My Gut Reaction: Drake - More Life (March 18, 2017)

The word “mixtape” has a much broader definition today than it did when they were first introduced into our chosen culture. Back in my earlier days as a music snob-slash-nerd, when the world was tinted in that sepia tone you see in older photographs and walking backwards through the snow, uphill both ways of course, was merely just how one got to school, a mixtape was a literal cassette tape whose content was made up of various songs pulled from multiple sources, either mixed together by a disc jockey (the more creative of whom would soon begin blending, remixing, and otherwise altering the songs at will) or lovingly compiled by a music snob-slash-nerd at home, usually with a theme and copious notes (if it was created with a special someone in mind), both types circulating amongst friend groups, social circles, and outward. These soon evolved into DJ-curated mixes that typically included as-yet-unreleased material from some of the genre’s faves as well as exclusive content (usually freestyles over another artist’s beat, sometimes songs that couldn’t be officially released for whatever reason), so as to help the DJ stand out in an increasingly crowded field. 

My Gut Reaction: Drake - Views (April 29, 2016)

Today’s post for Aubrey “Drake” Graham’s fourth album, Views, is a lengthy one designed to mirror the drawn-out promotional run our host put together to goose its sales.

I’m just fucking with you – Drake isn’t worth that level of attention from me. This one’s long just because I had a lot to complain about.

Drake & Future - What A Time To Be Alive (September 20, 2015)

Although he’s since diluted his own brand with his prolific release schedule, there was once a time when Nayvadius “Future” Wilburn wasn’t spending the majority of his free time high as shit while trying to figure out which artist he should release a collaborative project with next. Instead, he was trying to hone his craft as one of the founding fathers of what we now refer to as “trap music”, all while declining to capitalize (much) on his connections to Atlanta’s Dungeon Family collective. 2015 saw two joint efforts enter Future’s ever-growing discography, the first being a project fully produced by Zaytoven that hit all of the right notes among the man’s fanatical base.

The second was What A Time To Be Alive, a collaboration with Aubrey “Drake” Graham that was marketed as a mixtape, albeit one that people had to pay for? Yeah, I don’t understand the logic behind that shit either. Just call it an album and we’ll all be on our respective ways, guys.

Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late (February 13, 2015)

I've been reviewing my post history in order to gauge how realistic it will be for me to complete my mission on this blog within my lifetime. (The "finish what I started" of it all.) It isn't looking good, folks. But one artist that passed me by to a pretty significant degree is Aubrey Drake Graham, known professionally as Drake, because the world isn't ready for a rapper-slash-singer names Aubrey, I guess. I'm four projects behind in the man's catalog, which is silly to me, as I was only gone for two years. But now's as good a time as any to pick Wheelchair Jimmy back up, and as an added bonus, since my only real restriction this month is that I don't wish to repeat artists, this means you likely won't read much more about Drake for the rest of February. Celebratory wishes can be sent to the email address in the sidebar.

For The Max-Approved Mixtape: Drake - "5AM In Toronto"

Artist: Drake

Title: "5AM In Toronto"

Producer: Boi-1da

Album: Non-album single (2013)

Aubrey "Drake" Graham is an unavoidable presence in today's incarnation of our chosen genre.  He's overexposed to a fault, too easily meme-able, and even with his money and alleged power, all of those acts on his vanity label aren't ever going to manage to do any-fucking-thing, but thankfully, he does have some good-to-great songs under his belt.  "5AM In Toronto" just so happens to be one of them, conveniently enough.

The second in a series of tracks which depicted the self-proclaimed 6 God running through his thoughts at a given time and place (the third entry was released this year on his free mixtape-turned-contractual-obligation If You're Reading This You're Too Late, which I will get to eventually), "5AM In Toronto" was leaked as a way to promote his then-forthcoming third full-length album Nothing Was The Same.  It easily bests pretty much everything on that fucking album that wasn't "Started From The Bottom".  And just like that hit single, "5AM In Toronto" finds our host putting aside his too-emotionally-observant schtick in favor of shit-talking and making vague threats, as rappers are wont to do.  However, "Started From The Bottom", a song I will go officially on record as liking quite a bit (Mike Zombie's beat makes the track, in my opinion, and I prefer the extended mix with much more instrumental that you can easily find online), came packaged with the punchline "But you didn't actually start at the bottom, Jimmy from Degrassi: The Next Generation, you son of a bitch", which tore away at Aubrey's credibility just a tad bit.  

"5AM In Toronto" has no such issues: you are listening to a man who has reached a higher level of success than he had dreamed of, with no sign of stopping anytime soon, and his rhymes reflect that shift in his lifestyle.  Over a pounding Boi-1da beat (which he created with assists from Khromatik and Vinylz) with easily the hardest drums Aubrey has ever been connected with, our host delivers one long-ass verse that kicks off with the line, "You underestimated greatly", and keeps dragging out example upon example afterward.  Confident braggart Drake is much more appealing than the crying Drake that makes frequent appearances on his albums: even without his acting background coming into question, he actually has earned all of his success, and it's hard to take all of that away from him.  This is why an otherwise-corny line such as "I could load every gun with bullets that fire backwards / You probably wouldn't lose a single rapper" works for him, even though conjuring up an image of Aubrey Graham rolling his wheelchair through the hood on some drive-by shit of his own makes everyone laugh uncontrollably at its absurdity.  Drake isn't getting anywhere near a water gun, let alone something that could actually cause some damage.  

With the aggressive tactics, abrasive and cocky flow, and his boasts 'n bullshit, Drake positions himself as a force to be reckoned with behind the microphone.  I realize that sounds preposterous and I probably just lost a few readers, but here's the thing: I don't hate Drake.  Never have.  I certainly make fun of him a lot, and I don't care for a lot of his dealings with other rappers I actually don't like, but Aubrey has used the short period of time he's been successful (post-mixtapes) to hone his craft, and his writing has only gotten better.  "5AM In Toronto" is just a catchy-ass song, with a fucking contagious beat that will make you nod your head, until you shake the same head in disagreement with the knowledge that he left this song off of the same album that produced the atrocious "Worst Behavior", and oh man, does that song blow.  But we'll always have Toronto.

Apparently Drake shot a low-key video for "5AM In Toronto" that I had never seen before today, so that's the clip I included above.  It's nothing special, but it exists, so.

Do you agree or disagree with this selection?  Discuss below.

-Max

My Gut Reaction: Drake - Nothing Was The Same (September 24, 2013)

Today's post attempts to make sense of all of the attention Drake has been receiving as of late.  Sure, he's only in the news because he's "promoting a new album" and whatnot, but I choose to believe there's more to it than that.  I hope.

My Gut Reaction: Drake - Take Care (November 15, 2011)

You're forgiven if you didn't realize that rapper-slash-singer Aubrey "Drake" Graham actually took a break shortly after releasing his major label debut, Thank Me Later, in the summer of 2010.  I say this because, even though he apparently went into some sort of hiding (to hear him tell it), I swear that Aubrey has been all over rap radio for the past three-and-a-half years, with his cameos and guest appearances outnumbering his actual solo songs, which still get some version of airplay to this day.

But, apparently, Drake went on vacation or some shit (unlike me, who obviously took a break and left that Common write-up on the front page for the entire holiday season - you're welcome!), and his return to our chosen genre was marked by two separate tracks in late summer 2011: DJ Khaled's "I'm On One", his collaboration with Lil Wayne and Rick Ross that has earned a Grammy nomination, and his own "Dreams Money Can Buy", which was supposed to be the first single from his sophomore effort, Take Care.  "I'm On One" consists exclusively of trash talking, which you two probably figured out when you read the guest list, but "Dreams Money Can Buy" was more interesting (if a bit stiff, to be honest), thanks to its moody, smoky vibe, which was supposed to signify Aubrey's maturation as an artist.

