"Nice for What" | ||||
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Single by Drake | ||||
from the album Scorpion | ||||
Released | April 6, 2018 | |||
Recorded | 2018 | |||
Genre | Bounce | |||
Length | 3:30 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Drake singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Nice for What" on YouTube |
"Nice for What" is a song recorded by Canadian rapper Drake from his fifth studio album Scorpion (2018). It was released by Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records as the second single from the album on April 6, 2018, along with its music video. The song was produced by Murda Beatz, Noah "40" Shebib and Corey Litwin with co-production handled by Blaqnmild. It features additional vocals by Big Freedia and 5th Ward Weebie. It contains a sample from "Ex-Factor", written and performed by Lauryn Hill, which itself samples "Can It Be All So Simple", written and performed by Wu-Tang Clan. The latter song also samples "The Way We Were". Therefore, Hill, the eight members of Wu-Tang Clan, and Marvin Hamlisch, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman are credited among the composers. [1]
It debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, replacing Drake's own "God's Plan" and becoming his fifth US number one. [2] It also topped the UK Singles Chart and ARIA Singles Chart, becoming his second number-one song of 2018 in the two countries after "God's Plan". [3] Rolling Stone ranked it 54th on their list of the '100 Best Songs of the 2010s'. In 2021, The Guardian ranked it number-one on their list of 'Drake's 30 Greatest songs'. [4] It was later ranked as the number one Drake Hot 100 hit by Billboard staff. The song was awarded two ASCAP Awards, including Top Rap Song, and was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
On March 14, 2018, Lauryn Hill's son Joshua Omaru Marley posted a snippet of the song on Snapchat. [5] Drake later confirmed an upcoming Murda Beatz-produced single during an Instagram Live session. [6] On April 5, Drake made a surprise appearance during a Majid Jordan concert in Toronto. [7] [8] [9] "The reason I'm here tonight is because I'm back in the city finishing my album," he told the audience. "I've got a new single dropping tomorrow night, too, just in case you got some free time." [10] [11] [12] [13]
"Nice for What" is an upbeat bounce song which contains elements of early 2000s R&B, [14] [15] [16] with a length of three minutes thirty seconds. [17] It samples Lauryn Hill's song "Ex-Factor" (1998), "Drag Rap" by the Showboys (1986), "Get Your Roll On" by Big Tymers (2000), and also features clips from performances by Big Freedia. [18] [19] [20] Lyrically, the hook of Drake's song samples Lauryn Hill singing about "cutting loose in the midst of a relationship". [21]
Directed by Karena Evans, the accompanying music video shows women carrying out various activities, including swimming, dancing, modeling, playing with children, horse-riding, and holding a business meeting. [22] It features guest appearances from, in order of appearance, [23] Olivia Wilde, Misty Copeland, Issa Rae, Rashida Jones, Jourdan Dunn, Tracee Ellis Ross, Tiffany Haddish, Yara Shahidi, Zoe Saldana, Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta, Letitia Wright, Bria Vinaite, Emma Roberts, Syd, Michelle Rodriguez and Drake himself. [24] [25] [26] [27] Evans called it an honour to work on the video, writing on Instagram that it was "a privilege and a blessing to have told this story with every single one of you revolutionary women, both in front and behind the camera". [28]
"Nice for What" received positive reviews from music critics, with many praising its promotion of female empowerment. [29] [30] Hugh McIntyre of Forbes regarded the "perfectly-pitched" song as "another perfect delivery from the biggest artist in hip-hop", writing that the "vocal sample helps the track stand out from much of the rest of his discography". [22] Kevin Lozano of Pitchfork awarded the song "Best New Track", praising Drake for "smoothly handling the impeccable production from Murda Beatz", and lauding the song as "a fantastic piece of hip-hop machinery" and "one of Drake's most complete releases in some time". [31]
Chris DeVille of Stereogum deemed the song "a big, brash, almost obnoxiously loud New Orleans bounce-inspired production", describing it as "extremely poppy and sounds like a bid for continued commercial dominance". [32]
Billboard named "Nice for What" the fifth-best song of 2018. [33] Rolling Stone also named "Nice for What" the fifth-best song of 2018, [34] and ranked it 54th on their list of the '100 Best Songs of the 2010s'. [35]
In 2021, The Guardian ranked it number-one on their list of 'Drake's 30 Greatest songs'. [4] Billboard staff placed it at number one on their 2024 list ranking all 321 Drake songs that reached the Hot 100 at the time. [36]
In the United States, Drake became the first artist to have a new number-one debut replace his former number-one debut ("God's Plan") at the top of the Hot 100. It debuted with 88,000 downloads sold and 60.4 million streams. "Nice for What" became the 30th song in Billboard history to enter at number one. It also became Drake's fifth US number-one song overall and third as a lead artist. [2] The song also became the first song to debut on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop chart in the top 10. [37] "Nice for What" topped the Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks before it was replaced on May 14, 2018, by Childish Gambino's "This Is America". [38] [39] [40] It then returned for a fifth non-consecutive week at the number one spot on the issue date June 2, 2018. [41] On the issue dated July 14, 2018, "Nice for What" became the first song to reach number one in four nonconsecutive runs. It topped the Hot 100 for eight nonconsecutive weeks. On July 21, 2018, it was replaced at the top by another Drake song, “In My Feelings” and slipped to the number four spot. It ultimately remained in the top ten for 17 weeks. [42]
Year | Organization | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Summer Song | Nominated |
iHeartRadio MMVAs | Best Director | Nominated | |
Song of the Summer | Nominated | ||
BET Hip Hop Awards | Single of the Year | Nominated | |
2019 | Grammy Awards | Best Rap Performance | Nominated |
iHeartRadio Music Awards | Hip-Hop Song of the Year | Nominated | |
ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards [43] | Award Winning Rap Songs | Won | |
Top Rap Song | Won |
Credits adapted from Tidal and Qobuz.
