Drake has a gift as a rapper: His style is clear, punctuated with slowly paced cadences. You can confidently sing along to his self-improvement hits with strong accuracy. He writes songs about power and wealth that have, since their nationwide proliferation in 2009, landed as brilliant hashtags. (He is not good at writing about women.)
In sports analogies: If Jay Z is Bill Russell for all his output and titles, and Kanye West is Magic Johnson for his dazzling wizardry and distribution, then Drake is—like he’s said so himself—”Steph Curry with the shot.” He’s highly efficient, mechanical in delivery, and upsets traditionalists with his studious, steady output.
His best lyrics are not stunning metaphors or presented with cunning wit. They just get stuck in your head and you yell them at concerts. Here are his 10 best, presented in the order that they popped into my head:
1) ‘You’re like the fucking finish line—we can’t wait to run into you.’
2) ‘I just lost a Gucci sandal in the fucking ocean’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga6_rB5dCU8
3) ‘I got bitches asking me about the code for the Wi-Fi’
4) ‘I would pinky swear—but my pinky ring too big’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN4upVaDFFs
5) ‘Prince Akeem, they throw flowers at my feet’
6) ‘What’s up with your best friend? We could all have some fun’
7) ‘I’ve been ready since my dad used to tell me he was comin’ to the house to get me… He ain’t show up’
8) ‘I’m just saying: You could do better’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwyjxsOYnys
9) ‘Make pasta, rent a movie—call hoes over’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deulp_9n6Kw