"Dropped a mixtape, that shit sounded like an album, who'd a thought a countrywide tour would be the outcome?" - Drake on "Forever"
"The industry got to get it in gear, cause it's bad when a mixtape is really the album of the year" - Skillz speaking about So Far Gone on his "2009 Rap Up"
I have a friend who thinks "Houstatlantavegas" is an actual city. No really, I do, and I don't know who's to blame. Either the Toronto District Schoolboard really fucked up, or Drake's mixtape So Far Gone had a much bigger impact on her than grade 9 geography.
You can say all you want about the state of Toronto's public school system (how's my grammar?), but So Far Gone is dope. It's the dopest in fact, and in my humble opinion, Drake's third official release is the year's best hip-hop album, even though it's technically very much a mixtape. But that's just one of the many reasons why it deserves 2009's crown. For example:
- It made R&B rap cool.
- It made me enjoy R&B again.
- It made Trey Songz relevant.
- It introduced me to Lykke Li.
- It made me buy the Peter Bjorn and John album because of "Let's Call it Off".
- It made me not give up on Wayne.
- It made me proud(er) to be Canadian.
- It made me wonder how good 808s and Heartbreak could've been if Kanye decided to just produce instead of sing.
- It made me excited for the direction mainstream hip-hop is headed in.
- And ask yourself this: how many casual hip-hop fans ever download a mixtape? Do you really think that the girl down the street has 50 Cent is the Future or any of the We Got it 4 Cheap mixtapes in her iPod? She doesn't, but she probably has So Far Gone.
In the end however, Drake's mixtape proved that quality songwriting is king. It's great if you can rap for days and days, but when it comes down to it, people remember songs.
Hip-hop album of the year, hands down. Hate all you want.
Runners-up (in no particular order):
Clipse - Til the Casket Drops
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day
Brother Ali - US
The Black Keys - Blakroc
Song of the year:
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