The 30 Best Drake Verses, Ranked

Album: So Far Gone
Producer: Kanye West
Label: OVO

Long before Drake was toppling his peers, Drake was heeding warnings from his DJ, Future the Prince.

The message: you'd better kill if you have the moxie to take on a Kanye West beat. This wasn't Aubrey's first stab at a 'Ye instrumental—that goes to the "Barry Bonds" freestyle from his second mixtape, Comeback Season—but his hijacking of "Say You Will" came with more eyes on him than ever before.

On "Say What's Real," Drake builds a foundation of emotional vulnerability and career-minded bravado, somehow without a trace of cognitive dissonance. He opens with a declaration of loneliness and closes with a declaration of greatness, filling in the core of the hookless song with "I can't believe I'm here" moments, mixed reactions to the consequences of success, and plots to take it all further—his own version of keeping it real. After ruminating on Future's warning he raps, "I think this got the 'Making of a Legend' feel." —Ian Servantes

Album: Care Package
Producer: The Fam, Boi-1da
Label: OVO

Drake sounds cool and cocky on “Draft Day.” In the first few lines he alludes to conversations with god and dubs himself the heavenly father’s “darkest angel, probably.”

From there, he’s blowing his horn in every direction: Jay-Z, Kanye West—even Chance the Rapper, for no good reason, gets oh so rudely glanced at. He revisits and modifies the central boast of “Headlines,” the one about catching a body:

Know some Somalis that say we got it Wallahi
Get us donuts and coffee, we'll wait for him in the lobby
And I gotta tell him chill, Sprite got me on payroll
Let that man live, they say "Okay, if you say so"

What was once an earnestly offered threat is now a slick joke about endorsements, and anyway, bodies can be laid to rest in the booth and there’s so much more shellfish to try. —Ross Scarano

Album: What a Time to Be Alive
Producer: Noah “40” Shebib
Label: A1, Epic, OVO Sound, Freebandz, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

The lone Drake solo song on What a Time to Be Alive is a strong message to the game.

Throughout the lengthy verse, Drake reminds listeners that his circle is smaller than ever now—likely a result of the Meek beef—but maintains that he and his crew are stronger than ever. Elite flexing mixed with plenty of memorable lines and we arrive at yet another stellar Drake moment. —Zach Frydenlund

Album:  Nothing was the Same
Producer: Boi-1da, Detail, Jordan Evans, Matthew Burnett & The Order
Label: OVO, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

"Pound Cake" caught Drake when he was confident but not yet spiteful, basking in the joy of being the most popular rapper on the planet without all the opps real and imagined entering the picture. He's having the time of his life, and he's happy to let us know: "Yeah/ Uh, after hours at Il Mulino/ Or Sotto Sotto, just talking women and vino/ The contract like '91 Dan Marino."

The song finds Drizzy inviting Jay-Z and Timbaland onto a Magna Carta Holy Grail loosie and proceeding to steal the show.

We also get some insight into the chip Drake's been carrying since before anyone knew his name. He was a bullied nerd growing up, and he never forgot it: "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."

It explains why he holds vendettas so strongly, why he's always looking to prove himself—the score has never really been settled. —Will Schube

Album: Iceman
Producer: Boi-1da, London Cyr, Ambezza, b4u, Ben10k, Fierce, Nico Baran, OZ, Patron , Ryan Bakalarczyk & Wraith9
Label: OVO, Republic

Verse: 1

Like a lot of the songs on Iceman, this one features a beat switch. And while the production improves in the second half, the most vicious moment comes in the first. Here Drake gets his revenge o former Toronto Raptors player DeMar DeRozan, who was in the "Not Like Us" video. Drake raps with a controlled, seething anger, spitting:

“I sent 'em a sack 'cause I wanted you shipped to the king / When you was a part of the team / We used to be plannin' our Mexico trip in the spring / We must've been dealin' in spur of the moment / 'Cause why did we think you could get us a ring? / They braggin' 'bout how you went home, the fuck are they on? / Crodie, we threw 'em away”

Drake has made a career of feeling scorned by women. Turns out he's just as poignant when rapping about the men who he feels switched sides on him. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Album: Nothing Was the Same
Producer: Noah “40” Shebib
Label: Aspire, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Verse: 2

The second verse of “Tuscan Leather” is all about talk—who is doing it behind Drake’s back, who he’s not talking to, who he’s tired of hearing from (and about).

