Nice for What

Six months after God's Plan took over the charts, Drake dropped Nice for What with almost no warning on April 6, 2018. The timing mattered. Within a week it replaced his own God's Plan at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making him the first artist since the Beatles to replace himself at the top. The song became his fifth US No. 1 and also topped the charts in the UK and Australia. It was the second single from Scorpion, his fifth studio album.

The beat is a masterclass in flipping a classic. Murda Beatz, Noah "40" Shebib, and Corey Litwin built the track around Lauryn Hill's Ex-Factor, which itself interpolates Wu-Tang Clan's Can It Be All So Simple. The result is a warm, bouncing groove that nods to New Orleans bounce, with Big Freedia and 5th Ward Weebie adding vocal ad-libs that give the song its party-starting energy. Lyrically, Drake turns the spotlight on women, urging them to demand better from the men in their lives and to stop settling for less. Lines like "I'm not the one who's gonna settle for less" became a rallying cry, and the song quickly turned into an anthem for self-worth.

Critics loved it. Rolling Stone placed it at No. 54 on its 100 Best Songs of the 2010s, The Guardian ranked it No. 1 on its 2021 list of Drake's 30 Greatest Songs, and Billboard staff later called it his best Hot 100 hit. The RIAA certified it Diamond, and it won two ASCAP Awards, including Top Rap Song. At the 61st Grammy Awards it was nominated for Best Rap Performance. The same-day music video, directed by Karena Evans, became a cultural moment for its cast of prominent women, including Tracee Ellis Ross, Tiffany Haddish, Issa Rae, and Olivia Wilde. Lauryn Hill later performed a remix of the song in May 2018, a meta moment given the sample. [edit]