Subsequent solo songs that were leaked by our host himself followed this trend (including "Marvin's Room", the only one of the first round of leaks that actually made the final cut of Take Care), with critics and fans falling all over themselves to praise the hell out of Drake's new work before the rest got the chance.  Aubrey's never been the kind of guy to hide his true feelings (see: all of his previous mixtape releases), so I'm not exactly sure why everyone thought that this was a new leaf being turned over by our host: emo rapping has always been his bread and butter (he just so happens to somehow score with chicks even though he whines an awful lot).  But Aubrey switched gears with "Headlines", the actual first single from Take Care, a song on which he essentially complains about how his life has changed ever since he hit the big time.  Because that's how you win fans, you see.

Anyway, Take Care was lavished with praise from critics the world over upon its release in November 2011.  Everybody seemed to love the hell out of the album, and in this case I don't use the word "album" lightly, as everyone gushed over the project as a consistent whole.  Most of Take Care was handled by longtime Drake collaborator Noah "40" Shebib, and the guest list is kept to a minimum (although it wouldn't be a Drake album without Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross swinging by).  Aubrey claims that Thank Me Later was a rush job and that he had all the time in the world to craft Take Care, so his excursions into experimentation (alongside collaborator Abel Tesfaye, also known as R&B act The Weeknd) were expected, but hiring Stevie Wonder just to play the harmonica at one point most certainly was not.  Still, Take Care ended up becoming one of the best-reviewed hip hop projects of all of last year.

So I figured it was finally time to give this a shot, especially since it dropped smack in the middle of my stunt blogging month (which gave me a very easy way to ignore the hell out of it).  After several false starts (which is why I didn't write this before Christmas), I bring to you...

1. OVER MY DEAD BODY (FEAT. CHANTAL KREVIAZUK)

Take Care starts off much more melancholy than one would expect, as Drake's two shit-talk-filled verses (the latter of which includes what I'm probably misinterpreting as a sly potshot aimed at Kanye West and Jay-Z) clash heavily with producer Noah “40” Shebib's depressed piano keys and slightly-more-hopeful synths. However, the end result sounds better than that last sentence would have you believe. Lyrically, Aubrey still sounds exactly the same, which may be a dealbreaker for some of you two, but since I've never hated his flow (just some most of his choices), that isn't a problem for me. The piped-in vocal from the guest star is appropriately creepy for a song entitled “Over My Dead Body” that otherwise isn't threatening in the least bit, and the brief sound bite of a DJ Screw song hidden at the very end was an unexpected touch. Also, this wasn't a rap album intro, so huzzah!

2. SHOT FOR ME

Oh fuck, Aubrey's an “artist” now? God damn it. His singing vocals on here last just long enough to act as a surrogate “fuck you” to anyone who might have sort-of liked “Over My Dead Body”, and his rhymes, while admittedly focused on a singular theme, were all bullshit. I find it difficult to determine exactly what Drake was going for with “Shot For Me”, which sounds like the horrifically ugly spawn of a loveless marriage between rap and R&B: 40's beat isn't engaging in the least fucking bit, and Aubrey comes off as so much of a pussy that his female audience probably throw their (unused, hopefully) tampons up on stage during his live shows. Pretty early in the evening for a misstep, don't you think?

3. HEADLINES

This actual first single from Take Care, unlike all of those other aborted singles that apparently died in the sample wars but are readily available for resurrection to anybody with a wi-fi connection and half a clue, goes a long way toward proving to Drizzy's fanbase that the days of So Far Gone and the like are long over, as “Headlines” sounds like a rich asshole's natural extension on Thank Me Later's, um, “Over”. Drake sure spends a fuckload of time complaining about how rich and lonely he is, wearing his heart on his sleeve while on the receiving end of half-assed handjobs from drunk and hot twenty-two year old chicks in the VIP section of the club, doesn't he? Don't twist my words or my intentions here: I like Aubrey as a rapper, and he flows like water over this 40/Boi-1da instrumental as only he can. But he has no actual lyrical content on this song. He literally wrote a song about how rich he is and how everything in his life is the same, but different, yet still the same, and oh so different simultaneously. There are only a handful of rappers who can get away with that, and Aubrey hasn't been around long enough yet to be listed as one of them. I have a feeling a lot of you two enjoy this song for what it is, but ask yourself a question: what exactly do you like about it? Because the odds are fairly good that you don't fucking relate to our host's self-imposed misery. (Side note: the version of “Headlines” on the iTunes version of Take Care is longer than on the copies available from every other fucking retailer. I've heard of bonus tracks, but including longer versions of actual album cuts? What a low blow, Aubrey.)

4. CREW LOVE (FEAT. THE WEEKND)

I dug the experimental nature of the beat, but “Crew Love” sounds a bit out of place on Take Care, mainly because it's (unofficially) a song by one-man band The Weeknd featuring Drake. Drizzy doesn't even register until a bit after the halfway mark, and that's only to spit a random verse that just as easily could have been added to pretty much any of the other Drake songs in his back catalog. This passes off the pressure to Abel Tesfaye, whose crooning of nonsensical bars that are probably intended to sound shocking except that all R&B artists curse like motherfucking sailors is alright, but not alright enough to carry a song that shouldn't really belong to him. I get it: Drake was hungry, and he stepped out of the studio to get a sandwich. But he still should have contributed something to his own goddamn song.

5. TAKE CARE (FEAT. RIHANNA)

Maybe it's because of the semi-club-ready instrumental (which 40 samples from a remix of Gil Scott-Heron's “I'll Take Care Of You” from Jamie xx, who receives co-production credit), but Rihanna sounds a lot like Dev, that chick who works alongside production duo The Cataracts and likes her bass down low when she's drinking. This title track is oddly distancing: it might as well be running away from you while it plays out. The guest star, who clearly doesn't need to put this shit on her resumé, sounds interchangeable; Drake's bars are devoid of, well, everything; and the audience is ultimately left with two distinct feelings: emptiness and annoyance, specifically of the “really fucking” kind. “Take Care” is all style, no substance, and it loses the plot about twenty minutes before the track ever begins. Bleh.

6. MARVIN'S ROOM

Some critics believe that it was kind of ballsy for Aubrey to release a song (and include it on his sophomore album, recorded at a time when he's still actively courting his audience) where he is portrayed as a complete fucking asshole who wants to break up his ex-girlfriend's new happy relationship. Just to get a quick piece? Just to fuck with her head? All of the above? Probably. Here's the thing: I am not some critics. I don't think that “Marvin's Room” is especially different from anything else Drake has released to date: the man has never been afraid to reveal his feelings, regardless of how the listener may react and regardless of how he comes across. In that respect, I can agree with our host: an artist shouldn't be overly concerned with how he appears as long as the message resonates. 40's minimalist beat is as cold and calculated as Drake's ulterior motives, which involve bragging about how many girls he's fucked this week and having that somehow cause his ex to drop the panties. “Are you drunk right now?”, the female voice mumbles throughout, and “Marvin's Room” is a surprisingly coherent inebriated response. There aren't many rappers not named Kanye West or KiD CuDi who would ever even attempt to write this kind of song, so Drake deserves some kudos for that. Only some, though: I could go the rest of my life never listening to this track a second time, and I would be just fine.

7. BURIED ALIVE (INTERLUDE) (FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR)

Curiously, Aubrey allows Kendrick Lamar, the Compton-based newbie who otherwise has no actual affiliation with Drake, Young Money, Cash Money, or October's Very Own, to spit a not-so-quick one-verse wonder without any interference: since more people undoubtedly bought Drake's Take Care than Game's The R.E.D. Album, this interlude serves as Lamar's official crossover into the mainstream. He sounds alright over 40 and Supa Dups's low-key beat, but not impressive enough to get anyone to run out and buy his own shit. Oh well. (This interlude originally shared a track with “Marvin's Room”, but the iTunes version separates the two distinct songs from each other, marking the only difference between iTunes and every other retail version that I actually approve of, because the listener would be left with what appears to be an eight-minute version of “Marvin's Room”, a proposition that might have caused you to put a gun in your mouth.)

