For Millennials. By Millennials.
Like all great music artists, Drake too, has an interesting background story. His past is a reflection of the struggles he faced as a young Canadian musician. It was the beginning of his journey to becoming the talented rapper he is today. One of the key moments of his career was when he recorded the third official mixtape, ‘So Far Gone’, back in 2009. And now in 2019, about ten years later, he will be officially releasing it!
Drake Plans to Release ‘So Far Gone’
Just last week, he surprised fans by announcing the release of said former mixtape; he revealed that it will be available for streaming for “the first time ever”. The day of the announcement actually marked the tenth anniversary of ‘So Far Gone’. This explains why he decided to do it now of all times.
In an emotional Instagram post, Drake shared an updated graphic image of the iconic mixtape cover. The cover portrays a young boy looking down, presumably admiring all the money and hearts he has collected over the last decade. In other words, it shows Drake reflecting back on his past and being proud of how far he has come and what he’s achieved. The caption of the Instagram post also reflects this in a nutshell. It features Drake expressing immense gratitude for the numerous collaborators of the mixtape, including Noah Shebib, better known as “40” (Boi-1da), associates Oliver El-Khatib, Niko, and mentors Bun B, Lil Wayne, etc. Most of these people are members of team OVO, pretty much a symbol for Drake.
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Expresses Gratitude For Fellow Companions, Including Kanye West
The most surprising addition to the thank you note is Drake’s gratitude to Kanye West. The two of them had a contentious 2018 that played out both on their records and on Twitter. Kanye infamously tweeted a screenshot of a text, which basically ruined today’s surprise that the song — which features Drake putting his own spin on Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak opener — might be getting a new release. This strained their relationship for a while, especially in the eyes of speculators. However, amusingly enough it seems that the two are okay now.
As Drake phrases it in his post:
“Kanye West a decade ago I rapped over your beat cause you just made the best shit and even though you stay wildin on twitter these days I will never forget what you contributed to the game and my career.”
The Story Behind ‘So Far Gone’
In a 2009 Complex interview, Drake described the reason he made the project, ‘So Far Gone’.
“It’s basically a story. It starts in January 2008 when I was kinda confused like, What am I really doing? I gave up acting all together to really do this music thing, and I was really truly confused. It’s way different than acting, there aren’t people to depend on, you really have to build your own thing basically from the ground up, you know. So in January, not only was I confused about my career, I was also in a very destructive sort of us exhausting relationship with a female and it was just a bad head space for me to be in. So that’s where the tape starts.”
In other words, the legendary mixtape was one of the biggest turning points for Drake. It basically helped launch his music career, as he went from being a low key rapper to the ‘In My Feelings’ rapper we recognize him as today. Fans are certainly looking forward to the official release of ‘So Far Gone’. And we can’t wait to see the final touch it entails!