When combing through Drake’s dense catalog, it’s easy for some of the more bar-heavy or narratively dense tracks to get lost beneath the shadow of the chart-shattering records that make up most of his discography. As far as B-sides—less “important,” streamed, or acknowledged tracks in live shows—are concerned, Drizzy has some real heat lying in the depths of his albums, though.
What makes Drake’s B-sides special is the fact that most of them find the rapper really spitting, opting to exclude a hook to showcase his elite wordplay for an entire song. Tracks like “Say What’s Real,” “Is There More,” and “Weston Road Flows” immediately come to mind in that category, while other B-sides of his like “Cameras / Good Ones Go Interlude,” “Girls Love Beyoncé,” and “Losses” are more melodic and give Drake’s romantic woes and distrustful tendencies more context and color.
What all of these songs have in common is that they would sound amazing live. One of the most notable B-sides shows in recent memory is Jay-Z’s 2019 performance at Terminal 5. Hov had done B-sides shows before, but that Tidal presentation was special, with the legendary rapper performing some of his deepest cuts and even doing freestyle for the small crowd. Drake might be preparing to do something very similar with his two-day occupancy at the Apollo this weekend. The show was originally set to happen in November but has been moved twice already—first, because of the sudden passing of Takeoff and later, because of “production delays.” Now, nearly three months later, the Boy is finally ready to grace the legendary stage in Harlem and has been hinting on Instagram that the show might be a “trip down memory lane.” With hopes for a legendary weekend of Drizzy classics, below we rank Drake’s B-sides from worst to best.
15. "Losses"
View this video on YouTube
Dark Lane Demo Tapes has a few sleepers on it, and “Losses” is one of its best. Drake is an expert when it comes to finding new and unique ways to celebrate his wins, but he’s in rare form when he reflects on the things he can’t get back. Despite all that he’s gained, Drizzy still manages to sound bitter about the people who have gotten away on his road to success. It’s a fact that sounds difficult for him to accept but something he just has to chalk up to the game.
14. "Emotionless"
View this video on YouTube
“Don’t link me. Don’t hit me when you hear this and tell me your favorite song.” No truer (or pettier) words have ever been rapped to open a track. Besides the sweet sample flip of Mariah Carey’s 1991 song “Emotions,” “Emotionless” sounds like a track Drake recorded in the immediate aftermath of Pusha T pillaging his castle and revealing his child’s existence to the world. “I wasn’t hiding my child from the world, I was hiding the world from my child,” is an incredibly corny bar, but besides that he says some really compelling things in the track, like discussing how meeting all his heroes “was like seeing how magic works” and the ways his former idols have disappointed him now that he’s surpassed them.
13. “How Bout Now”
View this video on YouTube
Few things feed the ego more than being able to stunt on an ex, and “How Bout Now” embodies that energy. The opening voicemail from what sounds like a disgruntled old flame sets the tone of the track perfectly, with Drake proceeding to reminisce on his rise and lament on how she wasn’t riding for him back when he was down. From driving her to her BAR exam through the frosty streets of Toronto to going to church with her despite not being Christian, it makes it all that much sweeter knowing that he’s “up right now, and you suck right now.” But in the ex’s defense, I’m sure Ludacris had better music out than Drake’s rookie mixtapes.
12. “Furthest Thing”
View this video on YouTube
“Furthest Thing” is split in two. In the first half, Aubrey is trying to find his bearings after being thrusted into superstardom. He struggles to come to grips with the new fast-paced life and misses the times when everything moved slower, but is determined to make the adjustment. Once the beat switches toward the end of the song, though, Drake arrives and embraces all of the chaos that comes with being a rap star. “This the life for me! My mama told me this what’s right for me!”
11. "Weston Road Flows”
View this video on YouTube
Drake knows what he’s doing. “One of them ones,” he says with a heavy sigh at the beginning of “Weston Road Flows,” basically signifying that he’s about to get deep into his rapping bag. Named after the Toronto street where he was raised, Drake uses the track to take a trip down memory lane and reflect on his success. Despite eclipsing the goals he’s set for himself, though, “Weston Road Flows” demonstrates that his vision for the future has always been crystal clear. Even though it’s hilarious to think that he and KD can relate, he says “we get the same attention.”
10. “Girls Love Beyoncé” f/ James Fauntleroy
View this video on YouTube
What better way to deflect your own commitment issues than by blaming Beyoncé? While girls loving Beyoncé may have no direct correlation with them messing with your conscience, Drake is able to create that bridge out of thin air and somehow make it feel like toxic gospel on this track. “Girls Love Beyoncé” distills longing and chases it with trust issues, making it a perfect B-side for anyone who misses their ex but can’t accept that they’re the problem.
9. “Cameras / Good Ones Go Interlude”
View this video on YouTube
On Take Care, Drake was finally finding his most comfortable pockets of melodic rap, and “Cameras / Good Ones Go Interlude” is a perfect fusion of his smooth flow and crooning ability. Using a sample of Jon B.’s “Calling On You” for “Cameras,” the first half of the track has a bounce to it as Drake raps about womanizing before the beat switches to more syrupy R&B production for “Good Ones Go Interlude.” This track is Drake in his toxic prime yet again, glorifying his ability to finesse women one minute and begging his lovers to wait for him to mature the next. Plus, The Weeknd joins in for some quick melodies, just for good measure.