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [93] | 8× Platinum | 560,000‡ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [94] | 3× Platinum | 120,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [95] | 4× Platinum | 320,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [96] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [97] | Platinum | 200,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [98] | Gold | 200,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [99] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [100] | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
Portugal (AFP) [101] | Platinum | 10,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [102] | 3× Platinum | 1,800,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [103] | 9× Platinum | 9,000,000‡ |
Streaming | ||
Sweden (GLF) [104] | Platinum | 8,000,000† |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | April 6, 2018 | Digital download | [17] | |
United States | April 10, 2018 | Rhythmic and Urban contemporary radio |
| [105] |
"Ex-Factor" is a song by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for her debut solo studio album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). Written and produced by Hill herself, it incorporates elements of R&B, neo soul and hip hop soul. The song features a sample of "Can It Be All So Simple" by Wu-Tang Clan. It has been claimed to be about Hill's former Fugees groupmate Wyclef Jean. The song was released as the second single from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on December 14, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records.
"0 to 100 / The Catch Up" is a song recorded by Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on July 15, 2014, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records. The song was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 30, 2015, for selling over 1 million digital copies in the United States.
"Low Life" is a song by American rapper Future featuring Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was originally released on February 6, 2016, as a track from the former's fourth studio album Evol, before being sent to radio on March 1, 2016, as the lead single. The song was written by Future, the Weeknd, Metro Boomin, Ben Billions, and DaHeala, and produced by the latter four.
"Controlla" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake, recorded for his fourth studio album Views. The song was released as the fourth single from the album in the US on June 7, 2016. The dancehall song was written by Drake, Matthew Samuels, Dwayne Chin-Quee, Stephen McGregor, Moses Davis, Donald Dennis, Gary Jackson, Patrick Roberts, Andrew Thomas, and produced by Boi-1da, Supa Dups, Di Genius, TheFinal1, Allen Ritter and Charles "Jamandass da Terminator" Omondi.
Shane Lee Lindstrom, known professionally as Murda Beatz, is a Canadian record producer from Ontario. Working predominantly in hip hop and trap music, he has produced hit songs and albums for various musical acts since 2011. His credits include the singles "Butterfly Effect" by Travis Scott, "Back on Road" by Gucci Mane, "Nice for What" by Drake, and "Motorsport" by Migos. He is best known for his guest appearance alongside Nicki Minaj on 6ix9ine's 2018 single "Fefe", which peaked at number three on both the Canadian Hot 100 and US Billboard Hot 100.
"Portland" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake featuring American rappers Quavo and Travis Scott from the former's mixtape More Life. The song was sent to rhythmic crossover radio on May 16, 2017, as the fourth single from the tape. The song also appears in the video game NBA 2K18.
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"In My Feelings" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake from his fifth studio album Scorpion (2018). It was released to rhythmic and contemporary hit radio on July 10, 2018, as the album's fifth single. The song features additional vocals by the City Girls, though they are uncredited on the official version. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for ten weeks and broke several records.
"Lemon" is a song by American band N.E.R.D. from their fifth studio album, No One Ever Really Dies (2017). The song features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna, and was released as the album's lead single on November 1, 2017.
"Be Careful" is a song by American rapper Cardi B from her debut studio album Invasion of Privacy (2018). It was released on March 29, 2018, as the third single from the album. The song was written by Cardi B, Jordan Thorpe, and produced by Boi-1da, Vinylz, and Frank Dukes. It contains an interpolation from "Ex-Factor", written and performed by Lauryn Hill, which itself samples "Can It Be All So Simple", written and performed by Wu-Tang Clan. The latter song also samples "The Way We Were". Therefore, Hill, the eight members of Wu-Tang Clan, and Marvin Hamlisch, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman are credited among the composers.
"I'm Upset" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake from his fifth studio album Scorpion (2018). It was released by Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records as the third single from the album on May 26, 2018. The song was written by Drake alongside producer Oogie Mane of Working on Dying.
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