Full of both highs and lows, the Toronto superstar’s catalogue is unlike any other
By: Adriana Forestieri
Drake performing at a Bun B concert at The Sound Academy in Toronto in 2011. (thecomeupshow/WikiMedia Commons)
As Billboard’s Artist of the Decade and the most-streamed artist of all time, Drake, a crown jewel of Toronto’s music scene, has come a long way since his first studio album. His growth as an artist has really been unmatched.
With Drake's diverse set of skills allowing him to cover a broad range of genres throughout his career, and his ability to seamlessly switch between his R&B and hip-hop voice, there is no doubt that he has earned the titles he’s been awarded.
Six studio albums and seven mixtapes later, Drake is one of the biggest superstars the world has ever seen and continues to dominate the charts. In the process, he’s created a discography like no other (with inevitable ebbs and flows, of course) — and CanCulture is here to rank them.
1. Take Care (2011)
Released in November of 2011, Take Care was Drake’s second studio album and went on to change the relationship between hip-hop and R&B music for the remainder of the decade.
With his honest words and expressive emotions, Drake masterfully created a body of work with the perfect balance of rap and R&B tracks that inspired a generation of artists — making it difficult to rank this album anywhere other than number one.
The majority of the album’s songs were carefully crafted alongside his long-time partner and producer, Noah “40” Shebib, who has sonically made great contributions to Drake’s career, often providing him with the perfect production to express himself over. With songs like “Look What You’ve Done,” a tribute to Drake’s family, and “Marvins Room,” the official heartbreak anthem of the 20th century, this album triumphs over all other Drake projects.
Although this album was just the start of his career in the mainstream, it was able to influence those who listened until this day, with club favourites such as “Headlines,” “Crew Love” with The Weeknd, and an all-time classic, “Take Care” with Rihanna.
2. Nothing Was The Same (2013)
The most difficult part of arranging Drake’s albums from greatest to least was the dilemma between Nothing Was The Same and Take Care. It was a battle that I was fighting for days, but I finally decided that Nothing Was The Same would have to come in a close second.
This album was Drake’s third studio album, containing the works of many talented artists, including features from his role model, JAY Z. This project is considered to be one of the most lyrical of his discography with a strong intro; “Tuscan Leather,” is a 6-minute song with no chorus or hook. This song truly sets the tone for the rest of the album, showing how Drake is able to change up his flows and showcase why he deserves his respect as a rapper.
Some of the coldest songs of Drake’s career came off this one album; “All Me” and “Worst Behavior” give off a careless attitude. Following right after, the cold truths of relationships, love and self-growth show up throughout the tracklist; on “Too Much,” “From Time” and “Furthest Thing.” With its clever production — songs flow into one another tunefully — this album becomes one of Drake’s most cohesive bodies of work. After the release of his iconic album and its many playlist staples, as the fame started to set in, things truly never were the same for Drizzy.
3. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2015)
Although Drake has been known for his emotional and “soft” side, we saw a complete shift with the release of his mixtape IYRTITL.
Drake really brings out his inner God complex, starting off strong with the braggadocious track “Legend.” This album oozes confidence in every single track, making it hard not to be contagious. He talks mostly about his money and his relationships, addresses his haters, and how he truly is the “6 God.”
At this point in his career, you can tell from his lyrics that he’s finally getting used to fame and becoming the ultimate version of himself. This album will always have a special place in my heart with the PARTYNEXTDOOR features, which have remained in my rotation to this day. With the aggressive flows and repetitive hooks, this mixtape is definitely worth the praise, as the more braggadocious side of Drake is on full display.
4. Views (2016)
Views serves as Drake’s fourth studio album, and was one of the most slept-on Drake projects in my opinion. Many argue that this album was not up to par with his previous studio albums, but those who argue this cannot come to appreciate the R&B potential Drake brings out on this project.
The album showcases the talents of his label with features from PARTYNEXTDOOR, Majid Jordan, and dvsn, and brings sensitive topics of self-loathing, reflection and betrayal. Not only does Drake get in touch with his emotional side, but he also brings a taste of dancehall and Caribbean music with “One Dance,” “Too Good” and “Controlla.” I know many will argue with the placement of this album, but like Drake rapped on 2021’s “Wants and Needs” in reference to the album: “Come with a classic, they come around years later and say it's a sleeper.”