8. UNDER GROUND KINGS

This song, which would suck your dick for a quick cameo from Bun B, features the first instrumental on all of Take Care thus far that could also work for an entirely different act. Drizzy does well playing the role of a hip hop rookie whose deep love of Southern artists resulted in his current career path, and although the hook is overly wordy in an oddly non-Aubrey kind of way, I still actually enjoyed this track. Maybe it was just good to not hear Drake crying or complaining about his fame. But yeah, still, he should have included some guests: I wouldn't mind the T-Minus/40 beat running for a bit longer.

9. WE'LL BE FINE (FEAT. BIRDMAN)

If Aaliyah's ghost ever visits hip hop, I have no doubt that she's both touched and weirded out by Drizzy's stalker-ish attempts to name her as his primary influence. Especially because of that tattoo. Anyway, working with Young Money comes with the occupational hazard of having the CEO of its parent company, Cash Money, eventually insisting on appearing on your album: thankfully, after Drake gratefully ceded his own “Money To Blow” to his label boss's boss back in 2009, Birdman returns the favor by only appearing during the outro of “We'll Be Fine”, and even then only in an ad-lib capacity. This song was merely okay otherwise, although I did enjoy it a bit more than most anything off of Thank Me Later, so that's something, maybe.

10. MAKE ME PROUD (FEAT. NICKI MINAJ)

Aubrey isn't stupid: of course he's going to put his famous coworkers on Take Care. And considering that Nicki Minaj hasn't yet fizzled out and has, in fact, only become more aggressive in keeping her name and her ass in the spotlight (see: the video for the remix to Big Sean's “Dance (A$$)”), it makes complete sense that the label would peddle “Make Me Proud” as a single. However, this trifle is plain as fuck, and boring to boot: both Drake and Oneka sound like they recorded this shit under duress. Skip.

11. LORD KNOWS (FEAT. RICK ROSS)

Wielding an instrumental that he probably offered to both Jay-Z and Saigon first, Just Blaze steps back into the spotlight ans hands Aubrey a beat that's entertaining as fuck. Drizzy spits a Cappadonna “Winter Warz”-esque long-ass verse that doesn't say much, but sticks with the status quo, which will be enough for Aubrey's fans. I realize that last sentence sounds a bit negative, but there really isn't anything wrong with his performance on “Lord Knows”. Officer Rick Ross, whose popularity in our chosen genre has fucking exploded in the past two years, kicks his contribution over a slightly different beat, but while I can't remember shit about his verse, I also can't remember anything especially objectionable about it, either. So there's that.

12. CAMERAS / GOOD ONES GO

This is probably the kind of track that Common played in a loop on his Zune while writing his Drake dis track. No, not “Sweet”, the other one. Both halves of this track are so inessential to the hip hop movement that I'm seriously considering charging Drizzy for the seven-plus minutes he stole from me that I'm never going to get back. Asshole.

13. DOING IT WRONG

I appreciate that Aubrey has sworn his allegiance to both our chosen genre and R&B. But his transitions back and forth between the two have become more jarring as time has passed, and I can't imagine “Doing It Wrong” becoming anybody's favorite song, even with the out-of-left-field harmonica assist from motherfucking Stevie motherfucking Wonder. No, seriously. I have to admit, that is one hell of a co-sign. But the song doesn't deserve that high a level of praise: in fact, it kind of blows dick. Also, I'm thirteen (or twelve, depending on your copy of Take Care) tracks into the album and it feels like I've been writing about this shit for the past week and a half. Groan.

14. THE REAL HER (FEAT. LIL WAYNE & ANDRE 3000)

Lil Weezy makes a slightly mean-spirited reference to Stevie Wonder during his verse on here. Nice job with the sequencing, Aubrey. Anyway, this track features a backsliding Drake performance and a disinterested Andre 3000, as the J.D. Salinger of hip hop rhymes about relationships and only his mentioning Adele helps the listener ascertain that it's a freshly-written performance. 40's slow-moving beat sounds like all of the other slow-moving beats on Take Care, and all of these tracks are starting to sound like much. I have a feeling that I already know how this write-up is going to end.

15. LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE

Aubrey has the rap game on lock, if by “rap game” we're talking about him being a sub-par Vegas lounge singer performing all of Take Care in a smoky jazz club while the three people in the audience hold a loud conversation even though they're all sitting nowhere near each other. To be fair, Drake does actually rap on “Look What You've Done”, but his bars have transcended generic shit-talking and have now equated style with depth. Then again, he was outclassed by motherfucking Lil Wayne, of all people, on the previous track, so what else was he expected to do?

16. HYFR (HELL YA FUCKING RIGHT) (FEAT. LIL WAYNE)

Although I liked how weirdly specific Aubrey spun his first few bars, I ultimately couldn't stand this shit. T-Minus's instrumental will probably be a favorite of every hip hop fan under the age of fifteen, but the truth is that the music on here is generic as shit, and the verses from both Weezy and Drizzy left me feeling chilly. Probably didn't help that Lil Wayne's list of rhetorical questions during his hook includes, “I heard you fuck your girl, is it true?”, a sentence that has never once been uttered in the history of time because of how fucking stupid it sounds. Unless this shit was included on Take Care as a satirical response to Drake's own music, there wasn't much fucking right about it.

17. PRACTICE

Aubrey shaves his writing time by half on “Practice”, on which he liberally borrows entire sentences from the Cash Money Billionaires staple “Back That Azz Up” (from Juvenile, surprisingly, although Weezy did appear with some ad-libs on the original track). As such, this song sounded like two of Drake's incomplete thoughts mashed together just in time to meet the deadline to turn Take Care over to the label for mastering. “Practice” is so disconnected that it doesn't even have anything to do with itself. So it goes.

18. THE RIDE

On this finale, Aubrey drenches his three verses in so much smugness that it's easy to overlook the fact that none of the segments have anything to do with each other. The production, handled by Doc McKinney and Abel Tesfaye, was interesting (although the crooning was a bit trite) in that it doesn't fully blend in with the rest of Take Care, and Drizzy promises that his next two albums will be even better, which was nice of him, but by saying as such, it's like he's admitting that Take Care won't be all things to all people. Well, at least the party's finally over.

Unless you bought Take Care off of iTunes, that is. Because if you did, you have two more songs that you have to sit through in order to get your money's worth.

19. THE MOTTO (FEAT. LIL WAYNE)

T-Minus's production is more high-energy than almost everything else on Take Care, but that's not too hard to pull off: a surly teenager crawling out of bed at two o'clock in the afternoon after sleeping for fourteen hours would sound more alert than the beats on this project. Drizzy and Weezy kick a glorified freestyle session that approached the concept of “fun”, with Aubrey's sleazy-as-fuck contribution doubling as the happiest he's sounded on the entire album. “The Motto” isn't a very good song (it barely even qualifies for that descriptor, even with the inclusion of a shitty chorus), so it was left off of the regular program for a very good reason, but for what it was, it could have been much worse.

20. HATE SLEEPING ALONE

The chorus on this other bonus track makes Aubrey sound so goddamn sensitive that just looking at sugar on a grocery store shelf could give him a severe toothache, and, appropriately enough, it could go a long way toward him gaining an even larger female audience. Which makes the fact that all of his other songs are about banging bitches pretty fucking funny to me. Anyway, this would have actually fit on Take Care, but that doesn't mean it was worthwhile to listen to.

