Send "Drake " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Rapreviews |
![Drake - So Far Gone [Mixtape] review](http://www.sweetslyrics.com/poze/Drake.jpg) "Always knew that I could figgahow to get these label heads to offer 'em good figgas And me doin the shows getting everyone nervous 'Cause them hipsters gon have to get along wit them hood niggas" And so begins Drake's legitimate crossover from rapper to rapper slash singer, a transition that has almost never ended smoothly in hip hop. Kanye West delivered an album of computer-enhanced vocalizing in 2008 that was by far the most polarizing release of the year, among both critics and fans. Drake's "So Far Gone" treads similar waters—much of the production (especially what's handled by executive producer 40) seems to be influenced by Kanye's "pop art" beat making, combining moody background samples with distinct drums that drive Drake's flows. The first two tracks on the mixtape are admirably bold, not greeting fans of his witty rap verses with a couple sixteens but instead with contemplative singing and relatively restrained verses that straddle the line between rapping and spoken word. I've talked to several fans of Drake's who listened to the mixtape and it seems to have polarized many, opening up to a wider audience while at the same time alienating some of those who've been following him since "Room for Improvement." A strong number of Kanye's strongest followers hated "808s & Hearbreak," but Drake's listeners will be relieved to hear the that when he does rap (we'll say a little more than 50% of the mixtape is flat out spitting), it's as clean as the best of "Comeback Season." "Ignant Shit" is likely the best example of Drake's dedication to a complex rhyme scheme and wordplay, and makes a strong case for an authentic collaboration with Just Blaze. Lil Wayne is at his personal best, spitting better than he did on the actual Jay album, ("and you can suck my wings // stand on my money, head butt Yao Ming // put ya hand in the oven if ya touch my things // I'm shuffling the cards, bout to cut my queens") but not before Drake sets the bar considerably high: "It's all good, I'm goin off like lights when the show's over Make pasta, rent a movie, call hoes over Rest in peace to Heath Ledger but I'm no joker I'll slow roast ya, got no holsta' Wet glass on ya table nigga no coaster Burn bread every day bwoi no toaster G n Taz got a sig but I'm no smoker They just hand the chips to me, nigga no poker" Now this is the kind of rapping a lot of hip hop fans were hoping Drake would lace his entire mixtape with. Ever since he spit his now notorious "blue's clue" line on "Ransom" and had his "Money to Blow" verse performed by Lil Wayne at the VMAs, the aforementioned "hood niggas"—or rather fans of harder hip hop—have started to pay attention to him. This question of identity has remained a blessing and a curse throughout the young rapper's career, as it's taken him a long time to be taken as a serious MC since starring as Wheelchair Jimmy in tween soap opera Degrassi. Now that he's got a demographic that includes female fans of the show and a hip hop fanbase fueled largely by Lil Wayne's co-signature and a remix of Lykke Li's sensational "Little Bit," he seems prepared to transition again into a full-fledged rapper/singer, a rarity in the mainstream. "So Far Gone" is unquestionably one of the most cohesive, atmospheric hip hop records in recent memory—which is almost the antithesis of what one expects from a mixtape. Drake is not a gangster rapper and never goes down that path, instead proving how many ways there are to cleverly rap about problematic relationships and being on the verge of stardom. The middle of the tape is generally dedicated to rapping over other beats: from Santogold's "Unstoppable" to Kanye West's "Say You Will." The latter is a Budden-esque three minutes of pure dumbing out, including a particularly clever encapsulation of his career ("transitioning from fitting in to standing out"). Even in these brief departures from 40 and Boy-1da's production, nothing on the mixtape ever feels out of place. There really isn't a weak track on the record; the closest thing to a misstep is the remix of Peter, Bjorn & John's "Let's Call It Off," an indie collaboration that's not quite as convincing as the brilliant Lykke Li remix. Truthfully, I wish I could dedicate a paragraph to each track, from the awesomely obscure DJ Screw homage of "November 18th" to the blazing organs of "Uptown," a surprise collaboration between Wayne, Drake and Bun B. I'll instead