Every Song Ranked On Drake & 21 Savage’s ‘Her Loss’ Album: Critic’s Picks
Drake and 21 Savage delivered their anticipated Her Loss joint project after a week’s delay on Friday (Nov. 4).
After teaming up for Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Jimmy Cooks” to close out Drizzy’s Honestly, Nevermind album earlier this year, the “Knife Talk” duo decided to go ahead with a full collab album.
It’s been a deceiving yet fascinating rollout for Her Loss as Drake and 21 cooked up a fake Vogue magazine and teased a Tiny Desk Concert that won’t be debuting on NPR anytime soon. The 6 God even joked about his porn fetishes in a sham interview with radio legend Howard Stern, which led to his bizarre hentai posts on his Instagram Story hours before showtime.
Drake is certainly no stranger to the art of collaboration as he’s been dishing out assists like an NBA point guard for more than a decade. Her Loss is a rollercoaster ride, boasting 16 tracks with a lone credited guest appearance sprinkled in from Travis Scott.
Pour up and run through our song rankings below.
16. “Privileged Rappers”
Being a “privileged rapper” is a label Drake is tired of hearing about. He calls out those walking around the industry with their head high even though they haven’t made a hit in years while 21 uses his 16 bars to get raunchy about a certain love interest. Either way, this isn’t going to be anyone’s favorite record.
15. “Treacherous Twins”
There’s not enough bromance in rap. The Atlanta-bred rhymer and Drake show love to each other as “Treacherous Twins” — or they might be talking about other people altogether. Regardless, there are times when simplicity wins. That was the case for 21 Savage when he gets off a cheeky bar about how he never gets ID’d at night clubs because they already know he’s 21.
14. “Hours In Silence”
The pace is slowed down for a six-minute intermissions of sorts. Drake refills his glass of wine and recalls some of his mishaps in romantic encounters. “Hours in Silence” finds Drizzy running into the same toxic women issues that plagued him on Take Care while essentially boxing 21 Savage out of the marathon. Whether it’s the regret of buying her a Rolex or even a condo within the first month, that’s simply a reality most listeners can’t relate to.
13. “Broke Boys”
21 Savage finally gets the best of Drizzy on a record by a unanimous decision. The “Sneakin” duo won’t talk to broke boys, but unfortunately for fans, that’s about 99.99 percent of listeners compared to Drake and 21. They both flip the middle finger to adidas while proudly wearing their Nike stripes, which should make Kanye happy. “Broke Boys” sits toward the back of the line when it comes to album favorites though.
12. “I Guess It’s F–k Me”
First off, what a song title for a worthy album closer. Drake is always calculated and precise with what message he wants to leave fans with before heading into the next era of music. Here, Drizzy gets evocative about a certified lover girl where he painfully admits at times he has no choice but to avoid the truth even if that’s followed up with a flex about how his Air Drake plane couldn’t even land in the small Hamptons airport. “Truth or dare, I’ma take a double dare/ Truth is a suicide/ I would rather live a lie, keep you on the outside,” he raps.
11. “Pussy & Millions”
The solo credited feature comes to the rescue on “Pussy & Millions” giving the album a different texture thanks to the Houston rager. Travis Scott heats up while leaving fans feigning for more as UTOPIA‘s landing shortly awaits.
10. “More M’s”
Metro Boomin’ reuniting with 21 Savage is always a dangerous yet welcomed combination. “More M’s” adds to the list of Metro-21-Drake collabs that includes “No Complaints” and “Mr. Right Now.” The 6 God invades the beat “skating like a Montreal Canadien.” Drake confidently claims a Verzuz match with his catalog is an unfair advantage as no opponent is worthy of his time.
9. “Jumbotron S–t Poppin”
Drake on a F1LTHY beat is the upset of the year. Although, Drizzy doesn’t embarrass himself while trying to find his pocket inside the distorted sound where the likes of Playboi Carti and Destroy Lonely call home. We’re even letting Drake get away with referring to himself as a Vamp at 36 years old because he’s the 6 God.