THE LAST WORD: That's it? Drake couldn't find three more songs to stretch Take Care over the one hundred-minute mark? If you're not familiar with sarcasm, allow me to speak bluntly: Take Care is waaaaaaay too fucking long of an album: it's as though Aubrey didn't understand that he could stop recording at any time. But the fact that nearly all of the songs sound the same makes it appear that Drake just doesn't have anybody on his staff to assist with quality control: having too many yes men around can spoil you. There are some good songs on Take Care (although I can only think of “Lord Knows” and “Under Ground Kings” as I write this sentence, I know that there's at least one more), but they're drowned out by Drake's need to have every track sound moody and melancholy, so that his shit-talking, focused mainly around his wealth and his intimacy issues, can achieve a greater level of depth due to the contrast in styles. Aubrey seems to be aiming for Ghostface Killah's title as hip hop's most “emo” artist, a classification I'm sure Pretty Toney would cede in a fucking heartbeat. Drake has his niche, and he works it well, but listening to over an hour of the same song played with slight twists coming through every six minutes or so is a tiring proposition, and I cannot in good faith ask anyone to follow through with it. Take Care would have made an excellent EP, but as a full-length album, it's lacking. Yeah, I said it.

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

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A Reader's Gut Reaction: Drake - Thank Me Later (June 15, 2010)

(Okay, let's go through this one more time. Today's Reader Review is brought to you by Red Magic and the letter “F”. Drake's debut album Thank Me Later, which I already trashed, receives the full treatment today. Be sure to leave some comments below, although I have a feeling that most of you two will agree with most of the sentiment here.)


From the sandy beaches of California to the industrial might of Tokyo, most people have at least heard of Drake. Although they may know little about his acting career and undoubtedly care even less about it, Aubrey Graham (man, what a goofy name) has, over a surprisingly short period of time, morphed from a no-name Canadian rapper into a celebrated hip hop idol.


There are various reasons for this, but the most obvious factor regarding Drake’s rise to prominence is his marriage of convenience with Lil' Wayne's Young Money crew and label. Obviously, Drake is a smart cookie, since everything which has even just a whisper of Lil’ Wayne will hit the charts and get some noticeable radio play. Indeed, songs such as his breakthrough single “Best I Ever Had” did exceptionally well throughout the Western Hemisphere despite its origin as a boring, unimpressive mixtape track. More importantly for his debut album, Thank Me Later, Drake was able to rally an still-increasing amount of support from valued individuals, most notably Kanye West, Alicia Keys and (dare I say it) Jay-Z.


To be honest, I have never cared all that much about Drake. True, I thought the So Far Gone mixtape had one or two good songs, but he did not nearly hypnotize me as much as he has the whole of North America. Furthermore, I've always regarded Wale as the more imaginative and developed rapper of the new generation, but his run-of-the-mill debut album Attention Deficit has entrenched him into the underground segment of rap. Nonetheless, I guess Drake sort of deserves attention since he has been labeled the next big thing and all.


Also, I have been fairly amazed how much attention Max has given Drake, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and critique the rising musician.


1. FIREWORKS (FEAT ALICIA KEYS)
For the first track, Drake hands the beat duties to producers Crada and 40, who I have admittedly never heard of. To be fair, the production could have been worse, and the idea of fireworks beginning the song and ending it is not that bad of an idea. However, the first song of your debut album should be explosive, forcing the listener to take an actual interest in the artist: this track sort of jingles along without highlighting anything imperative. Alicia Keys merely crooning “All I see is fireworks / Every night is fireworks” is lackluster, and her feature could perhaps have been utilized more effectively. Also, from the beginning of Thank Me Later it becomes obvious Auto-Tune will be a vast part of the album, which does not exactly fill me with joy.


2. KARAOKE
Drake merely spits one verse and glues the rest together with Auto-Tune. This song is boring as fuck.


3. THE RESISTANCE
Drake claims (unconvincingly) that he is not enjoying the life of a famous rapper. Once again, his friend 40 delivers the beat, and once again it’s not the instrumental which is terrible, but the end product. To me, anyway, Drake sounds like a pee-stained R&B singer (I'm not exactly sure what he meant, but I left it in because it made me laugh) and his phrase “Just like you said I avoided the Coke game and went with Sprite instead” was probably stolen from a Lil’ Wayne mixtape or something. (I think he may have actually drawn from his own experience as a Sprite pitchman, but that's just me.) Especially on a song with the title “The Resistance”, I never thought for a second that Drake would try and make the listener feel sorry for him.


4. OVER
The first single off Thank Me Later, and it’s pretty annoying, but it appears as though I'm in the minority. Still, hear me out: Boi-1da has already gained lots hype for his contribution to Eminem’s Recovery, and his beat is reasonable enough. Nevertheless, although Drake’s “Who the fuck are y’all?” question during the chorus is quite amusing, his sort-of response, “Oh yeah that’s right / I’m doing me”, is too goofy. I appreciate that this was released as a single, but I would have liked some more energy, and I still hold out hope that a lyrically stronger rapper will pop up on an official remix. Lupe Fiasco, I'm looking in your general direction.


5. SHOW ME A GOOD TIME
The first of two beats from Kanye West sounds very similar to my baby cousin screaming, and, sadly, the sound emerges again during Drake’s hook. I don't quite believe this is a Kanye beat, although in fairness his contributions to The Blueprint 3 were not exactly spellbinding. Moreover, it seems Drake is trying to impersonate Kanye’s style, which I guess shouldn't be surprising. While it was nice of him to shout out the Wu (“Wu-Tang Clan n----s want that cream”), it is what it is: a depleted track.


6. UP ALL NIGHT (FEAT NICKI MINAJ)
The first guest from Drake's extended Young Money family hits the microphone and, interestingly enough, it ends up being the only individual who (according to the reviews I read) gained praise for her performance on Lil’ Wayne’s excruciating rock album Rebirth. Surprisingly, Minaj seems much more comfortable than Drake on here, which is kind of embarrassing. As for Boi-1da’s second beat, it’s actually pretty damn good, especially the spiral during the chorus, but Drake does not seem to know what he is supposed to be doing. (He obviously never paid attention to his own verses on “Over”.) Incidentally, am I the only one who thinks Drake’s use of the N-word is morally questionable? I mean this guy is a Canadian Jew who is merely exploiting African-American culture rather than actually being a true part of it. Maybe it is just me, but for some reason I feel ashamed when Drake uses the term. Also, his claim “We are in this bitch” sounds a bit awkward, as Minaj continually refers to herself as a bitch. Maybe I'm reading too much into this.


7. FANCY (FEAT T.I. & SWIZZ BEATZ)
And then we are presented with this bullshit. Seriously, all you up-and-coming rappers out there should please make sure that Swizz Beatz never ever appears on your album as a chorus singer. Every bloody time I hear him trying to sing a hook, he fails miserably. Drake does his usual let’s-try-and-get-a-girl-by-talking-about-lip-gloss impression. Perhaps it is because I cannot see Drake as a ladies man at all that his boasts about getting lots of muff seem hollow. (Yes, I believe that's the first time the term “muff” has been used on the blog. Cue the balloons and streamers!) The surprise of this song is T.I.’s entry, which is actually not that bad. However, this is probably because I am getting tired of Drake’s rapping and the self-proclaimed “King of the South” (although a mediocre rapper at the best of times) is at least lyrically sturdier than his host.


8. SHUT IT DOWN (FEAT THE-DREAM)
On first glance, this song is far too long and should be at least two minutes shorter. Drake attempts to put his R&B skills to work, and yet his verse “Put that fucking dress on and work it kind of vicious / like somebody’s taking pictures” is too awkward for a romantic tune. Besides, Drake’s “lyricism” (for example, “Yeah, baby you finer than your fine cousin and your cousin fine / but she don’t have my heart beating in double time”) is absolute rubbish. I would be surprised if anybody could sit through this one twice. (So, of course, it's being released as a single. Go figure.)


