The 100 best Drake songs

In advance of Drake’s eighth album, For All The Dogs, these are his best songs (so far), from “TSU” to “Tuscan Leather” and “Crew Love” to “Controlla.”

By Nadine Smith, Vivian Medithi, Raphael Helfand, Arielle Lana LeJarde, Cady Siregar, Jordan Darville, Alex Robert Ross, David Renshaw

Drake is everywhere. His tracks follow us around, taking over every radio station, grocery store, and club. The discourse he inspires might be valuable or might be toxic, but always seems interminable. Even when he's not actively releasing new music, he's still there, taunting one NBA veteran or another from courtside at a Raptors game or creating tax issues for an unsuspecting fan. He memes and is memed. He's so ubiquitous for so many reasons that it's often easy to forget he's a versatile pop star who's capable of making great songs.

In advance of Drake's eighth proper album, For All The Dogs, out this Friday, we've pulled together 100 of Aubrey Graham's best songs (excluding tracks on which he's the featured artist). We've listed out 100-51, pulled out some lyrics from the next 40, and each made the case for the tracks that made the top 10. We look forward to everyone agreeing with us and nobody being upset.

Drake photographed for the 100th issue of The FADER. Mark Peckmezian / The FADER

100. “Knife Talk”
99. “Little Bit”
98. “Money in the Grave”
97. “Big Rings”
96. “On The Radar Freestyle (feat. Central Cee)”
95. “6 p.m. in New York”
94. “No Friends in the Industry”
93. “Can’t Take a Joke”
92. “Practice”
91. “We’ll Be Fine”
90. “Diamonds Dancing”
89. “Heat of the Moment”
88. “Back To Back”
87. “Can I”
86. “War”
85. “Blem”
84. “Jungle”
83. “Lust for Life”
82. “Down Hill”
81. “Make Me Proud (feat. Nicki Minaj)”
80. “Dreams Money Can Buy”
79. “Mob Ties”
78. “Wants and Needs (feat. Lil Baby)”
77. “Under Ground Kings”
76. “Over”
75. “Jimmy Cooks (feat. 21 Savage)”
74. “How Bout Now”
73. “Ratchet Happy Birthday”
72. “Free Spirit (feat. Rick Ross)”
71. “Up All Night (feat. Nicki Minaj)”
70. “Too Much (feat. Sampha)”
69. “Unforgettable (feat. Young Jeezy)”
68. “The Motion”
67. “Fake Love”
66. “Summer Sixteen”
65. “0 to 100 / The Catch Up”
64. “TSU”
63. “Feel No Ways”
62. “From Time (feat. Jhené Aiko)”
61. “Fancy (feat. T.I. and Swizz Beatz)”
60. “That’s How You Feel”
59. “Find Your Love”
58. “We Made It (Freestyle)”
57. “From Florida with Love”
56. “6 God”
55. “Rich Flex”
54. “IMY2 (feat. Kid Cudi)”
53. “You & the 6”
52. “Show Me a Good Time”
51. “KMT (feat. Giggs)”

Drake photographed for Issue 63 of The FADER. Jonathan Mannion / The FADER

50. “Summer Games”

How can you be angry on a night in July
And be warm with me when it's freezing outside

49. “The Ride”

And the girl you fuckin' hates you and your friends faded off shots of
What you ordered to forget about the game that you on top of

48. “Texts Go Green”

Texts go green, it hits a little different, don't it?
Know you miss the days when I was grippin' on it

47. “Houstatlantavegas”

And she live in a mindset that I could never move to
Until you find yourself, it's impossible to lose you

46. “Hours in Silence”

Could fuck the idea of him outta your mind
He said he rap, he ain't signed, that ain't a good sign

45. “Time Flies”

I just caught a shawty off a finsta
Just threw on a hoodie, it's a Crenshaw

44. “Chicago Freestyle (feat. Giveon)”

Hit one, she say she got a man
Hit another one, it goes green
Must've changed phones on the team
'Member when you let me in between
That was 2017

43. “Fire & Desire”

You never believe me
Told you I got Zs for these other girls sleepin' on 'em
Girl, I'm sleepy

42. “In My Feelings”

Kiki, do you love me? Are you riding?

