The Best Drake Duos, Ranked

Image via Complex Original/Peggy Khammanotham

Key collaborations: “Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2,” “Light Up,” “Talk Up”

Like a few collaborators on this list, Drake and JAY-Z have had an on-again, off-again relationship over the years. Their first song “Light Up” came out in 2010 on Thank Me Later. For the next few years, they remained close enough to link up once more for “Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music,” but then their relationship took a turn. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2014, Drake sparked a slight beef by mentioning that JAY-Z had one too many art references in his music. The two traded shots for years in songs like “Draft Day” and “Shining,” until 2017, when they reconciled and added another song to bolster their case with “Talk Up.” Then, of course, there’s the Throne collab on “Pop Style,” but JAY-Z’s minimal contribution left us wanting more. The tracks Drake and Hov make together reflect their relationship: each collaboration sounds like a vet speaking to an up-and-comer who will soon be in his place. Any song they have together demonstrates what happens when old and new kings come together, the right way. Even though the songs might not all be classics, they represent an important bridge between generations.

Key collaborations: “Work,” “Take Care,” “What’s My Name?”

Drake’s understanding of melodies made Rihanna so eager to work with him that in 2010, she cornered him backstage, played him “What’s My Name?” and pressed him to jump on the record. Drake didn’t fumble the bag or opportunity to connect with her, so he penned a verse in three days that was so heated, the song was released as the lead single of Rihanna’s Loud. “What’s My Name?” earned Drake his first No. 1 song on Billboard, while Rihanna got her ninth, if you include T.I.’s “Live Your Life” (and who wouldn’t?). Drizzy and Rih’s relationship continued to grow romantically and musically, giving us more island-flavored tracks on records like “Take Care” and the best one yet, “Work,” the latter of which ensured that Summer ‘16 was undefeated. In Drake’s entire duo-scography (note to self: copyright that right now!), there is no three-song combo stronger than “Controlla,” “One Dance,” and “Work.” The collaboration feels natural: Carribean culture has heavy roots in Drake’s native Canada, but it’s also likely that working with a Barbadian like Rih gave Drake the confidence to go all-in with a dancehall-influenced style.

Key collaborations: “Give Ya,” “Successful,” “I Invented Sex”

Imagine if Drake had signed to Trey Songz instead of Lil Wayne. This was almost the case in 2007. But considering how Trey Songz couldn’t give Drake the resources he needed as an artist—due to a minimal studio set-up he had in his manager’s basement—Aubrey declined. Trey Songz didn’t give Drake a contract, but he did pass along a verse on “Replacement Girl.” Back in the late 2000s, there may not have been two R&B artists in the game bigger than Chris Brown and Trey Songz. While many people give credit to Lil Wayne for discovering Drake, Trey Songz gave Drizzy his first major look and helped validate Drake-as-crooner. Trey Songz and Drake have so many early songs that they could drop their own Care Package right now. From the So Far Gone days that gave us “Give Ya” to Drake’s first feature on “I Invented Sex” to the anthem of elevation, “Successful,” Trey Songz and Drake have made quality records that richochet between R&B and rap styles. Drake’s career is filled with gems now, but let us never forget that Trey Songz gave him his first cuban link.

Key collaborations: “Up All Night,” “Make Me Proud,” “No Frauds,” “Only,” “Moment 4 Life”

Since they first teamed up on Young Money, Drake and Nicki Minaj knew that they were next up behind the boss man, Lil Wayne. They understood early that they would make history, so any link-up between the two was crafted with a message that they were gracefully coming for everybody’s heads. “Up All Night” highlights the skill set of both artists, creating a template that would be used in “Moment 4 Life” and “Make Me Proud.” There was a break for a while, as internal YM tensions rose, but in the latter half of the 2010s, Drake and Nicki reconciled and dropped more collaborations. They don’t really go bar to bar anymore, sadly, but if we’re taking things back to the early days, no other imprint combination that ran up more numbers and head nods of approval than these two.

Key collaborations: “Big Amount,” “No Lie,” “All Me,” “Sacrifices”

If we’re talking energy, the bar doesn’t get much higher than a collaboration between 2 Chainz and Drake. They’ve been getting busy for over a decade now, since Lil Wayne’s I Am Music Tour in 2008. From trading features for one another on “No Lie” and “All Me” to throwing lateral passes on ASAP Rocky’s “F**kin' Problems,” 2 Chainz and Drake have been celebrating together for over a decade now. Even their most recent collabs “Big Amount” and “Sacrifices” create the same party-like atmosphere. With their new efforts, they spell out how far they’ve come individually as artists, and with one another. Whether the song is fast or slow, the energy and attitude of this duo holds an infectiousness that turns any function on its head. They make the list because they’re always good for making hits that instantly transport you from your bedroom to that one crazy night you spent at Magic City on your Atlanta vacation.

