Drake said in a 2013 interview with CBC host Jian Ghomeshi that he “makes music strictly for the purpose of driving at nighttime.” At the time of the interview, he was coming off the release of his third studio album, Nothing Was The Same. The project featured hit records “Started From The Bottom” and “Hold On, We’re Going Home” - both of which easily caught radio play. However, as far as the nighttime driving records that caught the AUX, there may be few better than “Connect” and the Jhené Aiko-assisted “From Time” (a real tear jerker).
Nighttime driving songs seem to be a speciality of Drake’s. We talk about Caribbean Drake a lot, as well as Houston Drake, and any other Drake where he culturally appropriates for that matter (that’s a topic of discussion for another day). However, due praises are line for the ambiance he’s able to create on tracks that just seem to fit perfect for an evening drive. Cocaine raps belong to Pusha T, and weed raps belong to Wiz Khalifa, and I’m perfectly fine with giving Drake rule over this domain of nighttime driving music.
This past Friday, he released his fifth studio album Scorpion. Clearly, he has been paying attention to the tweets and comments over the years as made known with his decision to split the album into a rap side and an R&B side, and write in the description of the album on Apple Music “DRAKE SINGS TOO MUCH…DRAKE IS A POP ARTIST…” (alongside the mention of Aubrey been an actor and a fake Jamaican). However, one of the things in common with both sides of the album are more nighttime driving gems.
There are different levels to music to listen to during a nighttime drive - or, should we say, “Drake ‘n’ Drive.'” There’s songs to reflect on times with your ex to, there’s songs to play as you plot on the girl in your DMs, and everything in between that you would get in a discography like Drake’s. Luckily, that’s why I’m here - to break down Drake’s nighttime driving anthems into categories and compile them for you into this conveniently titled playlist, “Drake ‘N’ Drive.”
Listen to Drake ‘N’ Drive on Apple Music
Listen to Drake ‘N’ Drive on Spotify
Listen to Drake ‘N’ Drive on Tidal
Warning: do not consume this playlist in large doses or it may cause you to send unwarranted texts, tell women you’ve never met that you miss them, or:
If you see me singing "After Dark" outside someone's window with some back-up singers, please arrest me. https://t.co/dHCBcFJia7
— . (@BSway_) June 30, 2018
The “Started From The Bottom” Records
“Fireworks” feat. Alicia Keys
“Looking down from the top and it’s crowded below/ My fifteen minutes started an hour ago”
“Crew Love” feat. The Weeknd
“Smoking weed under star projectors/ I guess we’ll never know what Harvard gets us/ But seeing my family have it all took the place of that desire for diplomas on the wall”
“Too Much”
“Backstage at Warehouse in ’09 like ‘Is Bun coming?’/ Fuck that, is anyone comin’ ‘fore I show up there and there’s no one there?/ These days, I could probably pack it for like twenty nights if I go in there”
“Look What You’ve Done”
“We make a mixtape with 17 songs/ And almost get a Grammy off of that thing/ They love your son—man, that boy gone/ You get the operation you dreamed of and I finally send you to Rome/ I get to make good on my promise - it all worked out, girl, we shoulda known”
“Unforgettable” feat. Young Jeezy
“Because all this shit is new to me, I’m learnin’ to behave/ And still spendin’ every dollar they encourage me to save/ But I’m good, I know that niggas would kill for this lifestyle/ I’m lookin’ forward to the memories of right now/ Never forgettin’ from where I came/ And no matter where I’m headed, I promise to stay the same”
“Under Ground Kings”
“I swear, it’s been two years since somebody asked me who I was/ I’m the greatest man, I said that before I knew I was”
“Over My Dead Body”
“My city love me like Mac Dre in the Bay/ Second album, I’m back paving the way/ The backpackers are back on the bandwagon/ Like this was my comeback season back, back in the day”
“Lose You”
“Winnin’ is problematic/ People like you more when you workin’ towards somethin’/ Not when you have it/ Way less support from my peers in recent years as I get established/ Unforgivin’ times, but fuck it, I manage”
“The Ride”
“They say more money more problems, my nigga don’t believe it/ I mean, sure, there’s some bills and taxes I’m still evading/ But I blew six million on myself and I feel amazing”
“Light Up”
“The shit feel like when Fredro Starr was in Sunset Park, stuntin’ hard in his yellow goose/ And I’m a motherfuckin’ missed target/ But a target nonetheless, and I just started”
“Views”
“I worked at Jaydees Connections whenever Jason let me/ Ceesay’s, I was buyin’ fitteds everyday/ Kiddie’s Caribana, tryin’ not to catch a stray/ I dropped out right before I graduate/ Six credits left, my mama had her saddest day/ ‘It’s only up from here, I promise, you just gotta wait'”
“Lord Knows”
“A lot of niggas came up off of a style that I made up/ But if all I hear is me, then who should I be afraid of?”