41. “The Motto (feat. Lil Wayne)”

I'm the fuckin' man, y'all don't get it, do ya?
Type of money, everybody acting like they knew ya

40. “Worst Behavior”

Then it's back to L.A., open the mail, starin' at the check
Enough to make you throw up, man, it's gross what I net
I'm with my whole set, tennis matches at the crib
I swear I could beat Serena when she playin' with her left

Drake's cover for the 100th issue of The FADER. Mark Peckmezian / The FADER

39. “Come Thru”

Last night I brought DOA to the studio
They already had a stage and a booty pole

38. “Sticky”

Homer hangin’ on my neck
The bracelet matches the set
My brother named his ting Nadal
Let's stop all that back and forth over the net

37. “Headlines”

I had someone tell me I fell off, ooh, I needed that
And they wanna see me pick back up, well, where'd I leave it at?

36. “Forever (feat. Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem)”

Last name Ever, first name Greatest
Like a sprained ankle, boy, I ain't nothin' to play with

35. “Company (feat. Travis Scott)”

Is you single or what? I need a girl from the country
I need a girl from Kentucky, I need a shawty from Houston
I need a girl who gon' love me

34. “Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2 (feat. Jay-Z)”

My classmates, they went on to be chartered accountants
Or work with their parents
But thinkin' back on how they treated me
My high school reunion might be worth an appearance
Make everybody have to go through security clearance

33. “Ice Melts (feat. Young Thug)”

That must be why you move so... icy
Icy like 1017
Icy like there's nobody you’d ever need

32. “Madonna”

I don't know if you know, but I know who you are
You could be big as Madonna
Just get in the car

31. “Nonstop”

This a Rollie, not a stopwatch, shit don't ever stop

30. “9”

I made a decision last night that I would die for it
Just to show the city what it takes to be alive for it

29. “Shut It Down (feat. The-Dream)”

Put that fucking dress on and work it kind of vicious
Like somebody's taking pictures

28. “Legend”

Oh my God, oh my God, if I die, I'm a legend

27. “Crew Love (feat. The Weeknd)”

Smokin' weed under star projectors
I guess we'll never know where Harvard gets us

26. “Energy”

Ex-girl, she the female version of me
I got strippers in my life, but they virgins to me

25. “Laugh Now Cry Later (feat. Lil Durk)

Been wakin' up in the crib and sometimes I don't even know where I'm at
Please don't play that n***a songs in this party, I can't even listen to that

24. “30 for 30 Freestyle”

Wrote this shit on a bumpy flight on a summer night
Flyin' over Chattanooga, out here tryna spread the movement
I just got me the Mercedes Pullman
You n***as never heard of it, you gotta hit up Google

23. “Take Care (feat. Rihanna)”

It's my birthday, I'll get high if I want to
Can't deny that I want you, but I'll lie if I have to

22. “Furthest Thing”

And now you hate me, stop pretendin', stop that frontin', I can't take it
Girl, don't treat me like a stranger, girl, you know I seen you naked

21. “HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right) (feat. Lil Wayne)”

All my exes live in Texas like I'm George Strait

Drake photographed for Issue 63 of The FADER. Jonathan Mannion / The FADER

20. “5AM In Toronto”

Give these n***as the look, the verse, and even the hook
That's why every song sound like Drake featurin' Drake

19. “Passionfruit”

Listen
Seein' you got ritualistic
Cleansin' my soul of addiction for now
'Cause I'm fallin' apart

18. “Best I Ever Had”

And you don't even have to ask twice
You could have my heart or we could share it like the last slice

17. “Look What You’ve Done”

