It's Finally "Over"

Now to follow up my posts on American music, hip hop, and the artist Drake, I’m deciding to get more specific by blogging about one of Drake’s songs. So I’m just here thinking of what song to choose, I mean there are so many superb songs to choose from. There’s “I’m Goin’ In”, “Successful”, “Thank Me Now”, and his brand new hit “I’m On One” in which he is featured. The decision is pretty difficult, but I’m going to go with one of my favorite Drake songs to date: “Over”.

Let me give you people a little background on this single. “Over” served as the lead single for Drake’s debut album Thank Me Later. It was written by Drake himself, as well as his friend Boi-1da. It was released to the public on March 8, 2010, and is a midtempo hip-hop song featuring an orchestral backdrop. It basically describes Drake’s induction to fame. 

To me this song is a lot more than great beats and lyrics, it instead tells a story about Drake himself saying how he has gone so far with his music. It describes how he will become famous, and everything people should expect from him. The song also says in the chorus that he’s going to keep singing and doing his thing for the rest of his life. “Over” also marks the beginning of his official career, being his first single of his debut album. It put him on the Billboard Hot 100 again, at number fourteen, and ranked number one on the rap songs chart and number two on the hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It was Drake’s fourth consecutive top twenty hit in the U.S., and received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Many critics viewed this song, and most of them thought of it as a good song. Most of them, in fact, believed that Drake was worthy of the hype he was getting, and compared this song to those of Kanye West. Yet, there was one critic, Henry Adaso, who dismissed the song. He was not pleased with the chorus and called Drake’s rhymes redundant and preposterous. He also called the song a disappointment. I completely disagree with this man. “Over” was by far one of the best songs Drake has ever written and sung. Its beat with its orchestral backdrop is kickin’; and the lyrics aren’t just words on the song, they have meaning to them. I don’t know what this guy was thinking but he must have some ear wax or something in his ears, because this was one of the best pieces of music I have ever laid my ears on.

There was also a music video made for this song, which can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lTB1pIg1y0. I highly recommend it, because it has an interesting viewpoint during the video as you see Drake in a room with some crazy stuff happening around him. Hopefully though, this is a prelude to what Drake has in store for us in his next upcoming album. Until then we can only appreciate what he has for us now, and expect what greatness he has to come. 

Drake, The Best I Ever Heard

Throughout the Hip Hop world, there are many names that are recognized. The most common names associated with hip hop music are: Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Big Sean, and Drake. These artists are all known for the many great songs they each have produced. One of these artists, however, stands out to me as better than the rest of them. This one man is none other than Drake.

Born Aubrey Drake Graham, Drake is a Canadian recording artist and actor. His fame originally came from his role of Jimmy Brooks on his television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. It was from here his music career started, and in February 2006, Drake released his first mixtape Room for Improvement. In 2007, another mixtape of his was released called Comeback Season, which spawned his first hit single called “Replacement Girl.” 

From here, his career took off. Lil Wayne ended up hearing some of Drake’s music and invited Drake to go on tour with him in Houston. After this, Drake released his third official mixtape, So Far Gone. This contained the songs “Best I Ever Had” and “Successful” and was extremely successful. In fact, “Best I Ever Had” and “Every Girl” by Young Money Entertainment entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and were ranked at positions three and ten respectively. He is the second artist ever to have his first two top ten hits in the same week, with Nelly Furtado being the first (She is also Canadian). Then, on June 29, 2009, Drake signed a record deal with Young Money Entertainment, sealing his name in with all the other great rappers and artists that belong to the label.

Since then, Drake has released one mixtape called Thank Me Later, which premiered the songs “Over” and “Find Your Love”. These two, along with the single “Miss Me” featuring Lil Wayne, became the most popular songs on the album. Thank Me Later also became number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 447,000 records in its first week. Drake is supposed to release his next studio album Take Care in September 2011.

Drake, as well as being a great singer, is also a composer. He has written songs for artists like Alicia Keys (“Unthinkable”) and Jeremih (“I Get Lonely Too”). He also is thought to write his own features and songs, showing his skills and how talented he really is.

From his career, anyone can tell that Drake is a very talented artist, but what is it that makes him so talented? For me, being a good hip hop artist means having everything in a song flow together. Everything from the bass, the beats, and the lyrics; they all must flow and have some sort of pattern. Another reason I like his songs is that he tells about his life experiences, and recommends what he would have done differently in his life. The beats are also very catchy, and they are great to listen to during someone’s free time.

Since Thank Me Later, there has not been another mixtape released. However, there have been some songs released online. I get these songs from HipHopEarly.com, which contains songs that are released before their supposed release date. It’s almost like underground stuff not many people know about. This website has provided me with many of Drake’s more recent songs, like “Baby Come With Me”, and “I’m On One”. I highly recommend these songs because of their unique beats and the superb lyrics. They also are relatively new songs so they will be downloaded continuously over the next few days, which will increase the number of listeners and eventually the number of fans. 

So basically, Drake is the man. He creates his own stuff, as well as helps others out with theirs. He is the present face of hip hop, and I believe that he will remain there for quite some time. Until he comes down from his spot, I will continue to listen to him, but recently I have been looking for new material from him and have come up empty handed. Is there anyone who is as devote a Drake fan as me, and if so is there any new music that he has produced. I am in need of help. Also, my friend Trevor Brancato is an upcoming rapper who sounds like Drake. Most of his music can be found on his T-Rev. Trevor Rap Page on facebook, or on his youtube page, which can be accessed by going to www.youtube.com/user/tbrancato32. Go to his site, you won’t be disappointed.