On August 30, the archetypal millennial Drake revealed the cover of his new album, “Certified Lover Boy.” Designed by British art provocateur Damien Hirst, it depicts 12 emoji women of varying skin tones, all pregnant, presumably by (emoji?) Drake.
Much like the cover of Drake’s 2016 album, “Views,” which featured the 35-year-old perched moodily atop Toronto’s CN Tower, this image was first met with disbelief, a little bit of cringe and then an unending torrent of memes. The most memorable came from a onetime internet troll who has, over the past few years, risen to become one of Drake’s musical peers: Lil Nas X.
In a viral tweet, Lil Nas X, 22, simply flips the gender: 12 emoji men, all pregnant, presumably by (emoji) Lil Nas X. Ever a canny self-promoter, Lil Nas X captioned the tweet with a reference to “Montero,” his own forthcoming album, which was to be released just two weeks after Drake’s
When it came to album sales, Drake won this battle. Like just about everything else he touches, “Certified Lover Boy” became a cultural juggernaut, moving more than 500,000 copies in its first week and spending several consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200 — which meant that when “Montero” was released, despite a relatively strong showing, it debuted at No. 2. In a recent GQ interview, Lil Nas X admitted that he was at first disappointed by this chart statistic before he realized, in amazement, “Drake’s my idol.”