9. UNFORGETTABLE (FEAT YOUNG JEEZY)
Drake rips of Aaliyah’s “Let Me Know” and somehow makes a dull song even duller. As it is with Swizz Beatz, having Young Jeezy on your album is never a good idea, especially as he repeatedly underscores how “beautiful” his life is. Hopefully Jayceon Taylor won’t take Jeezy’s line “Like for y'all to meet the love of my life, her name's the game” too seriously.


10. LIGHT UP (FEAT JAY-Z)
The old warhorse of hip hop enters the arena over 40’s third instrumental in succession; this is probably his best of the bunch. It's obvious that Drake held back his best lyrics for this song, but to be honest I couldn’t really get into this one, especially after he yet again abuses Auto-Tune. Besides, as Jay-Z's verse on Dr Dre’s Detox single “Under Pressure” was a waste of space , I skipped his verse entirely. Sorry folks!


11. MISS ME (FEAT LIL' WAYNE)
I must admit that I actually thought Tha Carter III was pretty good, but I guess most rap fans will ignore him eternally, and after listening to this I can’t blame them. Weezy has obviously been overexposed to the point of inducing nausea: from Fat Joe to Eminem, it seems that everyone wants a bit of Dwayne Carter, and I remember my friend cheering when I told him Wayne was going to prison. Anyhow, lyricism takes a backseat on this track, as lines such as “Kickin’ bitches out of the condo like Pam!” and “I am Weezy but I ain't asthmatic” will make even the most patient listener quickly skip to the next track. Moreover, I don’t know why Bun B appears in the background asking “Drake you got em, right” and Drake shunting him back onto the bench, “Yeah, I got 'em Bun.” I wonder if Bun B got money for his “appearance”, or if he was pissed that Drake stole his track.


12. CECE'S INTERLUDE
There is really only one word for this song: worthless.


13. FIND YOUR LOVE
OK, this instrumental is actually effervescent. Thanks to Kanye and No I.D., Drake can imitate Lil' Wayne’s “Lollipop” song and continually croon “I better find your lovin’ / I better find your heart” as a hook, allowing the beat to work its magic. I actually like this song, and it is no wonder that Drake chose this song as his second single. I would be amazed if this refrain does not blow up throughout the world.


14. THANK ME NOW
After Shock Value II, I thought that rappers had realized producer Timbaland was a spent force. Apparently not. Besides, I don’t exactly appreciate Drake asking us to thank us for this hogwash.


THE LAST WORD: Thank Me Later is an incredibly ugly duckling which has attempted to exploit Auto-Tune, but has dreadfully failed to satisfy the hype of a nation and turned into a catastrofuck. (I like that word too.) I do appreciate that most of my analysis has been full of Drake-bashing, as if Thank Me Later was executive-produced by Soulja Boy, ghost-written by Tony Yayo and promoted by Sean “Puffy” Combs. However, even Drake fanatics must notice the inconsistency of this album. On the one hand, Drake gloats that he is the paladin of rap and how he is enjoying all of the attention, but he then eats his own words by underscoring his desire to return to an ordinary life, cursing the money which has transformed him. Furthermore, this album does not bring anything original to the table, nor will it inflame the lyrical dynamite of hip hop. Essentially, Drake is the opium of North America, and only one beat by Kanye West manages to fuel some spur into Thank Me Later. Although I would strongly advise you not to wipe your ass with this (leave that job to your little sister’s Justin Bieber album) if you are still tempted, you should ask yourself, “Do I really want to buy this album just because the tornado bait horde has convinced itself that Drake is a noteworthy rapper?”


-Red Magic


(After leaving your comments below, be sure to check out my own write-up for Thank Me Later, for the sake of comparison.)

My Gut Reaction: Drake - Thank Me Later (June 15, 2010)

Terrible album cover aside, Aubrey Graham's Thank Me Later is one of the most highly anticipated hip hop albums of the summer.  With his debut album, the artist currently known as Drake hopes to build upon his large following with a musical experience that, hopefully, people will actually pay for, a tough proposition when you realize that all of his albums thus far have been freebies given away on blogs as if they were candy on Halloween.  It's a gamble that his new label home, Universal, hopes will pay off, and Drake has played his role as the employee of the month very well, promoting the shit out of Thank Me Later even after it leaked to the Interweb a full two weeks before its actual release date.  (Even with it being readily available, I chose to wait until it actually found its way to store shelves, and even then I didn't actually buy it: I'm basing this write-up on a borrowed copy from a friend and inexplicable Drake fan.)


None of this backstory matters, though, because all you two are concerned about is why Hip Hop Isn't Dead would devote space to the continuing exploits of Aubrey Graham anyway.  As I've mentioned in the past, I won't ignore today's commercial output simply because it's popular and mostly crappy: in fact, with the exception being Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, I won't automatically dismiss any artist out there.  Thank Me Later will sell tons of copies, sure (although not as many as the industry seems to believe - once again, Drake's fan following is made up of people that downloaded all of his other shit thus far), but that doesn't mean the entire album will suck: there might be a few throwaway gems on here that you two should know about.  Also, I briefly mentioned on my Twitter account the other day that every review of Drake's output (this would be the fourth such write-up) seems to garner more commentary than most of the underground and unknown artists: you two hold the power in your hands to guide the direction of HHID.


My wrists are tired at the moment, so I'm going to skip straight to the review, if you don't mind.


1. FIREWORKS (FEAT ALICIA KEYS)
So it turns out that I'm already wrong: apparently Universal has no problem with Drake filling Thank Me Later with a similar lo-fi spectacle that permeated So Far Gone. While Aubrey still thrives in this environment (for now, anyway – I still have thirteen tracks to go, mind you), listeners are left in the uniquely awkward position of witnessing a man complain about his success when, technically, he hasn't actually seen any sort of reward from his new career choice just yet. (The second verse is also about his relationship with Rihanna, if any of you two care about gossip.) “Fireworks” also boasts a complete waste of a cameo from Alicia Keys, whose role on here could have truly been performed by anybody, up to and including an Auto-Tuned Max. Not a great start here.


2. KARAOKE
It's my own fault: with a song title such as “Karaoke”, I was expecting a catchy number with a hypnotic hook that could easily translate over to a drunken night at a bar, or at the very least a tribute to singers who specialize in someone else's songs, kind of like that crappy Gwyneth Paltrow flick Duets. Instead, we receive more Aubrey navel gazing, as he both sings and raps to an audience of nobody, complaining about how his good fortune has negatively affected his love life, as if it's a huge inconvenience to be famous when he technically isn't that well known outside of our chosen genre. Yeah, way to get your fans on your side, Drake.


3. THE RESISTANCE
I suspect that this is going to be a running theme on Thank Me Later: multiple versions of “Successful” that slowly reveal that Drake is absolutely, positively not hip hop's savior and is also not someone that women should look to as a fine example of an honest man, unless you count the fact that he's upfront with his need to fuck anything that moves, no matter how shallow and empty he claims it makes him feel afterward. Aubrey works hard to gain some sympathy from the audience, but I'm not sure that he actually deserves any.


4. OVER
The poorly-received first single from Thank Me Later, although you're forgiven if you truly feel “Over” to be a success: Universal spent a pretty penny lining the pockets of radio deejays and music television programmers to create the illusion of a hit single. In reality, this song isn't that good of a marketing move for Aubrey: he almost goes out of his way to alienate the fanbase that So Far Gone created for him, so much so that only those who are familiar with the cocky, abrasive “Money To Blow”-esque Drake will even recognize him, and Boi-1da's instrumental can't decide between sounding dramatic or anthem-like, ending up lukewarm in the process. Kudos to Drake for somehow convincing the label to push “Over” instead of a “Best I Ever Had II”, but this still wasn't a great idea.