And your back hurt, and your neck hurt and you smokin' heavy
And I sit next to you, and I lecture you because those are deadly

16. “God’s Plan”

Don't pull up at 6 a.m. to cuddle with me

15. “Sweeterman (Remix)”

She heard the ting bend like banana So she wanna give me the adunana-ne, ohh

14. “Jumpman”

Jumpman, Jumpman, Jumpman, them boys up to somethin'
Uh, uh, uh, I think I need some Robitussin

13. “Childs Play”

Why you gotta fight with me at Cheesecake?
You know I love to go there
Say I'm actin' lightskin, I can't take you nowhere

12. “Portland (feat. Quavo and Travis Scott)”

Bitin' everybody, which is ironic
'Cause your next album probably won't ever see the light of day

11. “Started from the Bottom”

Boys tell stories 'bout the man
Say I never struggled, wasn't hungry, yeah, I doubt it

10. “Over My Dead Body”

Earlier this year, Chantal Kreviazuk recalled transcribing the lyrics to her quicksilver chorus for “Over My Dead Body.” At the end of the hook, she sings “only, over my dead bawwwww.” Kreviazuk: “Your body’s already saying the words, and [so] you don’t have to think so much. [...] There was magic to the vocal. It sounded otherworldly.” Maybe that open-ended, quasi-alien quality is why this song has been remixed by everyone from DJ Paypal to Baby Osama to Rod Wave. Counterbalancing, Drake is firmly in our world, louche and self-assured: “Don't I got the shit the world wanna hear again?/Don't Michael Jordan still got his hoop earring in?” And it all sounds so good, “shout out to Asian girls/let the lights dim sum” almost goes off. — Vivian Medithi

9. “Tuscan Leather”

Running over six uncut minutes of all bars and no hooks, “Tuscan Leather” is Drake at his most extra and unnecessary, but that’s exactly what makes it so definitive. After all, what is the appeal of Drake if not how consistently extra he is? “Tuscan Leather” exudes unfiltered arrogance, as Drake saunters through a boom-bap victory lap. With an almost operatic multi-act structure, it’s a deliberately maximalist freestyle intro that playfully acknowledges how impossible it is to ignore Drake, no matter what he says or how long he says it for. But even at his most secure and seemingly overconfident, Drake can shift from triumphant to paranoid on a dime, from the undisputed champion coronating himself, to “feeling like Guy Pearce in Memento.” — Nadine Smith

8. “Hotline Bling”

Only Drake could take Timmy Thomas’s 1972 minimalist track "Why Can't We Live Together,” written in the wake of the Vietnam War, and turn it into a number about a late-night rendez-vous (he also owes a debt of gratitude to DRAM, to be clear). Sure, Drake’s pleading comes off as questionable and judgmental as his own jealousy clouds his desperation, but when you’re this down bad, the niceties don’t matter — and most importantly, Drake just doesn’t give a fuck. — Cady Siregar

7. “One Dance (feat. Wizkid and Kyla)”

The moral and aesthetic merits of Drake’s cultural cannibalism are the stuff of endless debate. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to argue with the results. By the time he released “One Dance” in April 2016, he’d already made his love of music from the West Indies and West Africa abundantly clear through collaborations with Popcaan, Wizkid, and Mavado, as well as his verse on Rihanna’s crossover hit “Work” just a few months earlier. Here, though, he makes his first bona fide pivot into the type of genre alchemy he’d later spend whole albums trying to recreate. Over a beat that heavily samples Crazy Cousinz’s club mix of Paleface and Kyla’s “Do You Mind” (“Baby, I like your style”), Drake hooks up with Wizkid for a second time, bridging the gaps between dancehall, Afrobeat, and UK funky so seamlessly it’s easy to forget the labels exist. And it’s much easier to let higher powers take a hold on the dance floor when you’re not thinking about labels. — Raphael Helfand

6. “Hold On, We’re Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan)”