He’s remorseful for neglecting his friendship with Nicki Minaj: “That’s why I need her in my life, to check me when I’m tripping.” He’s grading the output of his (lesser) peers: “You get an E for effort.” He’s seen the comments and he’s voting fuck you.

Presumably he hears about the social media talk about if he has classic albums and I’d bet it’s what aggravates him the most: “I’m tired of hearin' about who you’re checking for now/Just give it time, we’ll see who’s still around a decade from now.” —Ross Scarano

Album: Iceman
Producer: Flywilliums & Ovrkast.
Label: OVO, Republic

There’s a somewhat tragic dissonance with this song. Ovrkast's soulful Deneice Williams sample—a Brown Sugar cover celebrating carefree independence—serves as the backdrop for a claustrophobic, bitter, grievance-riddled Drake mega-verse.

He's vague-posting a little, but you don't have to squint hard to see LeBron James, J. Cole, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Kanye West, Pharrell and Kendrick Lamar on the list of targets here, in the midst of an album that takes subliminal and overt shots at what feels like half the rap celebrities in America.

Some of the best pure bars on Iceman can be found here along with the best swipe on the album—at DJ Khaled for his willful silence on Palestine.

But the song is a taciturn bummer, watching Drake reenact the cover of Take Care, as the mogul swaddled in silk and gold, beset on all sides by enemies and alone in his mansion at the head of the table. A decade and a half into the Drake project it’s an image, and a vibe you either can’t stand, or cherish as the artist at his most vulnerable and resilient. —Abe Beame

Album:  For All The Dogs: Scary Hours Edition
Producer: Conductor Williams & Jimmy Q
Label: OVO, Republic
Verse: 3

Released just weeks after the divisive For All the Dogs, the third edition of his Scary Hours project features a Drake that is focused and locked in: the extra six tracks were written and recorded in the span of five days.

The standout from the project is "Stories From My Brother," which features a ridiculous rap performance from Drake, especially in that last verse. Every line here is a punchline, in that old school, mix rapper kind of way—with lines, like “My brother say I'm better than everyone, he biased as fuck/Blood is thicker than water, nigga, his iron is up/And if you keep eyein' me down, trust me, his iron is up.” —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Album: Take Care
Producer: T-Minus
Label: Aspire, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

After a quick simile casually mentioning an iconic country singer, Drake sets an ex apart from the rest: the one who goes to Georgia State.

He delivers those first two bars slowly and then accelerates, packing a quintessential cliché Drake tale—the distanced ex whom he still romanticizes—into a double-timed verse as intriguing and technically impressive as he's ever made.

He doesn't waste a single syllable detailing their date, where they took the sushi to go and told the staff don't even plate it, and jumping years ahead to when their capital-r Relationship is in the past, as well as his life sans fame.

But the time elapsed doesn't stop them from talking from time to time, even though the only real emotion comes out when Drake is wasted. Here is Drake, simultaneously the everyman who uses alcohol as a crutch for emotional admissions, the lyricist capable of having you grasp for breath as you try to rap along, and the dude who has albums to drop and women to call. —Ian Servantes

Album: If You're Reading This It's Too Late
Producer: Boi-1da, Frank Dukes, Sevn Thomas
Label: OVO Sound, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

Slick talk Drake should be everybody's favorite Drake. If you're going to claim king, you need to let the game know that you can burn a track. On "6PM in New York," he doesn't call anybody by name, but the subliminals are there. Tyga, Kendrick, Kanye, and Push all catch strays. The "You need to act your age and not your girl's age" line is especially clever and vicious​.

