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Drake · S6 E4
Energy
Everybody has an opinion, nobody has an answer. Drake channels his frustration into a statement
2015. Drake is the most talked-about, most streamed, most debated artist in hip-hop, and he is furious about it. "I got enemies, got a lot of enemies" isn't a boast. It's a headcount.
Drake, Energy (2015). Celebrity look-alikes of Kanye, Oprah, and others populate the frame while Drake raps about the growing list of people who want to see him fail. The video turns paranoia into dark comedy, and it works.
Energy, Drake (2015)
Boi-1da and Vinylz build the beat from a looping vocal sample that sounds like a warning siren, layered over drums that hit harder than anything on Nothing Was the Same. Drake's delivery is colder here, closer to a threat than a confession. The video casts actors as Kanye, Oprah, and Miley Cyrus in absurd scenarios, turning real tension into a joke. Listen for how the hook works on two levels: "I got enemies" is both a flex and an admission that the walls are closing in.
The Target
Success at Drake's level doesn't just attract fans. It attracts scrutiny, jealousy, and a constant stream of people who need you to fail so their worldview makes sense. By mid-2015, Drake was fielding shots from every direction: rappers who thought he was soft, critics who thought he was overrated, and an internet that treated his every move as content.
“I got enemies, got a lot of enemies. Got a lot of people tryna drain me of this energy.”
— Drake, "Energy," 2015
The Sound of Paranoia
"Energy" is not a diss track. It's something more interesting: a paranoia anthem. Drake doesn't name names or throw punches. He catalogs the feeling of being watched, talked about, and second-guessed by people who smile in your face and tweet behind your back.
TAP TO REVEAL: How many celebrity look-alikes appear in the "Energy" video?
OVO Sound Office, Toronto
The headquarters of Drake's label and creative empire. By 2015, OVO Sound wasn't just releasing music. It was running a radio show, signing artists, and controlling the conversation in hip-hop from a building in Toronto.
Energy: The Details
What platform did Drake launch OVO Sound Radio on in 2015?
Star67, Drake
From If You're Reading This It's Too Late. The title refers to *67, the phone code that blocks your caller ID before a call. That's the whole song in one detail: Drake hiding his number, talking from the shadows, rapping about loyalty and betrayal over one of the darkest beats on the project. Where "Energy" channels paranoia into something catchy, "Star67" lets the paranoia breathe.
Star67, Drake (2015)
Read the lyrics while you listen. "These days I'm letting God handle all things above me." Drake at his most guarded, rapping from behind a blocked number.
The Permanent State
"Energy" captured something that would define Drake for the rest of his career: the loneliness of being the biggest name in the room. He couldn't release anything without it being dissected, couldn't trust anyone without wondering what they really wanted. The enemies were real. The paranoia was earned.
Drake has enemies, and one of them is about to go public. On July 21, 2015, Meek Mill sends a tweet that starts the biggest rap beef in a decade. Next: the feud, the ghostwriting accusation, and the response that changes everything.
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