If people didn't warm up to Drake's sing-rapping by Take Care, they probably changed their mind once they heard the second single of Nothing Was The Same. "Hold On, We're Going Home" is a Champagne Papi staple. Over the straightforward 40-produced beat, the ballad begins with Drake's iconic opener, "I got my eyes on you, you're everything that I see. I want your hot love and emotion endlessly." It's infectious — when this track comes on, everyone becomes Pia Mia at Kanye's dinner table. — Arielle Lana LeJarde

5. “Know Yourself”

Drake has always marked himself out as someone with a small circle of trusted insiders, no new friends necessary. But that isolationist streak belies his longtime sparring partner: his sorrow streak. On "Know Yourself" he refuses to adorn himself in jewelry or to share the stage with his peers. Instead, he's obsessing over cash, women, and his status as he roams the street late at night. "You know how that shit go," he tuts, not to sound relatable but more as a reminder to himself of the times he's felt this kind of way before. At some point in the past decade, Drake's melancholy arguably curdled into something a little more bitter. "Know Yourself" might just mark the last time the misery felt reflective, too. — David Renshaw

4. “Trophies”

There’s a meme where the cowboy emoji takes off his mask to reveal that he’s actually sad underneath it all and sometimes that is exactly what Drake’s music feels like, as it does on “Trophies,” where Hit-Boy flips an insane sample off Cowboy Country into an endless crescendo. Drake has always been the type to ask a woman “what’s the move?” like he hasn’t already called an Uber to the mink rug at home, but even fuckboys get in their feelings, and want a bit of external validation. Sometimes the trophies just happen to come in the shape of enormous brassieres. (Quavo sounded better on the hook though.) — VM

3. “Controlla”

At the time, "Controlla" felt like a disappointment: Where was Popcaan, whose buttery Auto-Tuned entreaties on the song’s leaked version swept over the pixie-perfect dancehall beat and immediately lent credence to Drake’s fledgling Patois? But time has been kind to both “Controlla” and Views. Rather than relying heavily on a dancehall icon (a Beenie Man sample and cameo appear briefly for color), Drake is the main event. His feather-light coos promise total romantic supplication and shake off past wounds, classic Drake vulnerability with a new playfulness that could have originated from binging the Reggae Gold compilations. A pop star can’t become a legend without owning their transformations — by making “Controlla” all about himself, Drake was one step closer to becoming a music empire. — Jordan Darville

2. “Nice For What”

“Nice For What” is a genetically engineered empowerment anthem. It’s a chorus-free four-minute smash-together of Big Freedia, Lauryn Hill, and Drake reeling off lines aimed directly at Spotify playlists. It shouldn’t work… but it’s totally irresistible. Murda Beatz deserves plenty of credit for that, with Freedia’s fierce New Orleans bounce and Hill’s celestial “Ex Factor” crashing together spectacularly. But in front of those fireworks, this is Drake at his joyful, goofy, over-the-top best, sing-rapping about nights out with the girls through just enough of a smile. Nobody else could have come close to pulling it off. — Alex Robert Ross

1. “Marvins Room”

For a song that is in many ways the ur-text of Drake, a Rosetta Stone for all the petty resentments and toxic obsessions that have served as motifs over his career, it’s telling that “Marvins Room” opens with a voice that is not Aubrey Graham’s own. Over synthesizers as woozy as its protagonist’s vision, we hear one-half of a phone conversation with a real-life ex-lover of Drake’s named Ericka Lee. It sounds like a haunted fragment of a voicemail, but as Drake begins to vindictively croon, “Marvins Room” reveals itself as a conversation, repositioning the listener as an uncomfortable and almost voyeuristic eavesdropper to a private conversation. Drake’s spiteful venom goes down smooth as cough syrup, but the song is not his alone; it’s the product of a relationship between two people, and belongs as much to the women Drake has loved and conversely hated throughout his life as it does to him. — NS