Key collaborations: “Over Here,” “With You,” “Preach,” “Recognize,” “Since Way Back”

When OVOXO painfully ran into troubles, it didn’t seem Drake would land an opportunity with another singer as talented as Abel. But the very same year Drake recorded his last song with the Weeknd, he also signed PARTYNEXTDOOR, and they’ve been making flavorful hits ever since. When Drake and PND link up, we never know which Drake we’re going to get. We could get rapping Drake on a song like “Preach.” We could get singing Drake on “Since Way Back.” Or we could get a mix of both on “Recognize.” But whichever way it goes, it’s always cohesive, and it always works. What makes a star feel inclined to sign his first artist? One non-negotiable criterion is finding a person who can musically match the star’s energy, like PND does with Drake. Until they drop a bad song, which they probably won’t, this duo deserves to be in the top five.

Key collaborations: “The Zone,” “Crew Love,” “The Ride”

Though it’s hard to remember, now that they’re both global icons, Drake and the Weeknd used to be bros. In 2011, a rising Drake used his platform to bring awareness to the magic Abel created with House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. In turn, the Weeknd helped Drake craft Take Care. Together, they moved into superstardom and found time to make duets like “The Zone” and “Crew Love.” Eventually, they went their separate ways (but for the hopeful among us, Drake’s recent track “War” explains that the relationship is again alive and well). As we learned in the early 2010s, consuming anything OVOXO provides a roller coaster of emotions, memories, and pain. If they didn’t stop making music together, the wicked output of OVOXO would’ve easily brought this duo to the top three of this list. Now that Aubrey and Abel are back on good terms, it seems like that ride they took us on once upon a time has started up once again. Let’s hope that it never stops. 

Key collaborations: ‘What a Time to Be Alive,’ “Where Ya At,” “Live from the Gutter,” “Tony Montana”

2020’s “Life Is Good” is a smash hit, but it does the combination of FBGOVO no justice compared to some of the heat they’ve released over the years. Since 2013’s “Tony Montana,” Drake and Future have fine-tuned their musical chemistry to give us banger after banger. And the collab works for both of them: Future has helped Drake get the street cred needed to be taken seriously in his new hooded-up, got-a-lot-of-enemies approach; and by collabing with the Boy, Future has broadened his reach of listeners. The entirety of What A Time To Be Alive is a lightning strike of hits that speaks to how Drake and Future work as toxic tethers to one another. There’s very little cohesiveness between songs like “Live From The Gutter,” “Scholarships,” and “Grammys,” but each verse they drop off is heated enough to make the music as a whole worthwhile. Drake and Future demonstrate the instance where an artist’s differentiated styles make the mix more worthwhile. They’ve never failed to shake the game up and drop some well-needed heat. Life is good, but their music is better.

Key collaborations: “HYFR,” “Miss Me,” “The Motto,” “Ignant Shit,” “I’m Goin In”

Drake and Lil Wayne’s music is the rap version of the famous LeBron and Dwyane Wade alley-oop. Their relationship goes all the way back to Lil Wayne’s prime in the mid-to-late 2000s, when the Best Rapper Alive™ eagerly flew Drake down to Houston. Drake officially signed to Young Money, and the rest was history. Songs like “Ignant Shit,” “Miss Me,” and “HYFR” speak to how exciting any Drake and Lil Wayne merger is. Even though Lil Wayne said years ago that there would never be a competition between him and Drake, each song sounds like a battle to see who can come up with the best verse. Shockingly, Drake has never gotten washed on a song, and of course Lil Wayne would never let that happen the other way around. Instead, they both come with the star power that’s given us countless anthems. Like the Miami Heat picture we still see circulating to this day, Drake and Lil Wayne’s musical connection has created moments that people will speak about for years. What a duo.

Key collaborations: “Aston Martin Music,” “Free Spirit,” “Stay Schemin,” “Lord Knows,” “I’m On One,” “Gold Roses”

If we made a playlist of the best music released over the past decade, Rick Ross and Drake duets would be all over it. Drizzy and Rozay developed a close bond a decade ago, and thank God they did. As Rick Ross told Complex a few months ago, whenever they collaborate, they walk away with the best of the best. Ross has always admired Drake’s ability to switch gears, so when they create together, it could truly go any and every way. From smooth-hitters like “I’m On One” to gut-wrenchers like “Money in the Grave,” any Drizzy and Rozay two-piece is a polished, expert piece of work. Rick Ross manages to pull out a higher-level, even more luxurious version of Drake than we’re used to hearing, and their styles blend together more naturally than any other duo on this list. Drake and Ross’ collaborative output is large, and impressively consistent. These two do not miss. Even if we never get that long-hoped-for joint album, we have more than enough released records from 2009-2019 to slot this duo at number one.