AlbumsExclusive

The Ultimate Drake Album

blame it on Shake May 9, 2016
ultimate-drake-cover

With four studio albums and a pair of commercial mixtapes, Drake has put together a pretty impressive catalog of music.

So what we decided to do at The House of Dope is create our own album of Drake’s best work. However, it’s not randomly selected songs. That would be too easy. Instead, we challenged ourselves by pitting all of the Track 1 songs against each other, followed by Track 2 and so on. We ranked each song by track and then created a point system to settle on a winner. The results are interesting as some tracks were ultra competitive (the album intros) while others ended up being one-sided beatdowns (“Lord Knows” was one of the only unanimous picks at Track 11). And considering that all Drake albums (including the original So Far Gone mixtape) have no less than 17 songs, just about every track had a few songs to choose from.

So, without further ado, here is the ultimate Drake album titled What A Time To Take Care So Thank Me Later Because Nothing About The Views So Far Is Too Late.

[Editor’s Note] The physical edition of the album, “Marvin’s Room” and “Buried Alive (Interlude)” are listed as a single track, and Kendrick Lamar wasn’t credited. All digital platforms have the songs split and Kendrick’s name listed as a feature. We went with the version that actually gave credit to the pen behind the best performance of the album.

Oh, and because we actually give a damn what you think, we also put together a poll so you can vote for your picks and we’ll share the results in the coming days.

“Legend”

PRODUCED BY PARTYNEXTDOOR
IYRTITL

Some may be surprised with our selection for the best intro for this ultimate Drake album. The voting came down to “Legend” and “Tuscan Leather” with “Legend” squeaking out the victory. It’s Drake in his element as he’s singing his shit talking over a sample of Ginuwine’s “So Anxious.” This is arguably when Drake is at his best when he’s singing about his greatness over an R&B sample. It encompasses exactly who he is and serves as the perfect introduction.

“Furthest Thing”

PRODUCED 40 & JAKE ONE
NOTHING WAS THE SAME

The second track was yet another close vote between a track off If You’re Reading This… (“Energy”), So Far Gone (“Houstatlantavegas”) and Nothing Was The Same but “Furthest Thing” is vintage Drake. But what really puts “Furthest Thing” over is how the beat backflips into a vicious Jake One production for Drake to boast over.

“Successful” f. Trey Songz & Lil Wayne

PRODUCED BY 40
SO FAR GONE

We had to go back to where it all began as “Successful” had little trouble distancing itself from the competition. This remains one of Drake’s better songs as Trey Songz and Lil Wayne both do their thing while the 6 God was busy establishing what would be his trademark sound. The hook still goes to this day.

track4

“Know Yourself”

PRODUCED BY BOI-1DA, VINYLZ + SYKSENSE
IYRTITL

Yet another If You’re Reading This… clocks in for the fourth track as “Know Yourself” had e’rybody running through the six with their woes.  It starts with Drake offering some subdued narrative about Johnny Bling and then the beat morphs into a dark bleeding synth with twinkling keys that’s about as menacing as anything we’ve heard from Drake. I mean, who wasn’t running through the six with their woes?

“Take Care” f. Rihanna

PRODUCED BY JAMIE XX + 40
TAKE CARE

The nod for the 5th track went to the Rihanna assisted title track from Drake’s sophomore album. Why? Because, again, this is where Drake thrives. A Gil Scott Heron sample, some Caribbean riddims and pleading with Rihanna to keep the relationship intact was a recipe for pop brilliance. Jamie XX really doesn’t get enough credit for crafting an incredibly accessible record and Rihanna really sounded at her best here.

track6

“Worst Behavior”

PRODUCED BY DJ DAHI
NOTHING WAS THE SAME
track7

“From Time” f. Jhené Aiko

PRODUCED BY CHILLY GONZALES + 40
NOTHING WAS THE SAME
track8

“Shut It Down” f. The-Dream

PRODUCED BY 40 + OMEN
THANK ME LATER
track9

“Jumpman” f. Future

PRODUCED BY METRO BOOMIN
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE
track10

“The Language”

PRODUCED BY BOI-1DA, ALLEN RITTER + VINYLZ
NOTHING WAS THE SAME

Leading into the halfway point of the album, this is usually the part where the more radio-ready singles land—in between the songs that tend to learn towards humans with XX chromosomes (read: the ladies). Songs like “Worst Behavior” (Nothing Was The Same) and “Jumpman” (What A Time To Be Alive) instantly make the list, as the two were among some Drizzy’s most popular and memorable singles, thanks in part to their respective hooks and repeatable verses and lyrics.

A pair of duets—“From Time” with Jhené Aiko, and “Shut It Down” with The-Dream—also end up here, because the ladies love cool Drake, particularly when he’s rapping or crooning about love, butterflies, and all that jazz.