5. SHOW ME A GOOD TIME
Proves that, regardless of how much money he's thrown at computer programming to show otherwise, Drake isn't that great of a singer. The mere fact that he does sing separates him from the pack...actually, wait, no it doesn't: every single popular rapper out right now seems to have longed for a singing career, from Lil' Wayne and Eminem to Kanye West and B.o.B. Either way, this does not mean that the man should continue singing. Lyrically, Aubrey sounds like the same cocky motherfucker he portrayed on So Far Gone, dropping far too many names and making random references that hip hop nerds will catch and, as a result, think he's cool (such as the shout-out to the late J. Dilla), and 'Ye's beat will probably fit onto radio playlists easily, but this song still sounded weirdly devoid of joy.


6. UP ALL NIGHT (FEAT NICKI MINAJ)
Surprisingly, the first Young Money family member to make a guest appearance on Thank Me Later is not Lil' Wayne. What isn't surprising is that Nicki Minaj scored a cameo: Universal is also trying to repurpose her as the next female rapper worth watching, a cross between the sexuality of Lil' Kim and the overt strangeness of Missy Elliott, which is offensive to both of those ladies, as they are both still in the game somewhere. (I think I left them both by my car keys.) Boi-1da's beat isn't that bad, but Drake should have looked past the Young Money synergy and Nicki's (probably fake) ass to nab a guest verse from someone with actual talent. What about one of your friends from Room For Improvement or Comeback Season, eh?


7. FANCY (FEAT T.I. & SWIZZ BEATZ)
Swizz Beatz, best known these days as the father of Alicia Keys's unborn child, provides an uncharacteristically soulful instrumental that is more in the vein of early Kanye West and less “Ruff Ryder's Anthem”, so that was interesting. (This is probably due to the fact that this track features a co-producer, Noah Shebib; actually, now that I think of it, nearly all of the tracks are produced by more than one person.) His insistence on performing the hook fucks everything up, though. I understand why Drake would want to align himself with the big guns in hip hop (maybe a reference to “big guns” when discussing T.I. Is inappropriate, but I don't care), but the tactic backfires, as Clifford is much more skilled at the “shitty radio song for the chicks” sub-genre. Aubrey is left grasping at straws, at least until the beat switched to trademarked So Far Gone territory at the very end. Also very surprised to see Mary J. Blige credited with “additional vocals”, as she is a much bigger name than Clifford and Swizzy combined.


8. SHUT IT DOWN (FEAT THE-DREAM)
Attempts to sound cinematic, but only manages a “meh” from me. And why the fuck did Drake feel the need to tack an extra two minutes onto the song at the end?


9. UNFORGETTABLE (FEAT YOUNG JEEZY)
Credit where credit is due: Drizzy goes out of his way to find beats that have an actual musical quality about them, as opposed to all of the other horrendous artists currently populating radio airwaves who are more concerned with creating goofy new dances than saying anything important. Not that Aubrey or Jeezy act like motivational speakers on here or anything, as both men talk circles around themselves to draw attention away from the lack of a cohesive theme. I liked the beat, though.


10. LIGHT UP (FEAT JAY-Z)
Seems to take forever to get started, but when the drums kick in over this Noah Shebib and Tone Mason-manned creation, “Light Up” turns into the best track on Thank Me Later thus far. Aubrey's verses have quickly exposed him as a punchline rapper who confuses depth with observation, but his ability to spit with a false air of confidence (false because, if you take his lyrics literally, all Drake seems to do is get dumped and whine) help him stand shoulder to shoulder with Hova, who kicks what appears to be a discarded verse from an alternate-universe version of “Run This Town” before he decides that what Drizzy really needed to hear was some advice from a grizzled war veteran regarding how to survive in the rap game. I will say that it was interesting to hear Shawn admit that he doesn't have many close friends anymore, far less than when Reasonable Doubt dropped: one hopes that he's thoughtful enough to also impart these words of wisdom to his own apprentice, J. Cole. The hook on here was ass, but everything else was actually pretty entertaining.


11. MISS ME (FEAT LIL WAYNE)
Thankfully, Weezy's mandatory guest appearance is limited to this one song, but his absence most certainly did not make the heart grow fonder: his verse is so asinine and embarrassing to the mere concept of rap music that “Miss Me” will probably become a fucking monster hit. Drake also spends time professing his love for fellow Young Money sellout Nicki Minaj, which will leave the listeners feeling all sorts of uncomfortable, hoping that someone, anyone, will step in and change the subject.  The beat was alright in that “well, for 2010 I guess it works, but it cannot compare to how rap sounded last year”-kind of way, but that's all of the praise I have.


12. CECE'S INTERLUDE
I'm sure even CeCe is wondering why Drake would attach her name onto such a boring fucking track.


13. FIND YOUR LOVE
Thank Me Later's second single, produced by a committee led by Kanye West, features Aubrey's softer side speaking directly to the ladies (and, as my wife pointed out, fans of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, what with his numerous “hey hey hey's” and all). Early word on this track was negative, but this could have been much worse: Kanye at least got a somewhat decent vocal performance from Drake, which makes this track actually not that bad. At the very least, Aubrey will fulfill his dream of becoming your girlfriend's favorite new rapper. “Find Your Love” is instantly forgettable, though, which is a trait I'm sure 'Ye isn't very happy with, but hey, it isn't on his album, so...


14. THANK ME NOW
Thank Me Later ends with the most boring Timbaland instrumental I've heard in the past five years, and don't forget, I've listened to The Blueprint 3. How dull is it? It sounds like Timbo stole an mp3 from Pharrell's house and scraped away all of the burnt part. It seems as though Drake was simply ecstatic to have a Timbaland track to call his very own, failing to realize how fucking weak it sounded. Lyrically, Drake fails to impress, but then again, he's been repeating the same shit since So Far Gone dropped. “Thank Me Now” runs four minutes too long, but I am thankful that this sonic experiment is finally over.


European and Japanese audiences get to end their evening with a selection of bonus tracks culled from the So Far Gone EP. (I suppose Universal didn't go out of their way to pose Drake as an international star until now.) iTunes customers who purchase Thank Me Later receive a bonus track as well, but since I don't have that version, I can't review it in good faith. Let me know if it's worth the effort.


THE LAST WORD: Thank Me Later is fucking weak. There, now that I've gotten that out of the way, allow me to extrapolate. With his debut album, Drake has provided listeners with a two-tiered throwback: a recall to the 1990s, when Hype Williams-directed videos and multiple references to “hoes” on the radio were prevalent, and to the much less desired year of 2009, when Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 hit store shelves. That album only came out nine months ago, and is undeserving of any such nostalgic feelings at this time, but Aubrey hits all of the major points: songs produced by Kanye West and Timbaland, guest appearances by Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Young Jeezy, and Hova himself, and a general apathy to how the radio is “supposed” to sound these days. I appreciate the fact that he didn't cave in to label pressure and record fourteen versions of “Best I Ever Had” or “Forever”, but the So Far Gone blueprint (ha!) worked exactly one time: there should be no need for Drake to already head back to the well. His verses remain far more interesting than his vocals, but the audience is less sympathetic this time around, as everyone is aware that Drake is now a fucking millionaire who was already living a privileged life as an actor (even if he was spending money he didn't really have), as opposed to a struggling artist who finally hit it big that he is still trying to portray. The production work on Thank Me Later is pretty interesting (the actual music was my favorite component of So Far Gone, as well), and Drake's delivery has, admittedly, grown much more confident, but without pairing said confidence with a message of any sort, he sounds like a whiny emo rapper whose friends are all sick of hearing about his self-imposed “problems”. Thank Me Later turned out to be completely nonessential. Better luck next time, Aubrey.


-Max


RELATED POSTS:
Catch up on the other Drake write-ups by clicking here.

For Promotional Use Only: Drake - So Far Gone (February 13, 2009) / So Far Gone EP (September 15, 2009)

It's a feel-good story that all aspiring rappers hope will happen to them.  My own misgivings about his previous two mixtapes, Room For Improvement and Comeback Season, aside, Aubrey Graham, who performs as "Drake" whenever he isn't making sporadic appearances at Degrassi: The Next Generation panels, hit a metaphorical home run with So Far Gone, one of the most acclaimed mixtapes of the past few years. 


