Let’s address the Champaign Papi-sized elephant in the room, shall we? Drake is not the most beloved rapper in the game. He is habitually corny, rather than cool. His occasionally fantastic music, like this year’s ICEMAN album, gets overshadowed by his habit of starting feuds he’ll never win. The less said about Kendrick Lamar wiping the floor with him, the better.

With a reputation this divisive, it tracks that his business ventures wouldn’t land with the same enthusiasm as other celebrities'. That’s unfortunate because his Nike sub-label, NOCTA, is actually really, really good. Like, to the point where, on a recent trip to Nike’s store (on a doomed quest for new shoes), I considered a NOCTA sweatsuit set — fully unaware I was rubbing the fabric of a Drake-designed hoodie until my friend told me the connection. 

Nike may be a brand in cultural freefall, but its NOCTA range is actually covetable. Its output is minimally branded, with just enough of a streetwear bent without looking like a music-video background dancer. Maybe more surprising than being blindly drawn to the line in-store was learning this sub-label has been around for six years. 

There’ve been standout pieces throughout its run, none more than the NOCTA Nike Tech Fleece — essentially the cornball rapper-made version of a Juicy Couture tracksuit, but cool and genderless. The icy blue iteration, worn by the 6 God himself, resold for $1,000-plus on StockX for a minute in 2023.  

Despite all of Drake’s best efforts to boost the brand — including a summer mansion party that nobody heard about —  it just hasn’t had the same splash as something like Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack x Nike collections or even Rihanna’s just-finished FENTY x PUMA line. 

The irony is that NOCTA’s greatest strength is that you can’t tell it's related to Drake at all. That might be embarrassing for the rapper, but he should be used to being embarrassed by now (respectfully). Because really, this low-key, tasteful sub-label deserves a lot more love than it gets. 

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