Line #65 YMMV/Drake


1	* {{Anvilicious}}: "Nice for What", a song that gets straight to the point about how hard women work and how they don't need to submit to others who talk down on them. It helps that Drake subtly criticizes the hip-hop industry in the song for objectifying women.
2	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
3	** "Take Care": Even the AutoTune works well with the cold, regretful tone of the song.
4	** "Nice for What", featuring a funky, danceable beat sampling Music/LaurynHill as well as some great wordplay from Drake.
5	* BrokenBase: Debates on whether or not the quality of his material took a nosedive after ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late''.
6	* CrackPairing: Him and Music/SouljaBoy on "We Made It".
7	* EndingFatigue: Neither "We'll Be Fine" from ''Take Care'', "The Language" from ''Nothing Was the Same'' nor "Middle of the Ocean" from ''Her Loss'' need Birdman doing a 40-second+ outro of dull, cliched talking.
8	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Judging by critical reaction and sales, Music/{{Rihanna}} seems to be one whenever she appears on his songs and vice versa.
9	** When it comes to his projects, his ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late'' is quite well-liked due to its consistency.
10	* FandomHeresy: Discussed in "Fear", with "Don't take this the wrong way but/I never cried when [[Music/TupacShakur Pac]] died/ But I probably will when [[Music/JayZ Hov]] does". Later on he explained that it wasn't meant to be a diss, but that he was 9 when Tupac died and didn't really understand it.
11	* FandomRivalry:
12	** Drake fans vs. Common fans. This is not helped by the artists' various Twitter battles, although this has simmered down and the fanbases get along fine these days.
13	** Also Drake vs. Chris Brown fans. This got especially heated when Rihanna was involved. This calmed down once both Drake and Brown became friends and even talked about doing a joint album.
14	** The infamous Drake vs. Meek Mill beef, which fortunately ended in 2019 when both made amends and eventually squashed it and released "Going Bad" to aclame from both fanbases and the public at large.
15	** Drake vs Pusha T has been a heated debate as to whether Pusha's song, "Story of Adidon", is the greatest diss track since 2001's Ether, or a futile attempt to gain relevance. The biggest source of contention among fans is the fact that Pusha ousted Drake as a deadbeat father to the baby of a pornstar (Drake eventually conceding that he did have a son he hid from the public), with many debating whether or not it was right to do or merely crossed a personal line.
16	*** Drake vs. Kanye is also a popular one as result of this.
17	* GrowingTheBeard: First ''Take Care'', which refined his rap/R&B/pop aesthetic, and then ''Nothing Was the Same'', which combined all three styles into each song rather than separate genre tracks, went further. The singles he released habitually since ''Nothing Was The Same'''s release were where people who weren't already fans started to take notice however. He's even had comparisons to Music/JayZ.
18	** ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late'' is also considered this by many of his fans and non fans due to it being a well-constructed project front to back with many catchy and hard-hitting songs throughout. He also ''literally'' grew a beard around this time, which he's since mostly maintained.
19	* HarsherInHindsight:
20	** It's very clear which songs on ''Scorpion'' were written before and after Pusha T outed him as having and hiding an illegitimate child with a pornstar, with several lines being way more pertinent knowing the context behind it. "I'm Upset" in particular is especially awkward, as many lines are him transparently complaining about having to pay child support to a not-so-hypothetical baby mama "hoe", bragging about still having "seven years of doing what I want" (implying he intended to hide his son for ''much'' longer), and proudly comparing himself to ''his own'' DisappearedDad.
21	*** The situation around Drake's illegitimate child and his trying to hide it also casts a new light on some of his earlier lyrics, such as "I never get attracted to fans/'Cause the eager beaver could be the collapse of a dam" on "Ignant Shit" and "I could never have a kid, then be out here still kiddin' round" on "Portland".
