Album Review: Drake - So Far Gone (Reissue)
Love or hate him, Drake is without question one of the most influential figures in modern hip-hop. Rising out of the last days of the 'bling era' on the back of Lil Wayne, one of that period's most popular artists, Drake would go on to reshape the dominant style of rap music throughout the 2010s, favouring melancholy and vulnerability over the arrogant, material-obsessed style that had been with the genre since its inception. And that innovation all began with So Far Gone, his third mixtape released a decade ago and recently arriving on streaming services after an effort to clear all of its samples that brought on another of Kanye West's infamous Twitter rants.
It feels like a lifetime ago that Drake was ridiculed for daring to be emotional on a rap album, but to be fair the ten years since this mixtape's release have been a nonstop upward climb for the Toronto rapper's career. His trademark blend of self-confidence and self-awareness, honed here and perfected on his debut album Take Care, has been adopted by countless up-and-comers, akin to the way this tape heavily borrows from Kanye West's 2008 opus 808s & Heartbreak. While that album was seen as a disappointing departure for West at the time, much of its critical reevaluation since then directly stems from the booming careers of artists it inspired like Drake and The Weeknd.
This and other influences on Drake rear their heads both subtly and explicitly, as many of the beats present here are taken in part or completely from artists as varied as JAY-Z (Ignorant Shit), Coldplay (Congratulations), and Billy Joel (Uptown). Even the aforementioned forefather of Drakes' style is used; Say What's Real generously samples the Kanye West song Say You Will, an incredibly atmospheric blend of choir and electronics Drake pays homage to with his deeply personal lyrics: "Why do I feel so alone?/Like everybody passing through the studio/Is in character as if he acting out a movie role". While So Far Gone was simultaneously the breakout project for producers Boi-1da and 40, the mixtape fad of rapping over another artist's beats does give Drake many chances to show off his talents.
The apotheosis of Drake's fresh approach to rap is easily Best I Ever Had, the most popular single from the project and the most effective demonstration of how he straddles the line between confidence and introspection; one of his smartest bars declares that "When my album drop, bitches buy it for the picture" while his male fans will be too vain to admit they like a sensitive rapper and will resort to claiming the bought it for their sister (he still resorts to sexist language while reassuring his girl she's his everything, but hey, two steps forward, one step back).
As many trend-setting ideas as are on here, however, there is also an abundance of concepts that never really panned out for Drake, as well as relics from the time of its release that sound even more dated now than at their inception. The hit-or-miss features, the padded-out length due to numerous forgettable tracks, and the general lack of polish fitting of a mixtape are all marks against its merit, if not its influence. In addition, Drake's rapping in general is still clearly unrefined and stuck in the awkward phase of attempting to find one's own style; in lieu of originality, for much of this record he comes off sounding like a bad ripoff of Kanye or Lil Wayne, which contributes to the amateurish quality of the tape as a whole.
Honestly, considering the era it comes from and how much of the critical attention is given to Drake's first few albums as opposed to this mixtape, So Far Gone holds up remarkably well, an artifact from a period of flux in hip-hop. Back in 2009, so dominant were the voices of affluence in rap music that showing one's feelings and insecurities on a record was a decision to be openly laughed at. However, all good things must come to an end, and as the world plunged deeper and deeper into a decade of economic and political strife, people wanted an artist who could make both club anthems and R&B slow jams, and for a great many people, Drake was, and has continued to be, that artist.
7/10
Favourite Tracks: November 18th, Say What's Real, Best I Ever Had
https://open.spotify.com/album/1LShhEEKRT5MNPcO7jtYHh?si=pPQF-58TRqes_5ZW1Bwz-w