 "6PM in New York" is no hook, straight bars. Rap is a sport, especially if you're gunning for that No. 1 spot in the hearts and minds of the public. —Angel Diaz

Album: N/A
Producer: Boi 1da, Jahaan Sweet
Label: N/A

"I'm in shock. The nerve. The audacity." From those opening words, and the exhausted sigh that followed, listeners knew Drake's response to Pusha-T's shots on "Infrared" was going to be something big.

Interestingly, the most vicious disses were aimed not at Pusha, but instead at Drake's idol-turned-rival Kanye West. As it turned out, one of the song's best moments—Drizzy's blink-and-you'll-miss-it pun on "ring" that named Pusha's fiancé—was the very thing that inspired King Push to deliver his knockout blow on "The Story of Adidon." —Shawn Setaro

Album: N/A
Producer: Vinylz, Ging, Boi-1da, 40 & Nineteen85
Label: N/A

Though it never found a home on an official release, Drake’s “0 to 100 / The Catch Up” remains a surprisingly massive hit within the 6 God’s catalog.

The song was nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2015 Grammys, and the beat for the cut is so hard that Diddy claimed Drake stole it. (The drama spilled out into the public, when the duo got into a fight at a Miami nightclub.)

Drake deserves full ownership for the track, though, bringing his absolute A game to the song. Like all of his best verses, Drizzy blends quotable bars with introspective punches. Here, he ends the verse with a powerful reflection: “Since my dad used to tell me he was coming to the house to get me/ He ain't show up/ Valuable lesson, man, I had to grow up.” —Will Schube

Album: Take Care
Producer: Chase N. Cashe
Label: Aspire, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Verse: 2

Forget all the pettier moments in his catalog and just live in this song—there’s something legitimately sweet about Drake dividing up the periods of his life according to his great loves, right?

Of course, that’s not what makes the second verse of “Look What You’ve Done” so special. There’s an unusual economy and moving callousness in his language, in particular when he summarizes his single-parent household: “boo-hoo, sad story, Black American dad story.”

The brevity and onomatopoeia suggest defensive posturing, a reluctance to dwell on the painful thing, and also a refusal to let the father’s absence define the life of the child. It’s also a way of speeding up the story to get to the good part: his uncle’s generosity and love.

The man enlarged Drake’s world, but the unfair shortcomings of the world never disappear. His uncle lends him the Lexus, and now Drake’s “a young kid...hoping [he] don’t get arrested.” The Static Major sample, like all the other details, keep the song bittersweet, a reminder to show your gratitude while there’s still time. —Ross Scarano

Album: Certified Lover Boy
Producer: Cardo Got Wings, Dez Wright, knd, Maneesh & Dude Clayy
Label: OVO, Republic
Verse: 2

Drake and Kanye West were once feuding to the point where Ye was posting Drizzy's address on Instagram.

Drake took the opportunity to go after his one-time idol, the man who helped shape his entire artistic identity, and turn the betrayal into fuel.

It also marks another entrant into Drake’s time stamp series, paying homage to the Toronto neighborhood where Drake's 100 million dollar mansion is located.

Drake addresses ghostwriting rumors and his complicated relationship with Kanye, rapping: "Letting me take the rap for that Casper the Ghost shit/ While you finding all of the loopholes." Drake seems genuinely hurt and confused by the betrayal—and it's that wounded register, more than the bars themselves, that makes "7am" one of his best diss tracks to date. —Will Schube

Album: Care Package
Producer: Noah “40” Shebib
Label: OVO
Verse: 1

Drake post-Thank Me Later and pre-Take Care was a force to be reckoned with.

Not only did he play a major role on DJ Khaled's hit single, "I'm on One," but he also bested Rick Ross on his own shit and dropped "Dreams Money Can Buy," a beautiful, smooth track that described his quick ascension through the rap ranks.

