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Drake · S2 E5
Best I Ever Had
A single that crosses from blogs to radio to Billboard. Drake is no longer just the Degrassi kid
Summer 2009. A song by a rapper most of America has never heard of climbs the Billboard Hot 100 and won't stop until it reaches number two. "Best I Ever Had" is everywhere.
Young Money's "BedRock" featuring Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and the full roster. This track also peaked at number two on the Hot 100. Two number-two hits in the same year, from a kid who was uploading mixtapes to MySpace three years earlier.
BedRock (2009)
"BedRock" is Young Money at its absolute peak: Wayne, Drake, Nicki, Tyga, and Lloyd all trading verses over a smooth, R&B-laced beat. Drake's verse is the standout. He sounds completely comfortable alongside artists who had been doing this for years. That ease is the "Best I Ever Had" effect: six months earlier, Drake was the new kid. Now he sounds like he belongs at the center of Young Money.
TAP TO REVEAL: Who directed the "Best I Ever Had" music video?
“The first time I heard 'Best I Ever Had' on the radio, I pulled my car over. I just sat there and listened to the whole thing. That was the moment I knew my life was different.”
— Drake, interview with MTV News, 2009
Best I Ever Had: The Numbers
Lust for Life
From the So Far Gone EP. The title says everything about where Drake's head is at during the "Best I Ever Had" era: an insatiable hunger for more. 40's production is hazy and atmospheric, and Drake floats over it with the restless energy of someone who can feel his life changing in real time. While "Best I Ever Had" was the song America heard, "Lust for Life" is the song Drake was living.
Lust for Life, Drake (2009)
Read the lyrics while you listen. The title says everything about where Drake's head is at: an insatiable hunger for more. While "Best I Ever Had" was the song America heard, "Lust for Life" is the song Drake was living.
What was the highest position "Best I Ever Had" reached on the Billboard Hot 100?
"Best I Ever Had" proves Drake can make hits, and now every major label in America wants to sign him. Next: the bidding war begins, with Kanye, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne all making their pitch.
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