Kanye West released his long anticipated album “Donda” on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. On the following Friday, Kanye’s longtime competitor Drake released his album “Certified Lover Boy.”

“I tried to listen to Donda but I couldn’t,” freshman Jaydon Lanto said. “I could listen to some of Certified Lover Boy though, the first song Champagne Poetry was the best one. The worst one would be Knife Talk because it just isn’t him.”

Three days after Certified Lover Boy’s release, Drake’s album was already on its way to breaking the record for the largest streaming debut, coming in second only behind his own 2018 album “Scorpion.”

“I thought it was a solid album, not his best but it wasn’t bad,” junior Aaliyaiah Durden said. “I think people are just comparing it too closely with Kanye’s album. Also Travis Scott finally had a good feature, so that’s a plus.”

The beef between Kanye and Drake has been an on-again, off-again rollercoaster spanning more than a decade, with the pair taking jabs at each other through tweets, interviews, and lyrics.

“Donda was a great album because Kanye showed that he can do anything and has his own style; the album is for sure album of the year,” junior Aaron Newell said. “I love Drake but the album was only okay. I expected better. He sounded the same in almost every song, but the beats were great.”

Many students definitely have a preference of one rap legend over the other, and are very passionate about defending their favorite.

“Despite [Certified Lover Boy] being filled with production errors, it’s pretty good, until he opens his mouth,” junior Aasheeta Junnarkar said. “On the other hand, my president (Kanye West) did an outstanding job with Donda. His technical and creative skills truly meshed to create another amazing project.”

Many fans feel particularly touched by Kanye dedicating his 27-track album to his deceased mother, Donda West.

“Personally, I like CLB more, but Donda has a sweet meaning,” junior Madison Sampson said. “It’s about his mother passing, but CLB [still] only has about four good songs.”

Donda’s Christian songs and heavy religious influences starkly contrast the types of songs in Certified Lover Boy.

“Donda is not the best album, but it’s very good with all the features it has; people say the features carry the album but I don’t really think so,” senior Elvis Ortiz said. “I like Donda better [than Certified Lover Boy because] it speaks to me more and it’s different. Drake makes the same music on every album because he does music for money, [whereas] Kanye does it [out of] passion.”

Many people find themselves in a kind of middle ground, believing that the albums accomplish different goals using completely different styles, and therefore should not be compared to each other at all.

“If you put all the beef that the two artists have aside, you have two good albums that are enjoyable,” Ortiz said.