Drake is in the zone, and if we’re being honest, the Boy has been there for quite some time. Remember when he bragged on “Draft Day” that he has “just hits, no misses”? Yeah, well he wasn’t really lying.
This past weekend, Drizzy dropped three new tracks (“Heat of the Moment,” “6 God” and the previously-leaked “How Bout Now”) and it all got me to thinking: Drake doesn’t ever drop a bad song, just songs with varying degrees of Drakeness.
What’s Drakeness you ask? Well, Drakeness is the ability to rap, sing, flirt with women, subliminally shoot at other MCs, create hashtaggable lyrics and #1 hits, all in the confines of a three-minute-and-30-second song.
Yeah, it’s kind of difficult to grasp, so let me give you some examples using a few songs Drizzy has dropped this year.
“How Bout Now”
Here, Drake mostly uses melody, a slow flow and a choice Jodeci sample to express his heartbreak. He even manages to recount his past tiff with Ludacris and then puts his Drakeness on full display when he spits: “Remember when you had to take the bar exam, I drove in the snow for ya.”
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 8
“6 God”
There’s levels to this Drake sh– and on “6 God” Drizzy explores one of the newer facets of his Drakeness. Like on “Worst Behavior” and “Started From the Bottom,” here Drake uses an aggressive southern flow to plant his Canadian flag. There’s nothing sweet on here, but even when downing his competition, the Boy keeps a sense of humor. “You was poppin’ back when Usher wore a U chain/ Godd–n you changed,” he teases.
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 7
“Heat Of The Moment”
This one goes back to Drizzy’s So Far Gone roots where he pushed his singing to the forefront on tracks like “Sooner Than Later” and “A Night Off.” Then there is the very Drake line: “I ain’t even got a strap, if you think we need one I’m on it.”
Practice safe sex guys.
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 6
“Tuesday”
Taking an existing track, adding a verse and outshining the artist who made it? Yup, that’s a very Drake thing to do.
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 9
“Recognize”
Drizzy provided the perfect compliment to PartyNextDoor’s single. The track was already a winner way before the 6 God came on at almost four minutes in. But thankfully he did, how else would he promise his girl to get her those snow ties for her Mercedes.
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 8
“0-100/ The Catch Up”
There’s no humbleness in Drizzy’s raps here, what’s more Drake than that?
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 10
“Odio”
Linking up with bachata star Romeo Santos was a daring move for Drizzy. The Boy, pulled it off too, singing in spanish about heartbreak and jealously, two topics he specializes in. Still, the sound was a bit jarring to the casual Drake listener.
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 4
“Days In The East”
When the OVO Sound general dropped this one back in April, many speculated whether or not he was aiming for Rihanna. He’s Drake, of course he was. “Days in the East” isn’t the best song that Drake has dropped this year, but he rapped about drinking tea at Erykah Badu’s house, so it reaches supreme levels of Drakeness.
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 10
“Draft Day”
On “Draft Day” the Boy contemplates his own Drakeness over a Lauryn Hill sample and then let the beat play out at the end “so that all of you f–k n—as can loop it and get your lies off.” That was just cold, he just out-Draked himself.
DRAKENESS LEVEL: 1,000,000
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