DRAKE ‘SO FAR GONE’
Drake has just rereleased his 2009 mixtape entitled ‘So Far Gone’ as a memoir of it’s ten year anniversary.
Overall this mixtape is not very amazing, it has hardly any stand out tracks, the majority of the album is like it has been morphed into one big song, as it drones from one song to the next. However that’s okay, as this is a collection of what Drake started from as it features a collection of many original tracks by the rapper that formed him into the artist he is today. Each track illustrates a starting point for Drakes music and how it all developed from a collection of singles of someone who desperately wanted to go out and make music to someone who is now topping charts all over the world and is now one of the biggest recording artists of the 21st century.
An example of this is the song ‘A Night Off’ is very similar to the tempo of one of Drakes leading singles ‘Controlla’. They aren’t exactly the same however it shows just how much the style of his tracks have developed to become worthy of a place on the charts and how they are now engaging more people. As overall, the majority of the tracks from this mixtape aren’t very good, they are fairly repetitive and sort of drone from one track to the next. Not one song from this album stands out as if it could be a successful single, however it shows what could be a successful single with a different spin added.
Saying that, there is one track however that fairly stands out, ‘Let’s Call It Off’. As it is so different to what you would call a ‘classic drake’ track, as it has a crossover with indie music which is the complete opposite of what drakes music is. This was proven to not really work in Drakes favour as he hasn’t released any tracks like it since, yet adding it onto this mixtape shows a good example of where Drakes work could have been if he had taken a different route.
Many of the tracks are of the theme of what Drake wished to be as an undiscovered artist, as many entail the stories of getting loads of girls, being wealthy and also successful, all of which Drake is now today. He is this person today with the help of his first mixtape ‘So Far Gone’, as previously said this collection of songs shaped him as an artist and created the foundation of what Drake would later be able to do. A prime example of this is the song ‘Successful’, which depicts everything drake wanted to be and acts as a prediction into his future as it is now what his life is pictured to be. Everything about this song is also not too dissimilar to Drakes current tracks with the beat & lyricism being mimicked on current albums such as ‘Scorpion’ and ‘Views’
With all that said, overall as an album it is not the best as nothing really stands out to be a great track, however it is a nice piece of Drakes discography that defines him as an artist and where he came from and sets an example of how much his work has changed and developed. It also moulds a starting point of where he could take his work in the future, with some tracks sounding very unlike Drakes usual song, with a little work they could soon become chart topping hits. This mixtape also holds a strong message of where hard work can take you, something that Drake likes to consistently get to all his fans, as it shows how something not so good can turn into major success.