And yes, I realize that a lot of you two won't give a fuck about this write-up, and are probably wondering why I'm even bothering, but it's a timing issue: in less than one week, Drake's major label debut (well, actually, his first actual album ever), Thank Me Later, will hit store shelves, so it's worth exploring his most well-known work in order to determine if he's still capable of entertaining the masses, which is all the major labels care about anyway.


So Far Gone was recorded and uploaded by Drake and his handlers early in 2009, and it signaled a complete turnaround for a rap artist who was dangerously close to growing incredibly tired: his emo-rap schtick ran its course midway through Comeback Season, and his ability to switch back and forth between rapping and singing only works as long you believe he can actually sing.  Also, his reliance on Trey Songz, currently the Lil' Wayne of R&B, became more of a handicap than the gunshot wound his character suffered on Degrassi. 


But with So Far Gone, Drake achieved the impossible: he reinvented himself as hip hop's next great hope without so much as changing his style.  Instead, he rearranged his surroundings: instead of merely ripping off the beats from other established hits, he also liberally borrowed from pop artists outside of the rap spectrum, such as Peter Bjorn & John.  He also finally found his niche, attacking minimalist instrumentals with the zeal and conciseness of a rookie eager to please, albeit one with far too many goofy metaphors in his knapsack.


So Far Gone has been downloaded officially nine hundred million times, only eight of those coming from Aubrey's immediate family members.  More importantly, a single from the free mixtape, "Best I Ever Had", found its way to radio and blew the fuck up, so much so that certain members of the hip hop community theorized that Drake was actually signed to a major label the entire time, because who the hell could afford to work that song that much without any serious financial backing?  (I fall into the category of "I'd like to believe that Drake did this all organically with word-of-mouth, but I'm one skeptical bastard".) 


Based on the strength of "Best I Ever Had" and the fact that he was already running with Lil' Wayne's crew anyway, Universal Motown, home of Wayne's Young Money label (along with Wayne's actual label home, Cash Money), quickly signed Drake to a seven-figure deal.  A happy ending for a truly deserving artist, or yet another example of how record labels are entirely disconnected from the folks who pay all of their bills? 


Let's find out, eh?


1. LUST FOR LIFE
Right off the bat, you'll understand why so many bloggers champion So Far Gone as an actual album and not as the free mixtape it technically is. Noah Shebib's low-key beat lends this track more atmosphere than you would see by staring at the hole in the ozone layer, and Aubrey's lyrics, which aren't as deep as he may believe them to be, fit the proceedings. Not a bad rap album intro, as this is already a massive step up from Room For Improvement and Comeback Season.


2. HOUSTATLANTAVEGAS
Aubrey takes another lo-fi instrumental (this will become a running theme throughout So Far Gone) and croons about an unattainable female who lives in the fictional fantasy city of the song's title. He does manage to spit a few bars, but this is mostly an R&B affair, and a forgettable one at that. The only aspect of the track that I still remember is Drake's callback to the titular city at the beginning of Birdman's “Money To Blow”, and that isn't really saying much.


3. SUCCESSFUL (FEAT TREY SONGZ & LIL' WAYNE)
I've tackled this song briefly during one of those Billboard write-ups, but I'll expand upon it for the home viewing audience. Noah's beat facilitates a reflective mood, as if I were both stoned and lost in my thoughts. Aubrey tackles this song admirably, with the clarity of his voice (and his Canadian accent, which slips in) only adding to the track's overall feelings of depth. On the “album” version of So Far Gone, Trey Songz only provides the hook (which includes the unnecessary “hoes” reference that the radio edit is missing), which is a far cry from his own version of “Successful”, which featured Trey actually contributing a verse (you can hear it by watching the “Successful” video, for those of you two who give a fuck), so the man isn't around long enough for me to complain about his presence. Newer Drake fans will be pleasantly surprised that the song continues on for nearly three minutes after the radio version would fade out, with an interlude from Aubrey's father and a third Drizzy verse thrown in for good measure. However, all of that leads into (sigh) a Lil' Weezy contribution that fucks everything up, so it's best to shut the track off after Drake stops talking.


4. LET'S CALL IT OFF (FEAT PETER BJORN & JOHN)
Aubrey inserts two of his own verses into Peter Bjorn & John's poppy confection “Let's Call It Off”, so this track was one of the more obvious casualties of the sample wars when the So Far Gone EP came around. The original track is so good by itself that Drake courts blasphemy by fucking with it, but to his credit, he sounds much more natural with these soundscapes than Kanye West did when he jacked the same group's “Young Folks” for a mixtape track. This isn't the best example of what Drake is capable of, but it does manage to provide an example of the man's versatility, and besides, do you really think that Thank Me Later will actually contain tracks such as this? It's much better to simply enjoy this for what it is.


5. NOVEMBER 18TH
Aubrey's ode to screw music (and Houston in general – he has apparently left his heart in H-Town) is a curious one, considering that he's Canadian and all, but the DJ Screw beat, which alternates rapidly between moody theatrics and dirty drums, sets most of the mood properly, as does the vocal sample jacked from The Notorious B.I.G.'s “Warning”. All of Drake's lyrics are dumbed down: I don't know if this was supposed to be a critique of Texas rap music or not, but it still says quite a lot about the sub-genre regardless. Not an entirely bad song to drive to, though.


6. IGNANT SHIT (FEAT LIL' WAYNE)
Unsurprisingly, this song features Aubrey and his BFF spitting over Jay-Z's “Ignorant Shit” beat: also unsurprisingly, this song failed to make it to the So Far Gone EP due to sample clearance issues. I personally love the instrumental, because I love the beat switch that The Isley Brothers throw at the audience during “Between The Sheets”, so I tend to like most attempts over it, as long as the artist doesn't completely fuck up. Drizzy sounds just fine, but when he awkwardly passes the baton to Lil' Wayne, the song loses focus, as the hip hop hobgoblin isn't up to an instrumental of this caliber. Skip to the next track when the special guest begins to spit, and you'll be better off.


7. A NIGHT OFF (FEAT LLOYD)
The very end of “Ignant Shit” introduces a screwed-up, slowed down version of the “Ignorant Shit” beat that leads directly into this R&B song, making this the first example I can come up with where the same source material was sampled for two tracks in a row. The obvious question would be why Drake, who both raps and sings, feels the need to include another R&B singer (in this case, Lloyd) on a song that already features his own singing persona, but whatever. Although I'm not a fan of Lloyd (which is a terrible moniker for an R&B singer, anyway: can you imagine if, say, Ginuwine actually went by his real name, Elgin? How many albums would that motherfucker sell?), this could have been a lot worse, I suppose. The abuse of Auto-Tune may cause most of you to tune out.


8. SAY WHAT'S REAL
Taking full advantage of the mixtape construct, Aubrey swipes the beat to Kanye West's “Say You Will” for what could be looked at as “Successful Pt. 2” (had that song not already been recorded by the aforementioned Trey Songz), and he does it pretty well. Drake seems to thrive on these slow, moody beats, and “Say You Will” was one of the most enjoyable parts of 808s & Heartbreak. This shit would never see the light of day otherwise, so you should enjoy it now. The use of this particular beat actually makes me want to listen to the original song again, it's that good.


9. LITTLE BIT (FEAT LYKKE LI)
This is what every Drake song would sound like if he was a little-known artist who specialized in the type of indie rock/pop song that gets snatched up by advertisers to pimp out iPads and luxury vehicles. I imagine that most rap fans skipped past “Little Bit” rather quickly when So Far Gone hit the Interweb, but this isn't bad for what it is: a pop excursion within a hip hop environment. Aubrey proves himself to be deft to this type of song, where he simply adds his own special sauce to an already existing track, this one being “Little Bit” by Lykke Li proving that the Peter Bjorn & John thing was no fluke.