22	** "Circo Loco" was controversial on release for the line "This bitch lie 'bout gettin' shots, but she still a stallion", which many interpreted as an attack on Music/MeganTheeStallion, accusing her of lying about being shot by Drake's rival-turned-friend Tory Lanez. What sends it into this territory though is that in December 2022, just under 2 months after its release, Lanez was convicted on three charges stemming from shooting Megan, and ended up sentenced to 10 years in prison.
23	* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: The music video for "God's Plan" is basically Drake going around and giving inordinate amounts of money to people to help them with their lives, such as paying for a girls' post-secondary education. He also does several meet-and-greets for different fans, with many of them crying in joy at the sight of him.
24	* HilariousInHindsight:
25	** On his album ''Graffiti'', Music/ChrisBrown had a song with a line "Drake would say that you're the best he ever had". Come the 2016 [=VMAs=]...
26	** Drake's verse in "Only" begins with him asserting that he and Music/NickiMinaj never had sex, but they would as soon as she and her boyfriend broke up. Not long after, Nicki broke up with her longtime boyfriend, Safaree Samuels and started dating Meek Mill, though they later broke up and Nicki ultimately began dating Kenneth Petty, who would later marry her in 2019.
27	* HoYay: "Rich Flex" has spawned a lot of memes and parodies revolving around how it sounds like Drake is flirting with Music/TwentyOneSavage.
28	* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Drake has been steadily gaining more and more criticism for this ''Views'' onward, with critics and fans becoming more aware of Drake's almost exclusive reliance on his signature sound. While he's managed to maintain success and score big hits anyway, his actual albums and various mixtapes have also been been criticized for being [[EndingFatigue too bloated]] and [[{{Padding}} homogenized with filler]], turning his soft, intentionally drowsy style into something boring and lifeless.
29	* MemeticMutation:
30	** YOLO (You Only Live Once), the titular "Motto".
31	** "Drake the type of nigga that (insert very polite or dorky action here)."
32	** "Started from the Bottom" has many memes based on its opening lines.
33	** "No New Friends" has its own Tumblr based on all of the new friends Drake has made over the years.
34	** "(thing) goin' ''up''... on a Tuesday!" – even though it's not his song, Drake's remix was undoubtedly what made the line go viral.
35	** His "Hotline Bling" music video featured Drake dancing; two poses he makes early on led to the phenomenon of [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/drakeposting "Drakeposting"]], in which Drake non-verbally voices disapproval of one thing followed by approval of another.
36	** "Hotline Bling" has often been compared to the [[UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} Wii Shop Channel]] music and vice versa. There's even a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYOEyzBFYa4 mashup]] of the two.[[note]]In reality, "Hotline Bling" samples the Timmy Thomas song "Why Can't We Live Together," but it's easy to hear why the songs all sound similar.[[/note]]
37	** "No don't do it, please don't do it" from "Headlines".
38	** The album artwork for ''Views'' (which has Drake Photoshopped to be sitting on top of the CN Tower) has gotten extremely popular just based off of people editing out Drake and making him sit on all kinds of things.
39	** Two from ''God's Plan''- the "She say do you love me" bar, as well as the image of Drake [[https://youtu.be/xpVfcZ0ZcFM?t=2m12s passionately hugging a teary eyed fan]].
40	*** Another one is playing the "God's Plan" video backwards, making it look like Drake is robbing the family he gives money to.
41	** The out-of-context line "I'm [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Obama]]" from his appearance on "Oprah's Bank Account", usually accompanied by [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nbCUp834mZQ/hq2.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEoCOADEOgC8quKqQMcGADwAQH4Ad4DgALgA4oCDAgAEAEYZSBIKEAwDw==&rs=AOn4CLBT-9_FiQS3O9vDiTCMXo-_9SH9ig him replacing Obama in an image with Obama in it]].
