2021 has been a lot of things, but a bad year for music was not one of them. 

   Huge creators, such as Tyler the Creator, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, J.Cole, and of course, Kanye West and Drake, have all released studio albums this year. The two releases from West and Drake came in the span of a week, creating a fiery debate amongst fans of the artists, the question being which album is better? Along with this debate, the two artists had some conflict of their own, further hyping up this debate. Although I may be listening to both of these albums for a long time, it’s clear to me that Donda was more thoughtful and is overall the better album.

   These two albums may have come only five days apart, but their concepts are so vastly different. Kanye tributes Donda to his mother, Donda West, who passed away in November of 2007. Certified Lover Boy is not a concept album, with mostly just songs put together under the persona of a “Certified Lover Boy.” Both albums are fairly bloated, CLB with 21 tracks and Donda with 27 tracks. In addition, both albums have many of the same contributors, such as Kid Cudi, Lil Baby, Young Thug, Travis Scott, and Lil Durk. 

   So, what makes Donda a better album? To start, Donda’s highlights are miles beyond anything off of CLB. Some of my favorites of the album are “Jail”, “Hurricane,”, “Off the Grid,” “Remote Control,” “Moon,” “Keep My Spirit Alive,” “Pure Souls,” and “Come to Life.” “Moon,” featuring Kid Cudi, and Don Toliver, has to be my favorite. Its spacy environment, the angelic chorus, and all three artists’ vocal performances leave me stunned. This stunning effect was something I felt during many listens of Donda; however, on CLB, I don’t think I could say I felt these effects with any particular song. I did enjoy parts of this album, like “Champagne Poetry,” “Fair Trade,” “TSU,” and “IMY2.” However, many songs seemed uninspired, formulaic, and cliche, whereas the highlights on Kanye’s album felt truly Kanye, in other words, very unique.

   Both these albums are long, with many songs used as fillers. But again, it just seems as though Kanye put more thought and time into this album than Drake did. To me, one of these albums seems like something that has been in the works for years, while the other is something more fun and timely. Both are enjoyable, but to me, Kanye is miles ahead of Drake this time around.