27 tracks, while Drake only has 21. This doesn’t necessarily mean Kanye’s are better. 

   The award for best song would have to go to Kanye, for “Hurricane” featuring The Weekend and Lil Baby. However, the award for the catchiest song would have to be given to Drake for “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug. 

   Both artists have a song featuring both a rap and R&B artist, with Kanye’s “Hurricane” and Drake’s “In the Bible” featuring Lil Durk and Giveon.  

   As for who taught the best lesson, it’s a tough competition. The two that are neck and neck right now are “If you got a voice, then you gotta project it; If you got a wrong, then you gotta correct it; if you got a name, then you gotta protect it.” 

   Kanye West on “Off the Grid” and “from the bottom to the top, man, what’s it like in the middle? From the lemon-faced radio host that love to be bitter; To my dogs in the game who wasn’t pick of the litter; For the young Gs out here starting from the beginning; Nobody praying for you when you winning, don’t forget it” Drake on “The Remorse. ”

   Both of these lessons are valuable whether you’re famous and rich, or coming up from the bottom. 

   In the end, I am still not a huge fan of either album or artist. However, I do believe each album has their highs and lows. I can understand why there is such a huge commotion around the two albums. 

   If you ask me what the album of the year is, I’d loyally give it to Hall of Fame by Polo G. But that’s an argument for another day.