42	** Vegan cookie recipes[[labelnote:Explanation]]Drake entered a bizarre micro-feud in 2022 with -- of all people -- Anthony Fantano of WebVideo/TheNeedleDrop. In September of that year, Fantano posted [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-IdqR2uxYc a joke video on his personal YouTube channel]] that Drake privately messaged him on Instagram a vegan cookie recipe, but a few days later, Drake [[https://variety.com/2022/music/news/drake-anthony-fantano-beef-feud-explained-1235374908/ publicly revealed in a screenshot]] that he ''actually'' messaged Fantano a few days ''before'' he made his video, [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext insulting him out of nowhere over his marriage with a black woman]] and implicitly threatening him with "Your existence is a light 1. And the 1 is cause you are alive" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM4XIN9E5ec Fantano later explained]] wanted to keep this interaction private and simply made his cookie recipe video in jest). The sheer oddness of the whole kerfuffle has led to "vegan cookie recipes" becoming a recurring symbol whenever fans discuss Drake's DM history or other private online beefs.[[/labelnote]]
43	** Another out-of-context line, this one from "Girls Want Girls" where he says "Say that you a lesbian, girl, me too", being cited as proof of him being gay, along with changing the name of the album to ''Certified Boy Lover''.
44	%%ZCE ** “Shimmey shimmey ey shimmey ey shimmey yah!”
45	** "Not gonna lie, this shit was some good exercise."[[labelnote:Explanation]]This line from "The Heart Part 6" -- while intended to be a flex during Drake's feud with Music/KendrickLamar in 2024 -- was widely mocked due to just how poorly-received this final diss track was, with critics and casual listeners decrying it as being one of many [[BoisterousWeakling hollow brags attempting to preserve Drake's dignity]] after having his image and credibility severely tainted from the beef. The most common joke is attaching the line to images of characters who have been visibly [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] or otherwise messed up as a stand-in for Drake.[[/labelnote]]
46	* MisattributedSong: Pretty much any song he guest stars on has been misattributed to him, especially when the lead artist is largely unknown (such as ILOVEMAKKONEN's Tuesday and [=BlocBoyJB=]'s Look Alive). Justified in the case of Rick Ross's "Aston Martin Music", because in the full version (used in the music video) Drake raps for about half the song.
47	* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: "Back to Back", his second diss track to Meek Mill ''in the same week''. His first track "Charged Up" was merely seen as okay, but when this track dropped, people were already talking about funeral arrangements for Meek.
48	* {{Narm}}: Drake's become notorious among dedicated HipHop heads for this. Especially over the years as he's [[GenreShift shifted more from his melodic pop-rap style to his current edgier minimalist rap]], a lot more attention has been placed onto his pen game, and listeners have found many a corny bar.
49	** "Hotline Bling". It's a song about a broken man angsting over his ex. But a few of the lyrics are unintentionally funny and the video is absolutely hilarious thanks to the setting, Drake's costumes, and dancing.
50	** Some listeners have a similar reaction to his use of Jamaican slang complete with a [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent fake accent]] on much of ''Views'' and ''More Life''.
51	** The infamous "tuck my napkin in my shirt, cause I'm just mobbin' like that" from headlines. Drake basically tried to make basic table etiquette sound badass.
52	** During a guest verse on Music/JCole's "In the Morning", Drake dropped the questionably-written lyric "I love thick women 'cause my aunt she rode equestrian," which gave hip-hop heads everywhere pause as it implies that he either lusts for his aunt ''or'' he lusts for ''[[BestialityIsDepraved horses]]'', [[{{Squick}} with fans everywhere unsure of which is worse]].
53	** Drake's controversial "Said that you a lesbian, girl, me too" line off ''Certified Lover Boy''. If you aren't confused by it, you probably ended up laughing thanks to [[TheComicallySerious its completely straight-faced delivery]].
