American rapper and songwriter Drake has confirmed in unambiguous terms that his long-awaited sixth full-length album "Certified Lover Boy" will finally be out on Friday.
This news comes after months of rumors and delays, one official false alarm, a strange ESPN teaser, and a release-date battle with Kanye West's 'Donda' that never happened.
The 'One Dance' hitmaker revealed the news on Instagram, sharing an image that featured an array of multiple pregnant women emojis holding their stomachs.
"CERTIFIED LOVER BOY SEPTEMBER 3," Drake captioned the post, confirming the release date.
This upcoming album will mark the Canadian native's first full-length project following 2018's 'Scorpion'. Drake previously released other new material in between, including 2020's 'Dark Lane Demo Tapes' and the 'EP Scary Hours 2', which was released in March.
Certified Lover Boy was originally scheduled to be released earlier this year in January but was postponed due to health issues Drake had been facing at the time.
"I was planning to release my album this month but between surgery and rehab, my energy has been dedicated to recovery. I'm blessed to be back on my feet and feeling great and focused on the album, but CLB won't be dropping in January," Drake wrote in an Instagram Story post at the time, as per People magazine.
Months later in June, the Grammy winner then gave an update on the status of the long-awaited project during an interview at the Ultimate Rap League's N.O.M.E. XI battle rap event.
When asked about the release date of 'Certified Lover Boy', Drake confirmed the album would be out before the end of the summer. "Oh, yeah, I'll be there. My album will be out by then," he said.
Fans then began to speculate that Certified Lover Boy would get a September 3 drop date after the album's release was teased during ESPN's SportsCenter last week.
According to People magazine, there, an ad that appeared to be a normal sports-focused spot played before it became glitch-filled with an unidentifiable man holding up a piece of cardboard with "CLB September 3" clearly written on it.
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