The first verse was particularly telling of Drizzy's plan to continue his climb up the ladder—"I want art money" is a nod toward Hov if we've ever heard one. "Everybody yelled, 'Surprise!' I wasn't surprised/That's only 'cause I been waiting on it," he raps of his success, and it's clear Drake won't be satisfied until he's at the top. —Edwin Ortiz

Album: Nothing Was the Same
Producer: DJ Dahi
Label: OVO Sound, Aspire, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Verse: 3

If Nothing Was the Same is Drake's Bar Mitzvah, "Worst Behavior" is the centerpiece.

Aubrey's done keeping it cute. No more bashful bars about being the guy right now and uncomfortable with it. He turns Ma$e's jiggy bars into a sauced up taunt. It sounds more like "Who's hot? *You're not." He then proceeds to black out one one of his most technically impressive verses, with one casually insane boast after another.

Like, say, chill tennis one-on-ones with Serena at his resort-ass estate. The stunting is forever immortalized. —Frazier Tharpe

Album: N/A
Producer: Boi-1da, Tay Keith, Mark Ronson, Fierce, Kevin Mitchell (Producer), Dramakid, Preme & Jordan Fox
Label: N/A
Verse: 2

Two songs into his sprawling beef with Kendrick Lamar, Drake left no stone unturned on the merciless “Family Matters” and had some leftover smoke for his other rap enemies.

Clocking in at 7 minutes, the diss track, which followed “Push Ups” (and the controversial “Taylor Made Freestyle”) sees Drizzy effortlessly mock his adversaries over three beat switches and damning claims that music pundits sank their teeth into.

The second verse is the best. He doesn’t spend much time on Kendrick, rather taking the 1v20 fight dead on, taking aim at everyone else, from Metro Boomin, Rick Ross, The Weeknd and ASAP Rocky, in a mthethical, also way featuring a verse in an incredible pocket. Obisoully Not Like Us” would come soon after this and dampen the song’s impact but this is still an amazing moment.

Album: Take Care
Producer: Just Blaze
Label: Aspire, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

Two years after bodying a Just Blaze beat earmarked for a legend, Drake delivered a proper collaboration with the veteran producer with “Lord Knows.”

The anthem features one lengthy verse from the Toronto native that highlights his boastful nature (“Places they say they've been, we actually going for real”), insecurities (“I don't trust these hoes at all”), and an aspirational perspective that has become synonymous with his brand. “I'm a descendent of either Marley or Hendrix,” he raps without thinking twice, his uninterrupted stream of self-assured rhymes gaining steam with each and every punchline.

Take Care was laced with #moodmusic from the OVO star; "Lord Knows" was a reminder he could still go in when he wanted to. —Edwin Ortiz

Album: Her Loss
Producer: OZ, Nik D, Noel Cadastre, Sucuki & LOOF
Label: OVO, Republic

Unrelatable Drake is the best Drake.

Case in point: the intro for "Middle of the Ocean" when he mentions that he's, "in the Missoni room at the Byblos." Like, what the hell are we supposed to do with that? Good for you, Drake.

Even funnier? He rattles off a six minute cut featuring grievances, brags, and everything in between. "Middle of the Ocean" has it all: an O'Jays sample, an outro from Birdman, and a vicious barb directed at Alexis Ohanian. Drake, reporting from the most beautiful hotel room on the planet, still hung up on the co-founder of Reddit. This is peak Drake. —Will Schube

Album: Come Home the Kids Miss You
Producer: TT Audi, Ace G, Boi-1da & Ryan Bakalarczyk
Label: Generation Now, Atlantic

Drake showed Jack Harlow how it's done.

Riding a minimalist Boi-1da co-produced beat, Drake delivers contemplative lines that tackle everything from "abandonment issues" stemming from his parents' split to friendship betrayals.

