All of Drake's Canadian References on 'Certified Lover Boy'

Drake’s long-awaited sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy, is finally here. And given that The Boy is as patriotic as they come, showing love to his homebase every chance he gets (see: the “What’s Next” music video, the Views album cover, and his role as the Raptors’ unofficial coach), it’s only natural that his new LP is rife with references to Canada. From the country’s prime minister to Montreal crime bosses to his own street, he nods to a wide variety of people and places in the Great White North. Here are all the Canadian references on the album we were able to spot.

The title

The title of Certified Lover Boy may or may not be a sly nod to Loverboy, the popular Canadian rock band that formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1979. They’re best known for their hit singles “Turn Me Loose” and “Working for the Weekend,” which have become classic rock radio staples across North America. It’s hard to say if he actually intended to reference the band, but if he did, it would make us see the “working on the weekend like usual” line in “Life Is Good” in a whole new light.

"Know I carry the guilt of the city’s misfortune on me”

Full lyric: “I know I tend to talk about how I got a fortune on me/But with that comes the politics the city been forcing on me/Man, I can’t even RIP and show my remorse to the homie/Know I carry the guilt of the city’s misfortune on me”

Song: “Champagne Poetry”

Drake’s extremely conspicuous affiliation with the city of Toronto has put a lot of pressure on him politically—both because he’s considered something of an ambassador to the greater public and because he’s made inroads with local politicians, most notably the “6 Dad” himself, former city councillor Norm Kelly. After Drake’s friend Anthony “Fif” Soares was shot and killed in Toronto in 2017, members of the police and the news media vocally criticized Drake for not doing more to leverage his platform to help solve the case. Drake would later pay tribute to Fif by putting his face on the back cover of his 2020 mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes.

"The OVO letterman boys"

Full lyric: “Nothing else bigger than the OVO letterman boys”

Song: “Champagne Poetry”

Drake’s signature varsity jacket—better known as a letterman—is one of the cornerstones of the OVO fashion brand, and he’s been seen wearing the coat in different styles and colours for years, including, most famously, during his appearance as guest host of Saturday Night Live. Members of Drake’s crew are routinely spotted rocking the look. OVO just recently dropped a collaborative collection with the University of Toronto, featuring said letterman.

“City’s coming off a lockdown”

Full lyric: “Shorties out here gettin’ knocked down/City coming off a lockdown”

Song: “Papi’s Home”

Drake’s been spending the last 18 months like the rest of us, mainly holed up at home and practicing social distancing. Of course, Toronto’s opening back up after a successful vaccination campaign and plummeting COVID case numbers—just in time for Drizzy season. No doubt Drake is as glad as the rest of us to see the city return to normal.

"I’mma f*ck her friends and send her back to Metro housin’"

Full lyric: “You a turnt up little thotty, ain’t no wife about it/I’ma fuck her friends and send her back to Metro housin’”

Song: “Way 2 Sexy”

Here, Drake could be referencing Toronto Community Housing, the largest social housing provider in Canada, which amalgamated with the Metropolitan Toronto Housing Corporation in 2002. Is saying “think we got too sexy for that metro housin’” a bit classist? Well, maybe. But that’s another article entirely.

"The world is yours, but the city’s mine”

Full lyric: “Tried to run it back a hundred times/The world is yours, but the city’s mine”

Song: “Pipe Down”

“Pipe Down” tells the story of a romantic relationship that doesn’t seem to be working out for Drake, and here he’s clear about one thing: he’ll give the girl everything, but Toronto will always be his and his alone. “The world is yours” is, of course, also a reference to a popular quote from Scarface, seen on the side of a blimp and later on a statue in Tony Montana’s home.

“I made north of the border like Vito Rizzuto”

Full lyric: “Don’t move like a puto/Could at least keep it a buck like Antetokounmpo/I made north of the border like Vito Rizzuto/Throwin’ parties in Miami, they lovin’ us mucho”

Song: “7am On Bridle Path”

Drake’s referencing the “made” man Vito Rizzuto, an Italian-American mob boss and head of the Rizzuto crime family from Montreal, who is one of the most infamous gangsters in Canadian history. He’s also the subject of the book and TV series Bad Blood, on which he’s played by Anthony LaPaglia, and it may be that Drake is a fan of the show.

