Drake’s “Nice For What” Is The Bittersweetest Song I’ve Ever Known

Aaliyah stans can’t sing Lauryn’s spirit this well, dammit.

I adore Lauryn Hill to the level that I have every bar she ever rapped or verse she ever sang committed to memory. I was so inspired by The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill that I listened to her excellent 1998 release every day for 18 months, plus owned a four-foot tall “Ex-Factor” promotional poster. But, alas, by the time that she released Unplugged, her heartbroken, hasty and half-written, yet still magical and impacting 2003 follow up, the Lauryn I knew was gone. Moreover, the heart and soul of my love for soul music had been ripped out, savaged, then placed back into my body. Thus, while it is magnificent, Drake’s current single “Nice For What” is some straight butt-trash that I don’t have any time for (but will stream another million times). I feel this way if for no other reason than he already loves Aaliyah the way I love Lauryn and thus, in my mind can’t authentically make a song that seems so heartfelt. “Nice For What” is probably the most bittersweetest thing I’ve ever known. By heart. Already. Damn.