Songfacts®:

• This is the final track on Drake's EP So Far Gone, the revised version of his breakthrough mixtape of the same title.
• This is one of two new songs not included on the original mixtape. Drake told MTV News: "I had recorded it when I was recording So Far Gone. The first verse and half of the second verse, I had gotten through - then I stopped. It was getting eerie for me. It was getting eerie. It was kinda like, 'Whoa.' Then the other night I had a moment and finished this song. The third verse transitions into Thank Me Later. The last line of the third verse is gonna be the first line on my album. It's gonna transition."
• On this track, Drake raps "I never cried when 'Pac died/ But I probably will when Hov does/ And if my tears hold value, then I would drop one for every single thing he showed us/ And I'll be standing in a puddle." The Canadian MC explained to MTV News that the lines aren't dissing Tupac Shakur. Instead, he's just pointing out that he was too young to fully feel the impact of the hip hop icon at the time of his death. He explained: "A lot of people also sort of don't understand the meaning of that line. It's not necessarily that I don't love West Coast hip-hop or that I don't love 'Pac now that I'm 22, but that line was just said to show how new I am to hip-hop. And like I said, I was 9 when that happened, so it didn't really affect me. But that song in general was just one of those things that took awhile to finish because it was an opportunity to say a lot of the things on my mind. That always feels good as a rapper, when you can get your thoughts out."
• Drake told ShockHound the story behind this song: "'Fear' actually started before I did the So Far Gone mixtape even. I basically began with this record produced by DJ Khalil, and the beat and the way the strings cry tugged at me emotionally. I knew I needed to live a lot more before I could do the music justice. With that being said, I did one-and-a-half verses and quit. I had stopped after I said this line, 'I never cried when Pac died, but I probably will when Hov does.' I took a break after that because I didn't know where to go from there, and my story wasn't complete yet. I didn't have the song title. I didn't have the hook. I didn't know where I was going with it. I just knew I had a place to start, so I let it sit for six to eight months. It was my choice to put new material on the So Far Gone EP. I thought I could finally finish 'Fear' then… I felt like I was ready to finish off those thoughts. I continued the second verse and finished the third verse, which is kind of dedicated to the people around me and what we've been going through as of late. Then I came up with this hook that was like, 'Please don't be scared of me.' That song is very reflective of where I'm at right now."