Drake’s newest album, Certified Lover Boy (CLB), has been released with record numbers. The latest addition to the musician’s discography debuted at the top ofBillboard’s Top 200 and is expected to generate over 743.7 million streams in the US alone. This is set to be the biggest album release in over a year, a title currently being held by Taylor Swift’s Folklore.
These numbers prove that the album rollout was a huge win for Nike as the brand released a collaboration with Drake as a way to promote his album. This comes after the celebrated Drake x Jumpman deal in 2013, which sparked controversy between Drake and Kanye West. The CLB merch was released last year, right after the singer mentioned that he would be releasing the album, and the products sold out fast. With so much hype surrounding Drake and fans supporting Nike, the line was hugely successful.
The brand has since decided to re-release the CLB collection as a way to continue promoting the album. It is important to note though that not all the items that Nike previously debuted with the line will be back in production. Though some pieces will be missing, the brand will add new products to the collection. The drop is gaining a lot of attention right now due to the success of the album, with Nike expecting the media circus to shine even more light on the apparel drop .
This news also comes in the wake of Drake beating Kanye to the top spot in the charts. Kanye, who has a partnership with Adidas, has been at odds with Drake for a while after they had heated exchanges on social media as well as in their songs. The animosity between both musicians is also expected to increase the rivalry between Nike and Adidas, a brand that Kanye now works with.
Brands partnering with artists have become more common in recent years, and it’s mutually beneficial. The brands get the celebrity names and the celebrities get quality products as merch. For one, Reebok has teamed with Teyana Taylor and now has her as a brand ambassador for their merchandise while Tyler The Creator has a high profile collaboration with Converse.
These types of partnerships have continued to grow as social media becomes a driving force behind marketing products to the consumer market. And the re-release of the Certified Lover Boy collection shows how these partnerships benefit both brand and artist.
If you are looking for a way to support your favorite artist, or just represent your appreciation for them, you can swing by the physical store or online shop to grab pieces from the collection. Although there is no specific date yet for the re-launch of the collection, it is expected to come out soon to coincide with the debut of Certified Lover Boy.