5. Care Package (2019)
Care Package is what I consider to be the time capsule of Drake’s music career. This compilation project has 17 songs that were previously leaked or released on Soundcloud and other underground streaming platforms between 2010 and 2016, bringing them to all streaming platforms under one project. Care Package is filled with old R&B samples such as songs and lyrics from Lauryn Hill, Destiny’s Child, and SWV. These are modern-day R&B staples, which further showcase how Drake can easily switch up his flows between rap and soul.
6. Certified Lover Boy (2021)
After the highly anticipated drop of Drake's sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy, many Drake fans argued that Drake has “fallen off” and hasn’t been the same since the late 2000s, despite his aforementioned accolades. While it follows a similar formula to his past releases, this album truly proves that he has not lost his touch, but has only grown as an artist and creator. This 21-track album has the perfect mix of pop, rap and R&B, once again showing off all of his skills on one project. We see Drake's toxic and petty side with “Get Along Better” and “Pipe Down,” but also the side that is honest and emotional with songs like “Love All” and “The Remorse.” The main reason this is lower on my list is unlike most of his albums, this one is highly populated with features to a point where I feel it takes away from it being Drake's album himself.
7. More Life (2017)
More Life is a feature-packed project with appearances from many talented artists from across the globe. When this anticipated project dropped, everyone had assumed it was another album or mixtape, but Drake had other plans; he labelled it as a playlist.
Many argue that this project was a compilation of rejected songs from his fourth studio album, Views, which had many fans heated due to the assumed lack of effort that went into some of the tracks. Even if this was true, no one can deny Drake’s ability to create hits from rejects and throwaway ideas. I would rate this playlist seventh in Drake’s discography because although there are some sleepers on this album, many of my playlist staples came from this project; “Teenage Fever,” “Do Not Disturb,” and of course, the song of the summer, “Passionfruit.”
8. Scorpion (2018)
Scorpion is one of the most quintessential Drake albums, with 25 songs and very few features. We see the best of both worlds on this album, as Drake separates this project into two discs; Side A being entirely rap, while Side B is all R&B Drake.
Compared to his other albums, I feel that this one lacked in quality due to the long tracklist with some songs that I find to be forgettable. Although he talks about the basic lifestyle we’ve come to associate with Drake, like dating multiple women at once, dealing with haters and getting used to his fame, this album is really structured around fatherhood. On the track “March 14,” he officially announced the birth of his son; “I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world, I was hiding the world from my kid.” This album had everyone on edge and curious about what goes on in Drake’s love life, taking away from the quality of the music.
9. Thank Me Later (2010)
Thank Me Later is Drake's debut studio album, filled with classics that are still on repeat to this day; timeless hits like “Over,” “Find Your Love” and “Up All Night” all came from this 2010 project and are what got his hit-making career kick-started. The only reason I would rate this album ninth out of all of his projects is compared to his other albums, I feel like he hadn’t quite reached his full potential yet. Drake has grown so much as an artist and finds sight in what is truly important in his more recent projects compared to his releases from the early 2010s.
10. So Far Gone (2009)
The release of this mixtape brought a new and different taste of R&B and hip-hop sounds, which ultimately set the stage for all other artists in these lanes following this release. Drake was seriously ridiculed for his emotional side on this project, as it wasn’t yet common in the hip-hop/rap community at the time.
This being one of his earliest projects, Drake was still developing his music skills and it’s shown through some tracks that are rather repetitive. Don’t get me wrong, this album brought the amazing classic “Best I Ever Had,” but other tracks like “Houstatlantavegas” and “Little Bit” are hard to follow. Although he faced a lot of judgment from this deeply flawed mixtape, it showed that Drake was willing to take risks which ultimately brought him to where he is today.
11. Dark Lane Demo Tapes (2020)
Coming in last, we have the Dark Lane Demo Tapes, which dropped in the early quarantine days of 2020, composed of a collection of unreleased demo tracks. This mixtape shows how strong of a grip Drake has on the music community, as he can drop what you may call “leftovers” from his studio sessions and still do numbers. I felt like this mixtape had less thought put into it overall, but did bring out some tracks that will be classics in a few years like “Chicago Freestyle” and the 2020 TikTok anthem, “Toosie Slide.”