54	** In a rare example of the ''beat'' being narmy, the squeaky bed noise that played throughout "Currents" was found by many to be [[FetishRetardant silly rather than sexy]], with some even comparing it to the squeaky boots from ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''.[[note]]It also doesn't help that people also found part of the melody of "Currents" to resemble the "Spongebob Spongebob Patrick Patrick" meme, only furthering the comparisons to the show.[[/note]]
55	** Most of Drake's [[TheDissTrack diss tracks]] during his feud against Music/KendrickLamar in 2024 were formidable and scathing, but his final diss, "The Heart Part 6", was widely agreed by critics and fans alike as him having dropped the ball for just how ''defensive'' it sounds. Rather than throw any bigger punches towards Kendrick himself, a lot of the song consists of clumsy defenses against the allegations levied towards him, from Drake claiming that Kendrick's alleged [[TheMole mole gaining Drake's private information]] is "a clown" [[ImmediateSelfContradiction before immediately claiming]] that [[IMeantToDoThat he willingly planted false information for Kendrick to use against him]][[note]](which many critics heavily doubt since despite it being in Drake's best interest for his credibility, theoretically within his ability to prove it, and the fact he was very active on social media and rebutting Kendrick's disses as they came out, he presented ''nothing'' to back his claims, not even a fake private text screenshot)[[/note]], then awkwardly announcing [[KnowWhenToFoldEm his intent to pull out from the beef]] with "I don't wanna fight with a woman beater, it feeds your nature" ([[AnalogyBackfire indirectly calling himself a woman]]).
56	* NarmCharm: "Hotline Bling" is indisputably Drake's most popular song ever, despite (and in part because of) its narm-y parts and video.
57	* OlderThanTheyThink: We've had the saying, "you only live once," since 1937 and possibly longer ago, even in music. Music/SuicideSilence fans were annoyed with the large amount of Drake fans turning up on the video of their 2011 song with abusive comments. Especially considering singer Mitch Lucker's death in 2012.
58	* RefrainFromAssuming:
59	** "Karaoke" isn't called "If You Gotta Go".
60	** "Dreams Money Can Buy" isn't called "Don't Fuck with Me".
61	** "Make Me Proud" isn't called "I'm So Proud of You".
62	** "Headlines" is not called "They Know".
63	* RetroactiveRecognition: For his younger fans especially, who may not have watched ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'' while he was on that show.
64	* SignatureSong: Drake has had many chart topping hits to his name, but these songs stick out the most:
65	** "Best I Ever Had": His BreakthroughHit and one of 2009’s biggest songs.
66	** "Hotline Bling": The music video went viral and was subject to a number of memes.
67	** "One Dance": His first #1 on Billboard as a lead artist and the top summer song of 2016.
68	** "God's Plan": His second #1 on Billboard as a lead artist; due to record-breaking stream numbers, a heartwarming music video, and (once again) memes.
69	*** "The Motto" also deserves a mention for starting a popular meme (noticing a pattern here?): YOLO.
70	* SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel: "Wednesday Night Interlude". Everything from PARTYNEXTDOOR's singing to the ethereal harmonization.
71	* TearJerker:
72	** "Over". The chorus is surprisingly depressing because he knows his fame is one day going to die out.
73	** "Marvins Room" is pretty depressing as well, no matter whether Drake comes off as rightfully heartbroken or just pathetic.
74	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: "Hotline Bling" is supposed to come off as being from the viewpoint of someone who had a deeply disappointing end to a relationship and can't stop being reminded of how their ex seems to be doing so much better than them, but instead makes the protagonist (presumably Drake) come off as whiny, clingy, and controlling, and the bridge in particular approaches StalkerWithACrush territory with some painfully misogynistic overtones. Instead of "why did it have to end like this?", it comes off as being more a case of "you became your own person and moved on and that's unacceptable".
75	* {{Wangst}}: Drake gets flack for falling into this when describing his vulnerable side with women, many finding that he just comes off as unnecessarily clingy and borderline possessive. Just for one instance, a specific yet recurring lyrical trend (seen in songs like "One Dance" and "Portland") is him bemoaning how girls don't respond to his texts as soon as he'd like -- not for ''never'' responding, but for not responding ''immediately''.

Context YMMV / Drake