10. BEST I EVER HAD
Will forever be known as “the song that broke Aubrey into the mainstream”, and it deserves all of the blessings and the curses attached to it. Even though overexposure has caused me to become sick of this shit, “Best I Ever Had” still works well within the context of So Far Gone, and Boi-1da's beat is well-suited to this love rap that isn't truly a love rap. I had also forgotten just how non-radio friendly the real song actually is: anyone who actually pays attention to the lyrics might wonder exactly why women fell for this young whippersnapper who appears to only be interested in sex and selling records. To be fair, most of you two probably hate this song, and you have a pretty valid reason to do so, but without this track, we never would have seen a crass T&A-drenched music video directed by Kanye West, and honestly, who can complain about that? Aside from women, of course.


11. UNSTOPPABLE (FEAT SANTOGOLD & LIL' WAYNE)
This is just fucking stupid. The Diplo/J. Hill beat is full of pretentious muted pops, as if this song were recorded in a lobster tank, and Drake and (especially) Weezy turn their respective dials to “annoy”. However, the worst offender is Santogold, suffering the indignity of becoming a guest star on what was originally her own fucking song, “Unstoppable”; she runs the risk of becoming a really fucking overrated M.I.A. clone with her grating hook and mini-verse. Not entirely her fault, I know, but some things are better left alone. Moving on...


12. UPTOWN (FEAT BUN B & LIL' WAYNE)
Although this Southern-tinged collaboration runs on much longer than it should (its four verses clock in at over six minutes), it isn't bad, and by “it”, I'm referring to the Drake and Bun B verses only. Aubrey outperforms the rap veteran easily, even though his subject matter is only a few degrees removed from gibberish, but the mere presence of Bun B is a pretty good look for the man. Lil' Weezy pulls out the Auto-Tune for his verse, and as a result, the track falls apart once he takes to the mic, with the other two participants running out of the studio, away from the threat of robots taking over the building. Oh well, at least there are three fairly good verses on this motherfucker.


13. SOONER THAN LATER
Meh.


14. BRIA'S INTERLUDE (FEAT OMARION)
This useless interlude sounds like one of those crappy Ginuwine songs that Timbaland produced for him back when they were cool with each other, which makes sense when you realize that the beat was stolen from Missy Elliott's “Friendly Skies”. (Missy, of course, was from the same camp as Ginuwine and Timbo.) I do have to stress the uselessness of this interlude once again, though.




15. THE CALM
I'm loving these lo-fi beats on So Far Gone: the overall effect differentiates this mixtape from every other one on the market. All of these tracks that show the softer side of Aubrey sound like alternate takes on “Successful”, though, so if you already hate that song, your opinion won't be swayed much by “The Calm”. I liked this, though.


16. OUTRO
A piano-laced outro, similar to that on Room For Improvement. It was pleasant enough, and a nice change of pace. Somehow, I highly doubt Drake's record label will allow tracks such as this to appear on Thank Me Later.


17. BRAND NEW
This was a pretty poor way to end So Far Gone, as we are now left with the impression of Drake as a run-of-the-mill R&B singer of the week. I definitely prefer his brash, arrogant alter ego. Oh well.


Later uploads (I can't really say “pressings” now, can I?) of So Far Gone included the following bonus track.


18. CONGRATULATIONS
On this bonus cut, Aubrey jacks a sample from Coldplay's “Viva La Vidal” to celebrate himself the best way he knows how: through a combination of rhyme and verse. While I really like “Viva La Vida”, it isn't really the best Coldplay song to convert into a hip hop format, so this didn't really work for me, but to be fair, Drake was trying his best to sell the shit out of the track. Makes for a better final song than “Brand New”, at least.

Shortly after Drake was signed to Universal, a proper release of So Far Gone was announced, with new songs promised by the star attraction. What fans actually received was the So Far Gone EP, a truncated version of the mixtape containing only seven songs, two of them new to the project. It appears that the label failed to recognize So Far Gone as the mixtape it actually was, and as such, glossed over the fact that they couldn't legally sell copies of an album that borrowed its music so freely from other artists such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Peter Bjorn & John, at least not without paying them a shitload of money. So the So Far Gone EP immediately lost its heart and soul in favor of keeping seven songs the label could market if they had to. Oddly, the suggested retail price of the So Far Gone EP was still just as high as a traditional album: apparently, Universal believes that consumers are really fucking stupid.




1. HOUSTATLANTAVEGAS
2. SUCCESSFUL (FEAT TREY SONGZ & LIL' WAYNE)
3. BEST I EVER HAD
4. UPTOWN (FEAT BUN B & LIL' WAYNE)


5. I'M GOIN' IN (FEAT LIL' WAYNE & YOUNG JEEZY)
Anyone who listens to pop radio will already be sick of this song. I know my wife is, whenever it comes on, she can't resist making fun of Wayne's lame-ass hook. (“I'm goin' in...and I'ma go hard”? And yet, people didn't pull out their bag of homophobic slurs when commenting on this song on other blogs?) There are apparently two versions of this track, one of them ending right after Drake's contribution: that version has no reason to exist, as Young Jeezy's final verse at least brings “I'm Goin' In” up to a proper song length. The Needlz beat is all flash and zero substance, but at least Drake sounds okay over it, even though he's already changed drastically from the guy who recorded So Far Gone. Everyone else sucks, though, thanks for asking, especially Weezy's knack for substituting punchlines into parts where actual depth should be occurring happens far too often (the line “Stompin' on this beat like a motherfucking Sigma” immediately follows his dismissal of “pussy ass n----z”, for instance). Groan.


6. THE CALM


7. FEAR
As the other “new” track off of the So Far Gone EP, it makes sense that “Fear” would sound the most like his output today. I remember Aubrey catching a lot of flack for his line about not crying when 2Pac dies, but what do you expect? Drake is still a kid! He was in his early teens when Pac “passed”. “Fear” doesn't really fit into the So Far Gone paradigm, but it does indicate where he was in his career when it was recorded, so lyrically, it's decent enough. The hook is pretty shitty, though.


SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? Yeah, probably. So Far Gone is one of the most consistent mixtapes I've heard in a while, and all of the credit goes to Drake and his production team, who all succeed in crafting what is essentially an album-length confession set to music. Some of the beats on So Far Gone are really fucking good, and Drake sets the lyrical bar much higher than on Room For Improvement and Comeback Season, leading one to believe that he would probably be one of the better emo rappers out right now, had he not aligned himself with one of the most overrated rappers in the game (that would be Lil' Wayne, for those of you worried that I hadn't bashed Weezy enough during this write-up). With the obvious effort he's put in, Drake should finally win over those of you who were still on the fence (although you're forgiven if you immediately ditched him after “Forever”, his collaboration with Weezy, Kanye, and Eminem-turned-Sprite commercial, dropped). The rap songs work much better than the R&B efforts, but overall, So Far Gone is actually deserving of the accolades bestowed upon it. Who knew?


BUT...SHOULD YOU BUY OR BURN THE EP? You abso-fucking-lutely should not buy the So Far Gone EP. This quick cash-in by Universal, intended to make back some of the money the spent by signing Aubrey in the first place, is a useless piece of plastic, especially since the original So Far Gone is still so readily available online (and was intended to be free in the first place). I even remember reading an article in which Drake told his fans that he didn't care if they simply downloaded the two new tracks for free instead of buying the EP: he claimed that the EP only existed so that everyone that worked with him on the project could have something tangible as proof of their dedication. So what does that tell you? The original So Far Gone mixtape is, however, surprisingly entertaining, so you should hunt that down instead.


-Max


RELATED POSTS:
Drake – Room For Improvement
Drake – Comeback Season