“Successful” feat. Lil Wayne
“Yeah, I want it all, that’s why I strive for it/ Diss me, you’ll never hear a reply for it/ Any award show or party, I get fly for it/ I know that it’s coming, I just hope that I’m alive for it”
“Weston Road Flows”
“I used to hit the corner store to get to Tahiti Treat/ Now the talk of the corner store is I’m TBE/ The best ever, don’t ever question, you know better”
-
The “Drake Being Misogynistic Again” Records
“U With Me?”
“On some DMX shit/ I group DM my exes/ I tell ’em they belong to me, that goes on for forever”
“Shot For Me”
“I’m the man, yeah I said it/ Bitch, I’m the man, don’t you forget it/ The way you walk, that’s me/ The way you talk, that’s me/ The way you’ve got your hair up, did you forget that’s me?/ And the voice in your speaker right now that’s me/ That’s me, and the voice in your ear/ That’s me, can’t you see/ That I made it? Yeah, I made it/ First I made you who you are and then I made it/ And you’re wasted with your latest/ Yeah, I’m the reason why you always getting faded”
“Wu-Tang Forever”
“You would look at me with no hesitation and you’d tell me baby, it’s yours/ Nobody else’s, yeah, this shit belong to nobody, it’s yours..How you feel about comin’ home with a nigga for the night?/ If you nervous, hit the lights, I know we only fuckin’ out of spite/ Cause your man don’t do you right, do you right, I could fuck you so good”
-
The “This Shit Is Stressful” Records
“Jorja Interlude”
“Tryna stay light on my toes/ Just ran a light in a Rolls/ Told me I’m lookin’ exhausted/ You hit it right on the nose/ I’m tired of all of these niggas/ I’m tired of all of these hoes”
“Fear”
“And I been getting high just to balance out the lows/ And I could use a writer just to balance out my flows”
“Do Not Disturb”
“Scary whenever I close my eyes at night/ Wakin’ up to public statements about my private life/ I can never sleep ’til mornin’ on all my quiet nights..Distractions will do you in, in the truest sense/ Especially people that want to lecture me/ And frame it like they just want the best for me
Or they check for me, whatever splits it up/ So there’s more for them and there’s less for me/ They don’t know they got to be faster than me to get to me/ No one’s done it successfully..I want to make sure they learn from me/ I want to see my dog, but his grandmother’s his surety/ He can’t even dip out to see me in an emergency”
-
The “Relationship Problems” Records
“Diamonds Dancing” with Future
“You doing me dirty/ You doing me dirty/ You doing me dirty/ You doing me dirty”
“Doing It Wrong”
“We live in a generation of not being in love, and not being together/ But we sure make it feel like we’re together/ Because we’re scared to see each other with somebody else”
“From Time” feat. Jhené Aiko
“I’ve been dealing with my dad, speaking of lack of patience/ Just me and my old man getting back to basics/ We’ve been talking ’bout the future and time that we wasted/ When he put that bottle down, girl that nigga’s amazing/ Well, fuck it, we had a couple Coronas/ We might have rolled a white paper, just something to hold us/ We even talked about you and our couple of moments/ He said we should hash it out like a couple of grown ups”
“Don’t Matter To Me”
“I can’t recover from our last conversation/ You called me weak/ And you tested my manhood as we yelled at each other/ You wanted me to gon’ put my hands on you just to show you I love you/ You know I can’t jeopardize both our reputations”
“The Real Her” feat. Lil Wayne and Andre 3000
“You got your guards up, I do too/ There’s things we might discover/ Cause you got a past and I do too, we’re perfect for each other”
“Connect”
“Isn’t it amazing how you talk all this shit and we still lack communication/ How beautiful our kids would be, girl, I don’t need convincing/ How every conversation starts with ‘this time will be different'”
“Jungle”
