The 50 Best Drake Songs Of All Time

“I’m the rookie and the vet” was really the best way to describe Drake at this point in his career. This song marks the transition from the humble, melancholy rising star to the person with the crown in Hip-Hop who was unapologetic about being the man.

The sequel to ‘9AM In Dallas’, ‘5AM In Toronto’ was the most ruthless display of Drake’s rapping at the point that it was released. He threw shots at Chris Brown and a slew of others that haven’t been confirmed to this day.

This one captures the moment of Drake’s first album so perfectly. It dropped the week of his debut releasing and fans have always argued that it deserved a key spot on the actual LP.

We’re glad that Drake broke his promise of “diss me and you’ll never hear a reply to it”, because ‘Back To Back’ gave us one of the better diss records of all time. Drake dismantled Meek in a way that came as a surprise to even his biggest fans.

‘Blem’ feels like ‘Controlla’ on steroids and is the best showing of Drake in this lane. It feels like a timeless summer record. If you’ve never heard Drake’s dubplate of it, that’s worth hearing too.

‘Bria’s Interlude’ marked the start of one of the more underrated series in Hip-Hop that was continued when ‘Cece’s Interlude’ and ‘Jorja’s Interlude’. This one stands out from the bunch because of its atmosphere and a great showing from Omarion.

One of the better cuts on Take Care, Drake juxtaposes two sounds here incredibly well. ‘Cameras’ hits hard and has a bassline that drowns the listener while ‘Good Ones Go’ feels like a ballad.

It’s a wonder why ‘Club Paradise’ never ended up on Take Care. The supporting tour was even named after it. Either way, we’re just grateful that the song came out at all and it found a home on Care Package eventually.

This song is best described by a story that Drake told about it where the person who cut the baseball sample at the beginning of the track asked him in the studio what genre he was creating with this song. Swanging.

For some, the version of ‘Controlla’ that ended up on VIEWS will always feel like a disappointment because of Popcaan being left off of it, but the melodies are so infectious that it deserves a spot on this list anyway.

‘Days In The East’ is arguably a showcase of what Drake does best. It sees him crooning over an ex, Rihanna in this case, and a beat switch around the halfway mark allows him to pour his heart out.

‘Diamonds Dancing’ is one of the two best moments to come from Drake and Future’s collaborative mixtape from 2015. The story of the song is the outro which is classic Drake and sees him at his most vulnerable.

This is the other best moment from that tape. Drake has talked about how this song was originally presented to him as a solo Future song and a finished product before he had to find his way on it. Future is the star here.

Some of the best songs in Drake’s discography are those that feel like a status update from him in the form of one long verse and ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ is one of those. The beat is haunting and is matched with one-liners like “Billboard Awards, I claimed 13 out in Vegas like Sureños”.

This song came out in the summer of 2011 and was our first taste of Take Care, although it never ended up on there. ‘Dreams Money Can Buy’ was the perfect introduction to not only an era, but an aura.

Due to the hype behind ‘The Story Of Adidon’, ‘Duppy Freestyle’ often gets shunned in Rap discussions but it was arguably the better constructed diss track, impact aside. Highlights include the “microphone of yours” line and his line about Pusha having “no malice”.

“I think they call this, um, venting” was the perfect tagline for an entire era of Drake before we even knew it. ‘Fear’ appeared on the So Far Gone EP and was such an honest introspection into Drake when he was in his early 20s that it almost makes you feel like you could relate.

There was a running joke for a time that OVO Sound was just Drake’s personal hit factory and that he would take his artist's best songs for himself. That was never true, but like a great artist, Drake does borrow from his peers, and ‘Feel No Ways’ is a great example of Drake trying and killing Majid Jordan’s sound.

The intro to 2017’s More Life, ‘Free Smoke’ kicks off the project with an intensity that Drake carries so well. Drake’s energy is what it’s all about.

When many were disappointed by his debut album, ‘Free Spirit’ was one of the indicators that Drake had leveled up for his sophomore effort. It was also the first time that Drake and Ross did a record together alone and their chemistry shines.

It’s hard to imagine now, but when this single was first premiered, it didn’t even sound like a Drake song at all. His vocals were higher than we’d generally heard and it felt like a new genre for him. He made ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ so it could be played at weddings decades from now.

Perhaps this choice is controversial because it’s a cover of TLC’s ‘FanMail’, but it’s so well written by Dallas Austin and performed by Drake that it deserves a place. Drake called it a nod to the legendary group and the song was originally the first release from It’s Never Enough, an R&B mixtape that never saw the light of day.

The outro to the a-side of Drake’s 2018 album Scorpion, ‘Is There More’ is the perfect conclusion to the LP. On it, Drake ponders how much there is to his lifestyle and reflects on his position in life.

‘Jaded’ is a standout R&B record of Drake’s career. The bass pierces through the eerie instrumental and on it, especially the second verse, Drake sounds genuinely scatter-brained and like he is failing to come to terms with the end of the relationship.

