Since the release of Drake’s debut studio album, Thank Me Later, fans have been clamoring for him to give 16s a rest and make an entire R&B album. It’s not hard to see why. Despite being at the top of the rap for the past decade or so, Drake has made several incredible R&B songs. Every album of his is peppered with at least a handful of tracks that feature the Torontonian crooning his heart out about jilted exes or star-crossed lovers or a dancer he fell head over NOCTA shoes for before realizing that their relationship just wouldn’t work.
Some say he’s already given us an R&B album. The second half of his double disc album Scorpion is, for all intents and purposes, an R&B album. There’s minimal rapping and he even has a posthumous track with Static Major. Not to mention the unreleased Michael Jackson record he managed to get his hands on. If he were to ever make a true R&B project, it would likely sound just like that. But, whatever. Dedicated album or not, Drake has proven to be a true student and lover of the genre. He and 40 consistently flip the some of the best R&B songs of the past 40 years, tapping everyone from Brandy, SWV, Lauryn Hill, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Ginuwine, and Jodeci.
Most recently, Drake hopped in his R&B bag to remix 4Batz’s bubbling single “act ii: date @ 8” which dropped earlier today. It got us all thinking: What are the best R&B songs Drake has made? It was tough to whittle down, but we think we arrived at a strong set. And just know: If the songs below were an album it would be one of the best R&B albums of all-time.