“Still findin’ myself, let alone a soulmate, I’m just sayin’/ Feel like we one and the same, our relationship changed/ That or it never existed..She said you’re my everything/ I love you through everything, I done did everything to her/ She forgave me for everything, this a forever thing/ Hate that I treat it like it’s a whatever thing/ Trust me girl, this shit is everything to me”
-
The “So You Not Gonna Text Me Back?” Records
“Keep The Family Close”
“All of my ‘let’s just be friends’ are friends I don’t have anymore/ How do you not check on me when things go wrong..If I ever loved ya, I’ll always love ya that’s how I was raised”
“Jaded”
[the whole entire song - thank you Jorja Smith. IYKYK]
-
The “‘u up?'” Records
“With You” feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR
“Choosey lover for the moment/ Different story when I leave you/ Story up just to keep you/ I need you ’round, I need you, oh”
“In My Feelings”
“Kiki, do you love me? Are you riding?/ Say you’ll never ever leave from beside me/ ‘Cause I want ya, and I need ya/ And I’m down for you always”
“Teenage Fever”
“Last night we didn’t say it/ But girl, we both thought it/ Why second guess? I should have stayed/ You say the word, I’m on the way”
“Faithful” feat. Pimp C and dvsn
“Get all your affairs in order/ I won’t have affairs, I’m yours, girl/ Faithful, faithful, faithful, faithful”
“Preach” feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR
“I’m on that wave tonight, I hope you not the crazy type, yeah/ I’m in your state tonight, I might just break the bank tonight, yeah”
“After Dark” feat. Static Major and Ty Dolla $ign
“Late night like Left Eye, I’m creepin’/ Assuming the worst ’cause I haven’t heard from you all weekend/ Your silence is drivin’ me up the wall, up the wall/ I cannot tell if you’re duckin’ calls or missin’ calls..I wanna make you a priority/ I wanna let you know there’s more to me/ I wanna have your faith restored in me/ I’ll be on my way”
“Final Fantasy”
“I always need a glass of wine by sundown/ I always get your ass over here somehow/ I hope that the apocalypse is the only thing that doesn’t come now”
“Fire & Desire”
“You just like my sidekick, I just wanna wife/ Fulfill all your desires/ Keep you in the front, never in the back/ And never on the side, yeah”
-
The “I Think (Or Know) This Song Is About Strippers” Records
“Houstalantavegas”
“Especially when the lights so bright/ And the money so right/ And it’s comin in every single night/ She don’t wanna leave”
“Shut It Down”
“Heard that you’re a student working weekends in the city/ Trying to take you out girl, hope you’re not too busy”
“Practice”
“Girl you look good won’t you back that ass up/ You a fine motherfucker won’t you back that ass up..Girl you working with some ass yeah, you bad yeah/ Make a nigga spend his cash yeah, his last yeah”
“Plastic Bag”
[duh]
-
The “This Isn’t Even Really Drake’s Record” Records
“Summer’s Over Interlude”
“4422” feat. Sampha
-
The “I Seen Your Post On IG” Records
“Marvins Room”
[I mean]
“Wednesday Night Interlude” feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR
[I mean]
“Redemption”
“I know you’re seein’ someone that loves you/ And I don’t want you to see no one else/ I don’t want you here with no one else/ I don’t wanna do this with no one else”
“That’s How You Feel”
“Mindin’ my business and you show up/ Up to no good, I should’ve seen the signs/ Signin’ me up to do your dirty work/ Workin’ to try to get you off my mind”
“Nothings Into Somethings”
“Did I just read that you just got engaged on me?”
-
The “Yes, I Am Hiding a Child” Records
“March 14”
“Yesterday morning was crazy/ I had to come to terms with the fact that it’s not a maybe/ That shit is in stone, sealed and signed/ She not my lover like Billie Jean, but the kid is mine…Shit, we only met two times, two times”
“Emotionless”
“I wasn’t hidin’ my kid from the world/ I was hidin’ the world from my kid/ From empty souls who just wake up and look to debate/ Until you starin’ at your seed, you can never relate”
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