8. “Is There More”
View this video on YouTube
After shattering every expectation set for yourself, what more is there left to do? This is the question that Drake poses to himself on the pensive “Is There More,” a track anchored by the 6 God’s dissatisfaction about sitting alone at the top of rap seemingly unchallenged. “It’s too bad reality checks don’t cover the balances due whenever it’s time to recoup,” he spits shortly after breaking down how his rap peers are talented but can’t match him lyrically or commercially. In 2018, a decade into his career, even winning has become burdensome to Drake.
7. “Omertà”
View this video on YouTube
Whenever Drake opts to leave out a hook and treat an entire track like his own personal venting session, magic tends to follow. “Omertà” is the perfect example of this. On the 2019 track, Drizzy spends upward of three minutes licking the battle wounds from his rare L at the hands of Pusha T’s “The Story of Adidon,” promising to come back with a vengeance and buy “the building of every door that closed on me.” His jabs land here, because they’re specific and targeted; at one point he boasts “your baby mother call me when she lonely,” while on another he fantasizes about “buying your most personal belongings when they up for auction.” Just the idle thoughts of a petty king.
6. “The Ride”
View this video on YouTube
“The Ride” is arguably one of Drake’s best outros to date, and that’s because it’s one of the few songs that finds the rapper spitting for three verses without a single hook or chorus. In the Take Care era, Drake was finally beginning to enjoy the spoils of success, and he uses the album’s curtain call to tell listeners about his new way of life over scallops and glasses of dulce in Napa Valley. Ultimately, there’s a simple lesson Drake hopes to deliver through “The Ride” after ruminating on his late nights, new expensive habits, and increasingly more secretive escapades: “They say more money, more problems. My nigga, don’t believe it!”
5. “Say What’s Real”
View this video on YouTube
Whatever happened to Drake’s Blackberry with the side scroll? The cellphone full of verses might be lost to the sands of Cabo forever, but the then-burgeoning Young Money signee was still able to lay one of his most impressive verses to date on “Say What’s Real.” “Why do I feel so alone?” Drake ponders in 2009, as if he already reached the pinnacle of rap. Over a sample of Kanye’s “Say You Will,” the rapper, then 22 years old, illustrates his career to that point. Drake always claimed to be able to “see the depths of his own future,” but this B-side is eerily similar to the emotions he still expresses on more recent tracks like “Omertà” and “Is There More.”
4. “4pm in Calabasas”
View this video on YouTube
As far as Drake songs go, it doesn’t get any more surgical than “4pm in Calabasas.” The track is laced with subliminal messages, covert jabs, and enough dirty macking to make even his biggest retractors spend hour-long podcasts dissecting it to try and determine whether they caught a stray. From Drizzy commandeering Diddy’s patented flow and interloping his catchphrases to flexing on his enemies off a summer diet of just rosé and calamari, “4pm” is Drake in his petty prime.
3. “No Tellin’”
View this video on YouTube
Everyone’s favorite version of Drake is different. There’s the soft Drake faction, petty Drake faction, vengeful Drake faction, etc. Greasy talking Drake might be one of the most slept-on bags the Toronto rapper gets in, and “No Tellin’” is a great example of how slick he can rap when he’s in that zone. The track isn’t full of braggadocio and doesn’t have any outlandish metaphors. It’s Drake really spitting and putting the game on notice that he can rap just as good as he can croon. Then the beat switches and deceptively tries to lull you to sleep in the second half, but it’s all a trap set up perfectly to adopt an even silkier flow to deal the killing. “Thinking they lions and tigers and bears/I go hunting put heads on my fireplace.” Is this the same Jimmy from Degrassi? Ain’t no tellin.
2. “Star67”
View this video on YouTube
Lil Wayne says it best in the song’s intro: All the bells and whistles go out the window when it’s time to lay down some heat in the studio. You just need to step in the booth and let the beretta sing, and that’s precisely what Drake does on “Star67.” If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late is arguably Drake’s best album because it’s full of surprises, and this track is one of them. “Star67” demonstrates qualities that make Drake one of the most versatile and commercially successful rappers of all time. In the first verse, he gives us bars, embodying his mentor Weezy and spitting over the electric beat. In the second, he gets into his storytelling bag, chronicling his rise from the basement to the stadiums while making his rapping sound more melodic. Then, he delivers a rare bridge of crooning Drake, all before closing with even smoother bars that even make his vices sound sweet: “I smoke when I drink, it’s tradition/Like Zoe mama I go hippie/Peace sign in the air like I’m Nixon.”
1. “Do Not Disturb”
View this video on YouTube
In Spring 2017, Drake thought he was preparing to write his last chapter. “Maybe getting back to my regular life will humble me. I’ll be back 2018 to give you the summary,” he raps to close out “Do Not Disturb,” arguably his best outro to date. No one could have predicted what would happen next: the rap war and subsequent L against Pusha T the following summer. But this track makes it sound like he was already defeated before going into battle. The track was heavily theorized to originally be called “7am in Germany,” making it a new addition to his timestamp song series: a batch of five tracks that includes “4am in Calabasas,” “6pm in New York,” and more used to peel back a deeper layer of his psyche and give listeners a glimpse at what keeps him up at night. In “Do Not Disturb,” it’s clear that toasting every night to drink to his accomplishments had taken a toll on him. “My life is centered ‘round competition and currency,” he raps begrudgingly. He sounds exhausted, an unspoken byproduct of success.