"You tell 'em I run the country, they'll say, 'True, though'"

Full lyric: “I been doin’ this since T-Pain was pourin’ us Nuvo/You tell ‘em I run the country, they’ll say, ‘True, though’”

Song: “7am On Bridle Path”

Here Drizzy playfully name drops Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who is currently on the campaign trail as the country gears up for a snap election on September 20. Will the reference give JT the boost he needs to get re-elected? We all know the power of a Drake co-sign.

“Give that address to your driver, make it your destination"

Full lyric: “Give that address to your driver, make it your destination/Instead of just a post out of desperation”

Song: “7am On Bridle Path”

“7am On Bridle Path” is a definite highlight of Certified Lover Boy, and will no doubt be the track that generates the most discussion, because it’s obviously intended as a rebuke to the man Drake most loves to feud with these days, Kanye West. Here, Drake is referencing his own home address on Toronto’s Bridle Path in North York, which Ye revealed (and then quickly deleted) in an Instagram post recently. Drake’s saying next time he wants beef he should roll up himself instead of just dropping the deets for others.

"Have somebody put you on a Gildan, you play with my seed"

Full lyric: “Told you I’m aimin’ straight for the head, not aiming to please/I could give a fuck about who designing your sneakers and tees/Have somebody put you on a Gildan, you play with my seed”

Song: “7am on Bridle Path”

Gildan is a Montreal-based company that was founded 1984 by Glenn and Greg Chamandy, who purchased a mill to make basic cotton products and sell them wholesale across North America to be screen-printed with designs. There’s a high likelihood you’ve worn one of its T-shirts. Drake alludes to the practice of putting someone’s face on a tee as a tribute after they die—a fate anyone who messes with his son will surely meet. Interestingly, Kanye made Gildan the supplier of choice for his Life of Pablo tour merch in 2016—a decision that drew some criticism given the cheap cost of the blank shirts and rather high markup he was selling them at.

"People recognize me from the TV but I’m done with that”

Full lyric: “Look, me and Lil’ Sandra bagging CDs in the bubble wrap/People recognize me from the TV but I’m done with that”

Song: “The Remorse”

Lil Sandra is of course none other than Sandra “Sandi” Graham, a.k.a. Drake’s mom. He’s referenced his mother many times before, perhaps most famously on Scorpion’s “Sandra’s Rose,” and here he is reflecting on the old days, when he and his mom would hand-package his albums. In those days, Drake was best-known as one of the stars of TV’s Degrassi the Next Generation, but even then he was trying to leave that life behind and become famous for his music instead.

"How I'm supposed to wife it? You not Ayesha enough"

Full lyric: “Posted that pic you sent me, it wasn’t recent enough/How I’m supposed to wife it? You not Ayesha enough”

Song: “Race My Mind”

To Drake, the gold standard of a romantic interest is Ayesha Curry, NBA superstar Stephen Curry’s wife and an actress and cooking television personality. She also happens to be Canadian, hailing from Markham, Ontario. Stephen spent quite a bit of time with Ayesha in Toronto last summer, checking out some films at the Toronto International Film Festival and even shooting hoops at Drake’s crib.

“Unless Kawhi wanna run it back"

Full lyric: “Unless Kawhi wanna run it back/Other than that, the strings will be unattached”

Song: “The Remorse”

There’s not a lot of Raptors love on Certified Lover Boy, considering Drake’s longstanding relationship with the team and his official role as team ambassador. But here we get a reference to the team’s championship run of 2019, a victory led in large part by the efforts of star player Kawhi Leonard. Of course, Leonard left the team to join the Los Angeles Clippers the following season, and here Drake’s lamenting that loss and hoping he might one day rejoin the Raps. He’s even made one further overture to the Klaw, featuring him in the music video for “Way 2 Sexy.”