"Back to Back" is a song by Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

. It is the second

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...

created by Drake and aimed at American rapper

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...

, following "

Charged Up "Charged Up" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake. It is the first diss track aimed at American rapper Meek Mill. At OVO Fest 2015, Drake performed this song and "Back to Back" live. Background On July 22, 2015, Meek Mill publicly criticized Drake ...

". At

OVO Fest OVO Sound (also known simply as OVO) is a Toronto-based Canadian record label, founded in 2012 by hip hop artist Drake, producer 40, and Oliver El-Khatib. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Warner Music Group's Warner ...

2015, Drake performed "Charged Up" and this song live. The album's cover art is a still of game 6 of the

1993 World Series The 1993 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 90th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the defending World Series champion and American League (AL) champio ...

, when former professional baseball player

Joe Carter Joseph Chris Carter (born March 7, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, ...

of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

famously hit a

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not ...

to win the series against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. The Blue Jays repeated as World Series champions, becoming the first

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

franchise founded after 1903, and 7th overall, to win back-to-back titles. A different version of the song with humorous lyrics was used in the

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

skit "Drake's Beef", in the May 14, 2016 show (Season 41, Episode 20), which Drake performed on and hosted. The song saw critical and commercial success, peaking at number 21 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and being nominated for

Best Rap Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists for quality rap performances. It was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989 and again at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, after which p ...

at the

58th Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 201 ...

Background and release

On July 22, 2015, Meek Mill publicly criticized Drake on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

after being upset with the latter's non-involvement with the promotion of his album ''

Dreams Worth More Than Money ''Dreams Worth More Than Money'' is the second studio album by American rapper Meek Mill. It was released on June 29, 2015, by Maybach Music Group and Atlantic Records. It was initially scheduled for release on September 9, 2014, however, it has b ...

'', claiming that Drake had used

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...

s to write his verse on "

R.I.C.O. "R.I.C.O." is a song by American hip hop recording artist Meek Mill, released as the third single from his second studio album ''Dreams Worth More Than Money'', on June 29, 2015. The song features fellow rapper, Canadian recording artist Drake. T ...

", and then releasing the reference track to the song. Following this, Drake released two diss songs within a week, "Charged Up" and "Back to Back", both aimed at Meek Mill. The song's title references the

', Drake’s hometown team, winning back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. They won their second consecutive championship by defeating the

, Meek Mill’s hometown team, in the

. Joe Carter, who hit the walk-off home run that ended the series, is depicted on the single's cover. The song was released on July 29, 2015, the same day that the Blue Jays and Phillies played against each other. It also is a reference to the Back-to-Back release of diss tracks. Meek Mill later responded with another diss song about Drake, titled " Wanna Know". Meek Mill later removed his diss to Drake on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

Commercial performance

"Back to Back" debuted and peaked at number 27 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. The song also debuted and peaked at number 21 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, with its chart entrance fueled by 122,000 first-week digital download sales and 4.5 million

streams A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

. As of September 2015, "Back to Back" has sold 253,000 copies in the United States.

Personnel

All are credited as songwriters. Adapted from

TIDAL Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

and comments to

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

. * Daxz – producer *

– co-producer, vocals * 40 – co-producer * Nav – additional production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{authority control 2015 songs Drake (musician) songs Songs written by Drake (musician) Diss tracks 2015 singles Song recordings produced by 40 (record producer) Song recordings produced by Nav (rapper) Songs written by Nav (rapper) Songs written by 40 (record producer)