So I, along with the rest of the world, listened to Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy. And after giving it a few listens, I must say that CLB is definitely one of the albums Drake has ever dropped.

Like…it’s fine. Drake is not really saying anything he hasn’t already said in the past. There’s some bangers. There’s some slower jams. There’s some simping. There’s talk about not having friends. There’s shots at Kanye. Nothing new.

And listen, not having anything new to say is not inherently a bad thing. Pusha T, Curren$y, the Griselda crew, etc. have been rapping about the same shit since forever. So Drake sticking to his same formula is not inherently a bad thing. However, I feel like Drake’s formula has aged in a way that those other rappers haven’t. Some of what he raps about simply does not hit the same when you remember that he’s in his mid thirties.

I think on some level, maybe we are asking Drake to do something he simply can’t do. We’re asking him to show growth in his music, but what if he legitimately hasn’t?