Journalist Bae | Today in Hop-Hop History 9.15

Drake has been a KEY PLAYER in Hip-Hop for more than a decade now. I can’t mention Drake without announcing his new single with Sza and his highly anticipated, 8th studio album,”For All the Dogs”, which comes out a week from today. Yet, there are certainly many mixed reviews on the Canadian rapper and his style. However, one thing that no person can deny is that Drake has come a long way from his breakout mixtape…

Introducing Hip Hop’s “Drake Era”

September 15, 2009 — So Far Gone (Prod. by “40” Shebib/Boi 1da) was released as an extended play (EP) under YMCMB/Universal Motown Records with 5 tracks from the independently released mixtape of the same name, as well as 2 additional unreleased songs.

The label bidding war over Drake was arguably one of the most notable in hip hop since the likes of 50 cent, which was just cause for the re-release. The project essentially served as a solidification of the partnership between Carter/Graham and introduced us to ‘The Drake Era”. Now, you can’t turn on the radio without hearing Drake in some capacity.

‘So Far Gone’ debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart. It stayed in the top 10 for the first two weeks and sold over 100,000 copies. Just a year later, it was certified gold by RIAA. Even with killer features and a track list full of favorite songs – to this day, it is still Drake’s lowest selling project. Nevertheless, it is well on its way to platinum status!

Did You Know? After Drake did this EP, he did his first studio album Thank Me Later. The EP ends with the words that begin the album, “Money can change everything/Money just changed everything”.
“Fear” / “Fireworks” (feat. Alicia Keys)