‘Jodeci Freestyle’ was released in the summer of 2013 along with the ‘Versace’ remix, ‘Over Here’ and ‘The Motion’. It was a great prequel to Nothing Was The Same because he sound braggadocious on it and he brought out the same energy from J. Cole. We’ll take more collaborations from the pair, please.

Before it dropped, Drake called this song with JAY-Z the second part to ‘Forever’ and while the star power of the collaboration is up there, ‘Light Up’ stands on its own two legs. Drake is the starry-eyed rapper who’s finally talking tough and Hov is the OG who gives Drizzy advice that later became very fruitful.

On a personal album, ‘Look What You’ve Done’ is maybe the most personal song. He dedicates the first and second verses to his mother and uncle respectively with an outro from his late grandmother that it’s okay to shed a tear to.

The second Drake and Ross collaboration on this list, ‘Lord Knows’ is a showcase of both artists over vintage, grand-sounding Just Blaze production. Drake in particular steps up to the plate, with a signature verse where he responds to those criticizing him for showing emotions very cleverly.

‘Lose You’ came at a turning point in Drake’s career when he had just mended things with Kanye West and was still coming off of the Meek Mill beef. The standout part of the song is when he reflects on his life before the fame and points out the dichotomy between both lifestyles.

All Drake has to do is play the voicemail at the start of this song at shows for fans to go crazy. It wasn’t even meant to be on Take Care, but ended up a timeless record.

Though the Rap side of Scorpion got criticized for being too much about the Pusha T and Kanye West feud, ‘Mob Ties’ was an anthem that deserved the credit it got.

‘No Tellin’’ boasts one of the best beat switch moments of Drake’s career and adds a necessary softer layer to that first portion of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.

The sequel gets a lot of praise because it’s on the same track as a song with JAY-Z, but the first ‘Paris Morton Music’ is the superior of the two. And yes, Paris is a real person!

‘Sandra’s Rose’ marked Drizzy’s first time working with DJ Premier and the moment lived up to expectations. As he put it himself, “n*ggas want a classic, that’s just ten of these”.

Over Kanye West’s ‘Say You Will’, Drake spit some of the realest bars of his career and made Ye’s 808s & Heartbreak production feel like it was tailormade for him.

It’s a shame that Drake and The-Dream will likely never work with each other again because ‘Shut It Down’ from 2010's Thank Me Later is a real treat from the two and one of Drake’s smoother singing cuts.

‘Signs’ never found its way onto a Drake project so it went under the radar for many, but the song premiered as part of a Louis Vuitton fashion show and felt like a summer smash with staying power.

If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late is mostly remembered for being Rap heavy but there were some great singing moments on it and this is one of them. The song is layered and sees Drake reminiscing, which is what he does best.

‘Summer Sixteen’ premiered on an episode of OVO Sound Radio back when it was on Beats 1 Radio and was a moment. It felt like Drake’s conclusion to the Meek beef.

Drake had just had a family argument when he angrily linked up with 40 and wrote the bars for this song. It explains the choppy flow and short bars.

This was Drake and Sampha’s first collaboration before ‘Too Much’ and it set the bar high. Drake hits the marks he does best, being the man and looking back on an old relationship.

On the outro to his second album, Drake did an impressive job of relaying his lavish lifestyle to the average listener. Over croons from The Weeknd, he talks about not being able to fly regularly and dating the women he was warned about, something we can only aspire to.

If you’re as big of a fan of this song as we are, the live performance of it on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon before it dropped is must-watch content.

This is just something that Drake threw out in 2011 in the leadup to Take Care, but it grew to be a fan favorite. Artists like Justin Bieber and The Weeknd remixed it and of course, some of the same lyrics made their way onto DJ Khaled’s ‘I’m On One’.

The intro to Nothing Was The Same features not one, but two beat switches for Drake to do his thing over. Each portion of the beat samples the same Whitney Houston song differently.

Perhaps in hindsight, this song will be remembered for being what set off the latest version of the Pusha and Drake beef because this is what Pusha responded to on ‘Infrared’, but the song deserves praise irrespective of it. The man said he did chin ups on the bar he set for himself.

On an album that was criticized for not living up to expectations, ‘Weston Road Flows’ is Drake in his comfort zone, making us feel like we know him in the span of a few minutes. We love the KD shoutout too.

It’s tough to sample something as iconic as JAY-Z’s ‘Song Cry’ for your own song and hold your own, but that’s what Drake did on ‘When To Say When’. Note the “certified lover man” nod to his future album before we knew that that was the title.

‘Wu-Tang Forever’ isn’t as gangsta as people feel a song with that name should be and that’s exactly why Drake called it that. The song is called that because of his repetition of “it’s yours” in the chorus. The way he blends his rapping and singing on this might be unmatched.

We’ve all listened out for Drake’s breath and tried to time us rapping “kush rolled, glass full, I prefer the better things” with him at some point or another. Drake and Nicki have a few collaborations in the bag, but this early one takes the cake for us.