J. Cole – ‘Night Rider’
Recorded: 2007 (Source)
We’ve heard the story a hundred times by now, so I’ll skip ahead a little. When Jay Z first heard J. Cole’s music through Mark Pitts, he was played some songs that were yet to be heard by the public. ‘Lost Ones’ was one of them and another was a song called ‘Night Rider’, “an ode to Nas” as described by the man himself. Considering Jay heard this song and it helped influence him to sign Cole as the first artist to Roc Nation, we’re guessing it’s pretty good. For those complaining that Cole’s lost his hunger and his mixtape music is his best, it could satisfy that need. If this does ever see the light of day, expectations are high, especially after the elevation of Cole and Nas’ personal relationship through Born Sinner‘s ‘Let Nas Down’. Don’t let us down, Jermaine.
Drake – ‘Blue Bugatti’
Recorded: 2011 (Source)
2011 has been dubbed the ‘Take Care era’ for Drake. He was coming off of a lukewarm and rushed debut album and went off the radar for a short while. His return would mark the start of something special, releasing songs like ‘Dreams Money Can Buy’, ‘Club Paradise’ and ‘Free Spirit’ which were amazing but still not making the cut for Take Care. Cryptic OVO blog posts during the time consisted of studio flicks and random photos of the crew in their comfort zone of Toronto. One of the shots was what looked like a tentative tracklist for the then-upcoming album and if you squint, you can make out the words ‘Blue Bugatti’. Just aesthetically, that looks impressive. The sombre tone of Drizzy’s music at the time mixed with the inevitable braggadocio a song with that title must contain is an interesting combination which unfortunately, running with the theme of everything on this list, we’ll probably never hear.
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