Let's Resequence Drake’s "Scorpion" So "In My Feelings" Is Played Early and Often

Controversial opinion: Drake really does make good music. The problem is he always surrounds it with 40 minutes of filler.

Though Young Aubrey has been producing solo albums that are an hour or longer since Thank Me Later in 2010, the divide between his quality songs and his tedious ones has never been starker. You have to wonder, does he even recognise the difference these days?

Case in point: the internet has decided non-single "In My Feelings" is the best cut off his latest effort, Scorpion, willing it into a chart-topping hit thanks to a viral dance challenge. But where did Drake sequence this monster in the making? Why, 68 minutes deep, buried at track 20, after even "Ratchet Happy Birthday". You could listen to Scorpion over two 30-minute public transport trips, and not hear it once.

I mean, c'mon Drake, we want to play your records in full, but some of us have work in the morning.

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Album Review: On "Scorpion", Drake Wants You to Know He's the Same Old Drake (Even With a Baby)

2016’s Views was the nadir of Drake’s obsession with padding, though More Life (his follow-up mixtape) and Scorpion are still guilty of dragging out the runtime, purely, it seems, to accumulate streams. (The more songs on an album, the more streams to contribute to his sales figures. That’s some dastardly Drake maths!)

Last year, I could take it no more, and decided to combine and resequence Views and More Life into a streamlined Spotify playlist I called Less Life. It’s 14 songs long, opens with "Child’s Play"  and jettisons a total of 28 other unnecessary tunes. When I listen to it, I like Drake again.

Therefore, it is my social responsibility to do the same for Scorpion, which has a record-breaking (for Drake) 25 tracks, runs for 90 minutes and reveals approximately one secret child. Because it’s not just "In My Feelings" that’s strangely tucked away; another hit, the Michael Jackson-featuring “Don’t Matter to Me”, sits sadly at track 21. And the 'surprise son' song is at the very end—though, it can stay there. Actually, I'm getting rid of it entirely.

You might say that, in the age of Spotify shuffling, track-listings don’t even matter. Why then did Drake divide Scorpion into two sides, one more rap-themed (and worse) and another more R&B-inspired (full of bops)?

No, clearly the man has gone mad with power, demanding we listen to his lengthy works in order, and we’ve just been letting him get away with it.

Well, no more. We present you with our resequencing of Scorpion. Let’s call it… Pincer.

1. "8 Out of 10"

2. "God’s Plan"

3. "Nice for What"

You gotta respect Drake’s preference for opening albums with a chorus-less state of the union. "8 out of a 10" sets the stage nicely, with "Drizzy 'bout to drop" and his admission that he’s settling on his "role as the good guy". Besides a bad David Copperfield pun, it's a solid lead-in to his joyful hit singles, because I’m here to give the people what they want!

4. "Emotionless"

5. "In My Feelings"

Segueing from a Lauryn Hill sample to Mariah Carey is a no-brainer, as is following it up with the indomitable "In My Feelings", now sitting pretty at track five. You’re welcome, literally everyone.

6. "Elevate" 

7. "Nonstop"

8. "That’s How You Feel"

Alright, we'll let 'Rap Drake' shine for a bit, though he’s really elevated by the Nicki Minaj sample in "That’s How You Feel".

9. "Peak"

Maybe the least popular tune on Scorpion that isn’t called "Ratchet Happy Birthday", "Peak" opens up Side B with the suggestion that Drake is sadder than ever, which is truly saying something. But on Pincer, we’re treating it as a sorbet between his hip-hop stunting, to…

10. "Don’t Matter to Me"

Scoring a coveted Michael Jackson hook almost ten years after MJ’s death is evidence of how much money Drake is willing to spend, but the sparse, clap-along sample is nonetheless irresistible, and now, gets to be the album’s thrilling climax.

11. "Summer Games"

12. "Blue Tint"

13. "After Dark"

Because we want to finish strong with some playful loosies that don’t really belong anywhere else.

14. "In My Feelings" (Bonus Track)

The track so nice we’re sequencing it twice. On Kendrick Lamar’s latest Aussie tour, he’s playing "Humble" two times over, which reminded us of the time Kanye and Jay-Z performed "N****s in Paris" in an endless loop in concert. So, why can’t we do that on albums too? You’d otherwise just be setting this tune on repeat anyway. Justice for "In My Feelings"!

Header Image: YouTube (Drake) & OVO Sound