Fire & Desire
A slow, sensual cut near the album's close, Fire & Desire is widely read as Drake revisiting a charged past relationship with longing and regret. Produced by Noah "40" Shebib, Hagler and Jordan Lewis over hushed, sample-leaning production (a Brandy sample has been cited), it has a smoky, after-hours feel that connects Drake's R&B side to a 2000s lineage he openly admires. It reads as the narrator caught between unresolved attraction and the knowledge that the connection was complicated — desire that persists past its expiration. Sequenced late in Views, it functions as one of the album's final emotional confessions before its title-track resolution.
Sources & verification
Citations below were matched specifically to "Fire & Desire" and Views. Drake Universe catalogs songs by album placement, verified collaborators, producers, samples, and themes, and avoids unsupported lyric-level claims.
- Pitchfork: Drake 'Views' album reviewPitchfork · 2016-05-05 — Dated album review noting the absence of Kanye features.
- Billboard: Drake's Views first album to surpass 1 billion Apple Music streamsBillboard · 2016-07-12 — Dated report on Views passing 1B streams on Apple Music in roughly three months.
- Billboard: Views debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200Billboard · 2016-05-08 — Dated chart report for Views' Billboard 200 No. 1 debut and its 13 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1.
- Beats 1: Drake on Views with Zane Lowe (2016)Apple Music / YouTube · 2016-04-29 — YouTube upload of Drake's Views release-day Beats 1 interview.
- Complex: Drake — Views from the 6 coverComplex · 2016-04-15 — Complex cover story tied to Views.
- Apple Music 1 curator pageApple Music — Apple Music 1 station surface used to verify Drake Zane Lowe interviews.
- Wikipedia: Views (Drake album)Wikipedia · 2026-05-18 — Reference for Views release facts, Toronto-weather concept, dancehall/Afrobeats/UK funky palette, track-by-track production and sample credits, mixed critical reception, and chart/certification data.
- Wikipedia: Feel No WaysWikipedia · 2026-05-18 — Reference for Feel No Ways production (Jordan Ullman, 40, Kanye West), Malcolm McLaren 'World's Famous' 80s synth-pop sample, and Views all-20-tracks Hot 100 record context.
- Drake — Can I (Genius)Genius · 2026-05-18 — Confirms 2015 leak, intended-for-Views status, The Smiths 'The Draize Train' sample and Beyonce additional vocals (reportedly an 'XO' outtake).
