Best I Ever Had

"Best I Ever Had" is a song by the Canadian rapper Drake from his third mixtape So Far Gone. The song was later re-released on his debut EP of the same name. The song's popularity helped Drake decide to release So Far Gone as an EP, available for purchase. "Best I Ever Had" is also included as a bonus track on Drake's debut studio album Thank Me Later in certain countries. The song samples "Fallin' in Love" by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds and "Do It for the Boy" by Lil Wayne, and was produced by Boi-1da.

It was released as the first single from the tape as a digital download on February 11, 2009, and later as the third single from the EP in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2010, as a double-A-side single with "Fancy", which would later appear in Thank Me Later. The single peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Drake's first top-ten single. It remained his highest-charting single as a lead artist (as both Rihanna collaborations "What's My Name?" and "Work" reached number one) in the United States until "One Dance" (2016) peaked at number one.

The song was nominated twice at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards: Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song, although it lost both awards. In early 2010, the song was nominated for Single of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards, but it lost to Michael Bublé's "Haven't Met You Yet".

The artwork originally showed the single as a file on a computer with a plain white background, designed by artwork designer Darkie; this was deemed as too generic by iTunes; a new cover was created by Darkie.

Kia Shine credited himself with the production of the hit single, claiming he co-wrote the song for Drake, entitling him with part ownership of the song. Shine had produced a mixtape track for Lil Wayne titled "Do It for the Boy" which "Best I Ever Had" interpolates. By this point, Shine had already received awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated for "Best I Ever Had". Drake maintained that he had never met Shine and admitted that he sampled the Lil Wayne song, but called the claim to the credit "distasteful".

In a lawsuit filed on June 24, 2010, Drake was sued for copyright infringement by Playboy Enterprises over allegations that "Best I Ever Had" samples American rock group Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds' 1975 hit "Fallin' in Love", a song to which Playboy owns the copyright. The suit named Drake, as well as Cash Money Records and Universal Music Group, and asserted that Playboy "has suffered, and will continue to suffer irreparable injury" from the alleged infringement. The lawsuit demanded that "all infringing works be recalled and destroyed". As part of its claim, Playboy also alleged that "each defendant either knew, or should have reasonably known, that the sound recording was protected by copyright".

Drake told MTV News before his show at Manhattan's SOB's that he was in the process of putting together a music video for the song. He explained: "I been working with people on some ideas," he explained. "I don't wanna say who yet, because everything isn't confirmed yet. It should be pretty solid in the next few days. The biggest thing about that song is that a lot of women come up to me and say, 'That's my song, because it really makes me feel special.' So I told the directors that were interested that I just want the visuals to coincide with that feeling. I want women to feel special when they watch the visual and say, 'I wish that was me,' or 'I know that feeling.' That's the goal with the video — to be genuine and not sappy. Be sexy and keep it together, but still make women smile."

The video, directed by Kanye West, was shot in Brooklyn, New York at Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School. Trey Songz, Fabolous, Consequence, and the song's producer Boi-1da made cameos in the video, as well as artists signed to Young Money Entertainment, such as Lil Twist, Shanell, and Lil Chuckee.