8. “Major Distribution”
Drizzy’s pompous singing about success leads the listener astray before the dark beat makes a hard left turn off the road. The OVO boss stick shifts up a gear and tries to match the acceleration with the fastest he’s rapped all year. He hands the baton to 21 for one of his more forgettable verses on the album outside of somehow name-dropping NBA players Steve Francis and Andrew Wiggins in back-to-back bars.
One of the many headline-snatching lyrics comes when Drake references a beautiful girl trying to rap, but he’s not impressed “She a 10 tryna rap, it’s good on mute,” he admits. Many fans tried to connect the dots to emerging “Munch” rapper Ice Spice, whom Drake unfollowed on Instagram after an initial meet-up in the 6. The first solo venture is a bullseye for Drizzy.
7. “Spin Bout U”
While Her Loss might be the album title, Drizzy stands up for women while jabbing U.S. politicians fumbling decisions about their reproductive rights. He then flexes on broke boys who can’t get reservations at Italian hotspot Carbone while he’s got the last table any night.
Savage also gives out free game when admitting he asks girls for their “Finstas” to find out who they really are instead of their actual Instagram accounts. However, it’s almost halftime and Drake has shined while bringing 21 along for the ride to this point of the album.
6. “On BS”
The tag-team champions pass the baton back-and-forth with one looking to outdo the other. The braggadocios rhymes reach a crescendo when the Slaughter Gang CEO and Drake flex about their feature prowess. 21 admits he has no issue turning someone else’s song into his own while the 6 God boasts about how his simple presence will have labels blowing up an artist’s phone.
“I jump on your song and make you sound like you the feature,” 21 raps over OZ’s ethereal production before Drizzy hops in. “I jump on your song and make a label think they need ya, for real!”
5. “Backoutsideboyz”
Lil Yachty tags in for 21 and provides ad-libs across the horn-tinged record. Drake is back to his bragging ways while simultaneously second-guessing his romance decisions. It’s rare to hear the king of Canada comment on politics where he admits he’s never voted, but if he did adult film star Teanna Trump has his ballot.
4. “3 AM On Glenwood”
With Drake not breathing down his neck, 21 Savage enjoys another bona fide moment defining Her Loss. It’s usually Drizzy blacking out over pitched-up samples, but 21 shows that two can play this game as he took a page out of the 6 God’s book by making use of a time stamp song title, which is usually reserved as a Drake specialty, but the OVO captain even had to be impressed.
21 displays his matured lyrical sparring ability with Steph Curry and Stephon Marbury references and then disses Mase’s artist relations. He even gets candid about turning to Kim Kardashian to get his brother out of jail while taking listeners on a journey of what’s going on in his turbulent life.
3. “Rich Flex”
Drake takes his intros very seriously and he and 21 don’t miss here by setting the tone for the project. The 6 God steals the show on the menacing Tay Keith beat switch in the second half where Drake interpolates T.I.’s classic “24’s” flow while flexing on the industry, which he then shrewdly flips into an homage to the late great Kobe Bryant.
2. “Middle of the Ocean”
This is peak Drake in his Goyard bag. A pitched-up sample and plenty of space to breathe — just give Drizzy enough room on the tarmac to take off like LeBron James in 2008. Drake opens up about his opulent life of luxury eating food most people can’t even pronounce and in the same sentence takes a snipe at Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, letting him know they still got beef. That’s the type of versatility lacking in hip-hop.
He even checks the box for hip-hop nerds with the shrewd AZ and Nas “Mo Money, Mo Murder” sample. Isn’t that what Drake does? He checks every box as a rapper. Receiving a Birdman TED talk was a nice touch for the outro too.
1. “Circo Loco”
A certified standout from Her Loss. Sampling a classic like Daft Punk’s “One More Time” can easily go corny — which it did on DJ Khaled’s “Staying Alive” — but Drake bottles this up into greatness. He wants smoke with everybody and even admits he only agreed to stand alongside Kanye West at the Larry Hoover concert last year because of his admiration for industry titan J. Prince. Megan Thee Stallion has already responded to a bar Drake possibly targeted her with when referencing the shooting case she’s entrenched in.
Drake used this album as the chance to reassert himself as the top dog on the rap food chain once again with Her Loss serving as a stark reminder for fans who may have been distracted by his dance-leaning Honestly, Nevermind album from earlier this year that he is not to be played with.
Michael Saponara
Billboard