Finally, the somewhat overlooked “The Language” wraps up the first half of this list, thanks in part to a combination of Drake’s braggadocio raps, a catchy hook and Birdman’s non sequitur-addled outro verse: “Showtime, headlines, big time/Sunshine, tote nines, bust mines/Flatline, hard grind, high life/Stay fly, it’s jet time.”

track11

“Lord Knows” f. Rick Ross

PRODUCED BY JUST BLAZE
TAKE CARE

“Uptown” f. Bun B & Lil Wayne

PRODUCED BY ARTHUR MCARTHUR
SO FAR GONE

“Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music” f. Jay Z

PRODUCED BY 40 + JORDAN EVANS
NOTHING WAS THE SAME

“The Real Her” f. André 3000 + Lil Wayne

PRODUCED BY 40 + DRAKE
TAKE CARE

“All Me” f. Big Sean & 2 Chainz

PRODUCED BY KEY WANE + 40
NOTHING WAS THE SAME

Kicking off the second half of the album is the section of songs with Drake standing toe-to-toe with some of hip hop’s greatest writers. Rick Ross, Bun B, Lil Wayne, JAY Z, André 3000, Big Sean, and 2 Chainz: all top-notch emcees bring their respective A-games, and Drake admirably holds his own.

It isn’t a coincidence that these tracks are among some of Drake’s best songs thus far. Just Blaze put his foot into the production for “Lord Knows,” which ranks among The DopeHouse’s Top 5 songs of Drake’s catalog. He managed to grab an ultra-rare verse from 3 Stacks for “The Real Her.” “Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music” is arguably better than the first collaboration between Jigga and Drizzy (“Light Up”). “Uptown” is one of Drake’s most underrated tracks. And “All Me” rides, although Big Sean arguably takes the crown for his closing verse. Extra points if you add in the version with the Kardinal Offishall-sampling bonus verse from Drizzy.

“HYFR” f. Lil Wayne

PRODUCED BY T-MINUS
TAKE CARE

Where Drake’s influence may go overlooked, due to the memes we make, the way we dance (or, TRY to dance a la “Hotline Bling”), or the way we make fun of him for sharing the feelings we secretly indulge in, is in the things he actually says.

A lot of 21st century jargon amongst high schoolers looking for captions to put on their pictures has come from Drake popularizing it. There’s the prayer hands emojis, we only live once and people are running everywhere with their WOEs. Another mixed in the jumble is “HYFR,” or “Hell Yeah Fuckin’ Right,” which beat out solid contenders in “Jungle” and “Too Good.”

“6PM In New York”

PRODUCED BY BOI-1DA, FRANK DUKES + SEVN THOMAS
IYRTITL

This one was easy. Only having to beat out “Brand New” and “Practice,” the Boi1da-produced “6PM In New York” took the top spot. The If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late closer has Drake recollecting on his success and personal relationships, but it’s delivered with a supreme sense of confidence—which is usually where Drake is at his best. (See: “Lord Knows,” “Pound Cake”) Between a slew of shots at Tyga (and if we’re being real, he was beating a dead horse at this point), Drake shouts out his own affluence over damn near 60 bars on the hook-less song. You gotta love it.

“The Ride” f. The Weeknd

PRODUCED BY DOC MCKINNEY + THE WEEKND
TAKE CARE

As we get toward the end of the album, the final spots get less and less competitive because, well, only half of Drakes albums made it to 18 songs (including bonus cuts). And oddly enough, the 18th spot on three of Drake’s albums sound pretty similar: slow-tempo, R&B-driven, sample-heavy cuts with a routine Drake flow—whether it be singing or rapping.

But only one of these spots has The Weeknd, and only one of these spots has rapping that doesn’t quite reach eye-rolling, and that’s “The Ride,” which really as the best overall sound of the other two (“How About Now” and “Fire & Desire”).

“Views”

PRODUCED BY MANEESH, 40 + BO-1DA
VIEWS

Remember what was said about “6PM in New York”? And what was written about “Lord Knows”? Similar sentiments can be said for “Views,” a soulful, out-of-body experience for Drake, who occasionally likes to reassure himself of his talents and affluence over gospel-driven production.

RELATED: It’s Time For Drake To Evolve

Views, the album, might find Drake staying inside the lane he’d been driving in for a half a decade, but there’s no doubt the general consensus will be that the title track was one of the standouts of the sonically repetitive project.

“Hotline Bling”

PRODUCED BY NINETEEN85
VIEWS

The only real competition here was “Hate Sleeping Alone,” and while its sober forwardness in Drake’s discography of drunken confessions is commendable, “Hotline Bling” was too massive to set aside (even if it was only a “bonus track” on Views).

Released as loosie amidst Drake’s profile-building Meek Mill tiff, the song grabbed ahold of America for its minimalistic, repetitive and catchy approach. Nineteen85’s sped-up sample of Timmy Thomas’ “Why Can’t We Live Together” was the perfect backdrop for Drake to complain why he’s no longer a booty call. It’s only right a song where Drake complains that one of his exes found someone new and no longer needs to use him became the biggest hit of his career.

drake-ultimate-tracklist

So, how did we do? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to vote for your own version of What A Time To Take Care So Thank Me Later Because Nothing About The Views So Far Is Too Late—we’ll post the results later this week.

We also created Spotify and Apple Music playlists so you can take the LP with you.

Written by Andreas Hale, Meka Udoh & Patrick Glynn | ArtByShake