

(Consider how, say, Lil Jon would deliver the lines, “We threw a party / Yeah, we threw a party / Bitches came over / Yeah, we threw a party.”) The beat is a gorgeous nightmare loop, a woozy and vicious hangover blossoming into an existential crisis from which Drake still hasn’t recovered the song’s strongest hook, which is the ghostly ex asking, “Are you drunk right now?” predicted Scorpion’s disquieting habit of outsourcing his heaviest emotional labor to sampled women who deserve better. It is no coincidence that Take Care’s gloriously morose centerpiece finds Drake at both his greatest and his most pathetic, drunk-dialing an ex and casting his young-superstar hedonism in the dourest possible light. “I’ve had sex four times this week / I’ll explain,” moans the budding superstar rapper on his blockbuster second album, with the dead-eyed despondence of a man reading aloud from his own obituary.

“Too Much” is the only song where I’ve entertained the idea, however briefly, that Drake is who he says he is on the record. Sampha’s hook is mournful his piano is downtrodden but the bass and the drums restore Drake’s life force during the verses. “Too Much” is Atlanta before Atlanta, though yes, the song is explicitly about Houston. The only Drake song that doesn’t sound like it was written and performed by a Reddit-dwelling “nice guy” who has dedicated his life and career to resenting girls he knew in high school is “Too Much,” featuring Sampha-the Nothing Was the Same song where Drake struggles out loud to make rap, as a profession, make sense to himself and everyone else in his life who isn’t a fellow rapper or a fan. It is wild to me, but also makes complete sense, that an entire generation of human beings would find Drake’s lyrical posturing not only relatable, but also cool and even romantic. His skills and lyrics have improved in almost every way, but “Best I Ever Had” presaged one of the most impressive rebrands in pop culture. It’s catchy, it has slogan-worthy lyrics, it’s a vibe. That small segment did not suggest that he would become one of the most famous people in the world, but “Best I Ever Had,” five years later, did. He also proclaimed in his mother’s basement: “I write songs … I do music.” The third act of the episode showed him rapping in a music studio. Drake was a teen actor with a passion for decoupage. Matted onto it were record covers from Frank Sinatra, Barry White, and Notorious B.I.G., among others. He showed off his mother’s house, including the basement, which included a table that Drake made. The best sense that he wanted to give up acting came from Aubrey’s episode of Degrassi Unscripted, the teen show’s mash-up of Cribs and a behind-the-scenes program. Up to that point, Aubrey Graham’s rap aspirations were well-known to superfans of Degrassi: The Next Generation, but his talent and legitimacy still astonished. “Nice for What”Īn entire generation of Canadians had to reevaluate their pop cultural touchstones when “Best I Ever Had” dropped in early 2009. “Started From the Bottom” Started From the Bottom Now We’re Here 10. “The Language” Songs Drake Was Talking About When He Said, “I Got All the Hits, Boy”ġ1. “From Time” The “OK, Now I See Why Rihanna Dated Him” TierĢ6. “Too Good” Songs to Blast at the Cheesecake Factoryģ7. “Girls Love Beyoncé” The “Aaliyah Would Be Proud” Tierĥ7. “Wu-Tang Forever” Songs That You Would Quote on Your Instagramħ8. “Dreams Money Can Buy” Songs That You Would Not Quote on Your Instagramġ01. “Diplomatic Immunity” The Stream Boostersġ26. “My Side” The Aural Equivalent of Drake’s Tattoosġ45.

No mixtape cuts were included, nor were any of his innumerable features. *The following list consists of songs featured on Drake albums or single releases. It’ll take you less time to read than to listen to Scorpion.

Enjoy our very scientific ranking of Drake songs, in descending order. So what is Drake’s best song? What is his worst? (Worst!) And where do his other 188 songs* rank? Because nobody asked, we felt compelled to list them all, and write further justifications for our top 10 picks. But it’s fair to say that no other rapper of his generation has been as consistent, or as consistently good. There have been great Drake songs and less-great Drake songs, and even some outright Drake clunkers. Over the past decade, Drake has given us multitudes through his music: singing Drake, rapping Drake, happy Drake, angry Drake, emo Drake, and every Drake in between.
