Drake delays the release of 'Certified Lover Boy’

It’s been certified: Drake’s upcoming album, Certified Lover Boy, won’t be dropping this month after all. The performer updated fans on his Instagram stories recently, confirming that the release date has been pushed back again after he underwent surgery late last year.

“I was planning to release my album this month but between surgery and rehab my energy has been dedicated to that recovery,” he wrote on January 20. “I’m blessed to be back on my feet feeling great and focused on the album, but CLB won’t be dropping in January. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all in 2021,” he wrapped.

Although Drake hasn’t publicly shared details of his surgery, eagle-eyed fans believed that he underwent knee surgery in October since he had shared a photo of his knee in a brace in another Instagram story around that time. Reps for the rapper later confirmed to Billboard that he did indeed have knee surgery, but they offered no further information. “I actually want to use this post to send love and motivation to anybody else that 2020 let loose on,” Drake wrote. “Start writing the best bounce back story NOW.”

It was also last October that Drake first announced the January release of Certified Lover Boy. He updated fans with a video teaser on his birthday, revealing the album title while recreating some of his past iconic covers including Take Care and Nothing Was the Same. At the time fans had been waiting months for an update, since Drake had originally announced the news of an album in April 2020. Back then he had thought the album would drop over the summer, but then the 6ix star released Dark Lane Demo Tapes in May, followed by the lead single from CLB, “Laugh Now Cry Later,” in August. At the time he promised the LP was on its way.

Certified Lover Boy will be Drake’s sixth full-length studio album, following up on the 2018 release of Scorpion. It’s worth noting that all five of Drizzy’s previous albums have gone platinum, so there’s definitely high expectations ahead of this new release. (Spotify also recently announced that the artist is the first to ever surpass 50 billion combined streams on its service.) In other words, if Drake feels like he needs to take even more time to get it right, then it will probably be worth the wait.

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