Fountains
Featuring Tems
"Fountains" stands out on Certified Lover Boy for its Afrobeats-influenced groove and its feature from the Nigerian singer Tems, whose international profile was rising sharply around this period — fittingly, Tems was announced on a Lagos billboard during the album's hometown-feature reveal. Production is credited to Tresor, Monsune and Noah "40" Shebib. The song is widely read as Drake leaning into the global popularity of Afrobeats, pairing his melodic register with Tems's distinctive vocal to produce one of the album's most rhythmically distinct cuts. The lyrics circle romance and attraction, but the track's appeal rests heavily on its sonic departure from the project's predominantly nocturnal palette. It reads as a deliberate stylistic excursion that broadens the album's range and continues Drake's pattern of aligning with globally ascendant sounds.
Sources & verification
Citations below were matched specifically to "Fountains" and Certified Lover Boy. Drake Universe catalogs songs by album placement, verified collaborators, producers, samples, and themes, and avoids unsupported lyric-level claims.
- Pitchfork: Kanye West 'Donda' album reviewPitchfork · 2021-09-09 — Dated album review covering Donda's release-week proximity to Certified Lover Boy.
- Pitchfork: Drake 'Certified Lover Boy' album reviewPitchfork · 2021-09-07 — Dated album review covering Certified Lover Boy and the Donda release-week framing.
- The New York Times: Drake's Certified Lover BoyThe New York Times · 2021-09-03 — NYT Joe Coscarelli CLB feature.
- Wikipedia: Certified Lover BoyWikipedia · 2026-05-18 — Primary reference for CLB release, rollout, billboard campaign, Damien Hirst artwork controversy, full track listing, sample/producer credits, critical reception (Metacritic 60), commercial performance (613,000 first-week units; tenth #1; nine top-ten singles), Grammy withdrawal and certifications.
- Pitchfork: Certified Lover Boy Unseats Donda, Debuts at No. 1 With Biggest Week of 2021Pitchfork · 2021-09-12 — Chart-context source for CLB's 613,000-unit debut overtaking Kanye West's Donda (309,000) atop the Billboard 200, the biggest US week of 2021 at the time.