Where Harlow seems in awe at the level of fame he's reached, Drizzy's verse looks at the flipside, sharpening the ruthlessness he'd leaned into since his 2015 mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late. The rapper even predicted that the fallouts in his personal life would spill over into rap two years before publicly feuding with his contemporaries.

Looking back on "Churchill Downs," the verse's centerpiece line—"My urges for revenge are uncontrollable"—feels like more of a promise than a threat. —Jaelani Turner-Williams

Album: N/A
Producer: Zaytoven
Label: Migos Music

Has the Drake buzz ever been hotter than what it was in the summer of '13? When news broke that he'd laid a verse to a bubbling banger for an up-and-coming trio by the name of Migos, anticipation hit a fever pitch. It's hard to remember in these days of damn near over-saturation, but the Boy had been largely radio silent at the time. So quiet we were like, “WTF is he planning?”

Then it dropped, and he glided over a beat so far out of his wheelhouse so effortlessly, he didn't need his own single to take the summer. Two thousand and thirteen was the year dedicated to proving Drake as the foremost new class graduate headed to hall-of-fame status. We should've known we were in for a great album after he took the victory lap in advance. —Frazier Tharpe

Album: Scary Hours 2
Producer: Boi-1da, Keanu Beats, FNZ & Austin Powerz
Label: OVO, Republic

The lyrical equivalent of Sam Rothstein’s rosè tinted chunky goliath frames in Casino—a four minute and fifteen second epic that is as opulent and indulgent in its heft as it is in its content; a jewel encrusted faberge egg from the era before Drake and Ross were enemies and were still each other’s favorite collaborators.

It’s a verse that spans the globe, switching locations more often than a Bond film, from Croatia to Vegas to the Florida Keys to Dubai back home to Toronto.

Drake lets Boi-da’s beat shimmer and breathe under him, taking breaks from his couplets like he’s sporadically returning to the mic to spit new articles of ephemera from his life: Diary entries, text messages from high powered acquaintances, the scattered observations and receipts he’s collected in between the bars.

With hindsight the verse is bittersweet, a scroll of numbers that will never pick up again, littered with Drake’s onetime close friends and collaborators (DeMar DeRozan, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Dolla Bill, Ross himself) who have either faded from his life or shuffled off this mortal coil. —Abe Beame

Album: More Life
Producer: Boi-1da, Allen Ritter, Noah "40" Shebib
Label: OVO Sound, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

The final track on More Life, “Do Not Disturb” is Drake at his most contemplative. Throughout the song, Drizzy vacillates between reflecting on how far he's come and aspiring to reach the next stage of his already massive career. The reigning theme of the track, though, is his fear of his life spinning out of his control: “Scary whenever I close my eyes at night/Wakin’ up to public statements about my private life.” Fast-forward a couple of years and Drake was dealing with the aftermath of Pusha-T’s exposure of his previously hidden child.

Looking back, it’s easy to see why Drizzy was so wound up. —Kiana Fitzgerald

Album: Take Care
Producer: Doc McKinney, The Weeknd
Label: Aspire, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic

Verse: 3

The biggest complaint about Drake's Take Care is the length. And it's true—the album is a long journey. But nestled at the very end is "The Ride," simply one of the best songs in his catalog. With emotions pouring out, Drizzy's third verse on the song is truly elite, weaving in and out of his typical realness while laying down punchlines that still ring true today: "Still scorching as if I didn't notice/ You niggas getting older, I see no threat in Yoda." —​Zach Frydenlund

Album: N/A
Producer: Noah "40" Shebib, Kanye West
Label: Young Money, Cash Money, Motown

“Two Birds, One Stone” was a moment of foreshadowing. In the 2016 cut that came out a few months in advance of More Life, Drake douses an already growing fire of a feud between October's Very Own and G.O.O.D. Music with a splash of kerosene.

