Drake has been teasing his Certified Lover Boy album for more than a year now, starting with the release of his great Lil Durk collab “Laugh Now, Cry Later” last August. Since then he’s scheduled it for January release, then pushed it back. He’s put out a solid EP that made him the first artist to simultaneously debut songs at #1, #2, and #3 on the Hot 100. He’s logged a bunch of features, including a Kanye-dissing guest spot on Trippie Redd’s “Betrayal” that inspired Kanye to doxx him. He’s contracted and recovered from COVID-19, which apparently forced him to start over the cutesy little heart he’s had shaved into his hair throughout this rollout. He’s starred in an eminently corny Super Bowl ad. He’s brought out his terrified son to accept an award with him. He’s continued to be as Drake as possible at all times. And now, he’s finally going to release the album.

The “Laugh Now, Cry Later” video found Drake and Durk hanging out with famous athletes at Nike headquarters, and he’s known as a constant presence at NBA games and other sporting events, so maybe it makes some kind of sense that he announced the Certified Lover Boy release date on SportsCenter, ESPN’s daily sports newscast. This wasn’t a talkshow-style sitdown, though. Instead, the announcement was framed as an interruption, as if Drake was cutting into the broadcast with his own feed. Briefly, a hand-scrawled cardboard sign appeared, confirming that CLB will drop 9/3, one week from today. See it for yourself below.

https://twitter.com/kourkis28/status/1431232553898311688?s=21

Certified Lover Boy is out 9/3 on OVO/Republic. Supposedly that is when Kanye’s DONDA will finally drop too, but let’s be real, DONDA is never coming out.