finish off with an excerpt of "The Calm," an excellent microcosm of the mood of the mixtape as a whole. Drake spits two verses here, both rhyming the same syllable the entire time: "And life is so insane, look what I became, tryna make a name All my first dates are interrupted by my fame Because every picture taken is a fan that you can gain They love it when you smile; unaware that it's a strain It's a curse you gotta live with when you born to entertain Women need attention therefore women will complain Develop hatred for men and say that you're the one to blame ... Hopin' West and Union do a currency exchange 'Cause my dad called and got me feeling guilty and ashamed Like, how I had a Rolls and I went and got a Range And he payin for his cigarettes with dollars and some change Damn, and I can only feel his pain 'Cause in Memphis, Tennessee there's only so much to attain So I'm filling out the form at the counter once again He say he love me I just hope he doesn't say that shit in vain..."...full text |
| Cokemachineglow |
| That’s a big, confrontational score up there, intentionally so. Let’s start with the imperative to even fucking listen to this guy, even once. It does not exist on its own. The general stance toward him is dukes-up, fuck you brah, and I can’t fight it. He has two, potentially three gigantic strikes against him, sort of interrelated and forming a swirling hydra of reasons he should eat shit: 1) prior to his career as a musician, he was best known as Jimmy on the low-rent cable soap opera Degrassi: The Next Generation, and don’t they know you can’t subtitle anything that’s not Star Trek that, 2) he made his switch to “musician” under the tutelage of Lil’ Wayne, who, individual genius aside, has some of the worst taste ever, 3) I guess that’s it really, but Drake’s also sorta pretty, long-coat-wearing, sub-Ne-Yo looking in a prepackaged sort of disgusting way that I can’t blame you for hating. He reminds me of this one dude I went to college with who got laid a lot and I hated both because of that and because he was a fucking prat, and I feel like he reminds a lot of people of that guy. And fuck that guy, right? I’m behind that sentiment. Here he is, just hanging out: But he also has three strikes in his favor, and they’re big ones. The first is that he’s even on the track “Every Girl,” a distinction he shares with such face-melting asshats as Mack Maine and Jae Millz, but still, that was one of the handful of truly great pop tracks released this year, and so give him that; the next plus is “Forever,” pretty much universally referred to as “this year’s ‘Swagga Like us’” although with a worse beat and zero airplay, but still: it’s Drake’s track and he holds his own alongside solid Kanye, autopilot Weezy and career-resuscitatingly brilliant Eminem verses; and so on the strength of these two big reasons I gave his free mixtape a free download, why the hell not, right, on the strength of those tracks, and I realized on first blush that even if not necessarily great this is the exact album that two of the three most important emcees of this decade have tried and failed to make in the past year....full text |
| Boston |
| "So Far Gone" suggests what "808s & Heartbreak" would sound like if Kanye West could sing. But where West comes across as a bitter man lashing out, Drake sounds like a kid at the cross section of stardom, dazed by how he got there and unsure how it will play out. The story of how this mixtape, which is a free download at www.octobersveryown.blogspot.com, became so anticipated goes back to last year's MTV Video Music Awards. Lil Wayne seemingly added a fresh verse to "Misunderstood," then pretty much admitted he had just lifted the line from Aubrey "Drake" Graham. The buzz was that the "best rapper alive" may have had his lines ghostwritten by some kid whose claim to fame was his role on the TV show "Degrassi: The Next Generation." It created the hype that allowed Drake to reintroduce himself. His materialism threads throughout "So Far Gone" (champagne flutes, girls, BlackBerrys, more girls), but he chases that with soft touches of humor and honesty. Those girls love his Rolls Royce Phantom, he says on "Successful," even if it's leased. The soft touches go satin, though, on "Brand New" and "Sooner Than Later," where Drake shows symptoms of a full-blown R&B singer. "So Far Gone" makes it obvious that Drake is multidimensional, but his words sound best when he's telling his own story. (Out now) - JULIAN BENBOW...full text |
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