In addition to taking shots at Kid Cudi’s mental heath (“You were the man on the moon/Now you just go through your phases”), Drake also called Pusha-T’s street credibility into question, in dramatic fashion: “But really it's you with all the drug dealer stories/That's gotta stop, though/You made a couple chops and now you think you Chapo.” This verse, combined with continual poking and prodding spread across several years, culminated in Pusha-T’s world-stopping “Story of Adidon” diss, aimed squarely at Drake exactly one month before his much-hyped 2018 album Scorpion dropped. —Kiana Fitzgerald

Album: Astroworld
Producer: Hit-Boy, OZ, Tay Keith, MIKE DEAN, CuBeatz, Rogét Chahayed & MD Beatz
Label: Cactus Jack, Grand Hustle, Epic

The Astroworld centerpiece is a strange, brilliant patchwork quilt of a banger that enlists multiple producers to all bring different flavors of heat, something only a carnie ringmaster and showman like Travis Scott at his most assured could land.

Drake has the thankless task of following the titanic bounce and pocket mastery of the track’s second movement, a comparative pressure release of a whistling Tay Keith beat made for sitting in the back of a chauffeured luxury sedan at night, speeding with the windows down and neon blurring, faded off a combination of top shelf liquor and muscle relaxers.

Drake wisely doesn’t attempt to match Scott’s energy, parrying with hushed, lavish shit talk that relies on repetition (“like a light”) and vibes to land the plane on a pop-rap blockbuster classic. —Abe Beame

Album: Care Package
Producer: Boi-1da, Vinylz, Nikhil Seetharam
Label: OVO

You underestimated greatly, and Aubrey is fucking fed up.

Don't think he can hold his own with rap's best? You didn't think he deserved to be the poster boy for the new generation? He'll prove you wrong later on the album, but not before making you sweat the entire summer after dropping one hell of an appetizer. Forget IYRTITL—*this* is Drake at his most villainous, with bars that even made rappers who consider him fam do a double-take.

Early 2013 found Drizzy at the dawn of a new phase. Fitting that he released the mood music during the wee hours of the morning.— Frazier Tharpe

Album: Rich Forever
Producer: The Beat Bully
Label: Maybach Music Group, Def Jam

Who could've predicted Drake would flame a vet like Common in just a few bars?

In between simping over an ex or dry-snitching on a dude to get the drawls, Drizzy can surprise you at times. Rap needs more slick talk like this, especially from one of the game's more prominent artists.

The genre will forever be a sport and like the NBA (for better or worse), it's gotten a little too friendly. When he opened up "Stay Schemin'" with "It bothers me when the gods get to actin' like the broads," I clutched my chest. Like, "Oh, he 'bout that action, huh?" —Angel Diaz

Album: N/A
Producer: Daxz
Label: Cash Money

Verse: 1

Drake’s situation with Meek was a real threat, with the Philly rapper calling him out for using a ghostwriter. Initially it was unclear how Drake would respond, but when he did, it was with a heavy punch. "Charged Up" arrived first, but "Back to Back" was the knockout.

Drake brings out a full-blown arsenal in the first verse, with stinging punchlines and a devastating flow that helped turn the diss song into a full blow hit. Like, he really rapped "This ain't what she meant when she told you to open up more" on a song that was nominated for a Grammy. —Zach Frydenlund

Album: Take Care
Producer: Vinylz, Frank Dukes, Alan Ritter
Label: OVO

“4PM in Calabasas”—yes, the entire freestyle—is Drake’s best verses, for no reason than it showcases what can happen when The Boi gets in his bag.

The disrespect levels are at an all-time high, as he takes nonstop shots at Diddy using Diddy’s own vocal style, patterns, and ad libs. Over a beat that sounds like a Bad Boy track from the late ‘90s, Drake has the nerve to lift and weaponize iconic lines from Puff’s own catalog, with darts like, “Take that, take that, no love in they heart so they fake that/DiCaprio level the way they play that.”

A master at the aural subtweet, Drake had no time for it here; “4PM” was full of direct shots and nobody was safe. —Dria Roland