Drake's 'Certified Lover Boy' Cover Art Featuring Pregnant Emoji Has Everyone Scratching Their Heads

The 'Certified Lover Boy' era kicked into overdrive early Monday with an official release date announcement, as well as some Damien Hirst-tagged emoji art.

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Image via Getty/Rich Fury/dcp

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In the wake of the release of Kanye West’s timeline-imploding 10th album Donda, Drake has confirmed the impending drop date for his own Certified Lover Boy, which—not unlike Donda—has been delayed mutiple times.

When confirming the Sept. 3 release on Monday, the 2021 MTV VMAs nominee also revealed the cover art for the long-awaited album, which arrives three years after the “Summer Games”-adorned Scorpion. The art sees three rows of pregnant women in emoji form, with Drake notably tagging conceptual artist Damien Hirst. The cover art is a Damien Hirst painting done for Drake’s album, Complex can confirm through DrakeRelated.

Longtime Hirst followers may note that the pregnant woman emoji-centered art arguably calls to mind The Virgin Mother, a 2005 painted bronze piece from the artist. The work, presented as an outdoor sculpture, was included in the Objects of Wonder: From Pedestal to Interaction exhibition in 2019.

Given the recent revival of the feud between Drake and Kanye West, it should also be noted that West earlier this month posted (and later deleted) an image of Hirst’s The Incomplete Truth sculpture:

Hirst, a controversial figure for some, is certainly a compelling choice for a Drake project. 

As for the album itself, Drake let it be known in late July that it was “cooked” and en route to fans after finishing up the mixing process.

Certified Lover Boy on the way, and that’s for anyone in the way,” he said at the time during an appearance on Sound 42’s Fri Yiy Friday show.

Below, get in on the reactionary action spurred by the reveal of CLB’s pregnant emoji-centered art:

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