Key Takeaways

• Summer Walker’s collaborations span R&B and Hip Hop, pairing her with artists like Drake, SZA, and Kendrick Lamar.
• Each feature highlights a different side of her artistry, from sensual duets to raw emotional ballads.
• These collabs reveal how Summer Walker’s features helped her evolve sonically and reach new audiences.

Despite the countless highs Summer Walker has reached since she first broke out with “Girls Need Love,” the R&B singer always manages to surprise us with what she can do, especially on collaborations. You might even argue that she doesn’t get enough credit for her features, whether she’s delivering a chorus or lending her voice to a guest verse.

Many people would probably point to her studio debut, Over It, for her best collaborations (which, don’t get us wrong, delivered a lot of good ones). However, there’s still so much more beyond tracks like the Jhené Aiko-assisted “I’ll Kill You” and Bryson Tiller on the extended version of “Playing Games.” Her following two albums, Still Over It and Finally Over It, proved she had plenty more to offer.

That said, Walker has delivered some incredible features as well, including Kendrick Lamar’s “Purple Hearts” and Cardi B’s “Dead.” With that in mind, here are 13 of the singer’s best collaborations in no particular order.

1. “Go Girl” with Latto and Doja Cat

Although all three of these artists can deliver a ladies’ anthem that makes you feel sexy any day of the week, many of us were still surprised by how good Walker, Latto, and Doja Cat sound together on “Go Girl.” The R&B singer bragged about being shaped “like a number eight,” while Big Mama shut down the then-recent pregnancy rumors and kept the number theme going by calling herself “a ten and a frеak.”

2. “Girls Need Love (Remix)” with Drake

If we had to choose a single collaboration that changed the trajectory of Walker’s career, it would be Drake hopping on the remix of her breakout track, “Girls Need Love.” She was relatively new at the time, and unlike a few years later, the Canadian star was still mostly universally loved. The remix largely retained the feel and structure of the original, with Drake adding a verse about sex “with no complications” and the much-needed reminder that “girls need love, too.”

3. “Purple Hearts” with Kendrick Lamar and Ghostface Killah

Listeners were introduced to “Purple Hearts” about halfway through Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Although Walker also appears on the second verse, hearing the two artists share the chorus was truly something special. “I just might love you still, just think I love me more / It ain't love if you gon' judge me for my past,” she sings at one point.

4. “I’ll Kill You” with Jhené Aiko

Leave it to Walker and Jhené Aiko to deliver a toxic anthem for the ladies. “If them b**ches 'round you, better be blood / If it ain't me or your mama, shouldn't be showin' you no love,” the former opens the track. As much as some may not want to admit it, London On Da Track produced some of Walker’s better work earlier in her career.

It wasn’t the musicians’ first collaboration, either. Walker and Aiko previously joined forces on “Triggered (Remix)” with 21 Savage (more on him later).

5. “Dead” with Cardi B

When we first heard Walker’s vocals on “Dead,” it was clear Cardi B had another classic on her hands with her sophomore effort, AM I THE DRAMA? The Atlanta singer joined her in wishing all their detractors “gone and deceased.” She also referenced the Magic Mirror from Snow White: “I took that demon to the ride, I'm goin' fast / Mirror, mirror, who the baddest b**ch? She looking back.” Of course, the pair weren’t channeling any Disney princess energy here.

6. “No Love” with SZA

Walker’s sophomore LP, Still Over It, had a little something for everyone. On her SZA-assisted “No Love,” the two artists reject romance entirely and focus on the idea of only wanting physical gratification from their exes. “All lust, there will be no lovin' you / It would be no lovin' you,” Walker sings. Meanwhile, the TDE powerhouse adds that if she had the chance to do it again, she’d only give 10 percent, with her ex only deserving “half of that.”

7. “Love Cycle” by Toosii

Walker and Toosii were a match made in heaven on “Love Cycle,” one of several songs leading up to his Poetic Pain. Words hardly capture just how good her vocals sound alongside the North Carolina artist’s sing-rapping, so listen for yourself above.

8. “Ex For A Reason” with JT

Who doesn’t hate when their partner’s ex tries to come back into the picture. As Walker and JT reminded us on their first-ever collaboration, she — or, depending on the listener, maybe he — is an “Ex For A Reason.” They waste zero time spelling out the consequences of crossing the line with their man, whether that’s ending up in a ditch or having their block spun on.

9. “prove it” with 21 Savage

21 Savage is an R&B aficionado, so if there’s any rapper who would sound good next to Walker, it’s him. On “prove it,” the London-born artist sampled Faith Evans’ “You Are My Joy (Interlude),” which made for the perfect foundation for his verses and Walker's short yet sweet chorus.

10. “Robbed You” with Mariah the Scientist

Yes, that’s 50 Cent’s “I’ll Whip Ya Head Boy” you’re hearing on the intro. On “Robbed You,” Walker and Mariah the Scientist sing about a man they regret sparing because, in the end, they’re the ones who got hurt. “I should've dropped your location and told them to pull up / I should've let you go when I had the chance 'cause it's nothing but a bad romance,” the latter sings.

There are quite a few tracks on Finally Over It where you could technically turn the song into a solo since the featured artist comes in late, but this is absolutely not one of them. Walker and Mariah sound phenomenal together.

11. “To Summer, From Cole (Audio Hug)” with J. Cole

Although “To Summer, From Cole (Audio Hug)” is mostly a J. Cole verse sandwiched between Walker’s relatively simple chorus, it’s still one of her best collaborations. The Dreamville rapper congratulated her on her pregnancy and praised her for managing motherhood while still being the superstar she is. Walker said she “cried” after hearing his verse, and it’s not hard to see why.