Best I Ever Had
Drake | Artist Essentials
First released: 2009 (year verified)
Original 2009 studio recording
MusicAtlas editorial note: Listen for the balance between conversational verses and the immediately repeated central hook.
YouTube opens a title-and-artist search. The selected recording and date are identified below.
Release evidence and recording details
First released: 2009 (year verified)
The selected original recording is documented in 2009. Only year precision is assigned; later album placements, annual-list appearances, reissues and different performances do not replace that release year.
Recording: Original 2009 studio recording
Credit: Drake
Role in this collection: Primary artist
Original mixtape: So Far Gone
So Far Gone - original mixtape program
The original mixtape program identifies the selected recordings, including the full approximately 6:15 Successful with Trey Songz and Lil Wayne. The 2019 streaming reissue does not replace the 2009 original public-release year, independently confirmed by the artist archive. | Reviewed 2026-10-18
Drake Related - So Far Gone release archive
The official artist archive dates the original mixtape to February 2009. Only the year is used for this selection of original recordings; the later commercial EP and streaming reissue are separate editions. | Reviewed 2026-10-18
In the yearly lists
These are listening-list appearances, separate from the first-release date.
Reviewed original title and complete retained performer credit identify the same original studio performance. Original release year is independent of annual-list year.
So Far Gone - original mixtape program
The original mixtape program identifies the selected recordings, including the full approximately 6:15 Successful with Trey Songz and Lil Wayne. The 2019 streaming reissue does not replace the 2009 original public-release year, independently confirmed by the artist archive. | Reviewed 2026-10-18
Drake Related - So Far Gone release archive
The official artist archive dates the original mixtape to February 2009. Only the year is used for this selection of original recordings; the later commercial EP and streaming reissue are separate editions. | Reviewed 2026-10-18
About Drake
Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham in Toronto, worked as an actor on Degrassi: The Next Generation before his recording breakthrough. Best I Ever Had helped establish his rap career, followed by the debut studio album Thank Me Later and the subsequent Take Care. His catalog includes solo songs such as Hotline Bling and separately credited collaborations, including the album Her Loss with 21 Savage.
Artist background sources
Drake - Recording Academy artist biography
Toronto identity, earlier acting, Best I Ever Had, Thank Me Later, Take Care, Hotline Bling and documented Her Loss collaboration. Award-year metadata is not converted into release dates. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Profile reviewed: 2026-10-17. Artist background does not establish a song's creative origin or release date.
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