Mixtape Review - So Far Gone

1. Lust For Life
2. Houstatlantavegas
3. Successful feat. Trey Songz & Lil' Wayne.
4. Lets Call It Off feat. Peter Bjorn & John
5. November 18th Produced by DJ Screw
6. Ignant Shit feat. Lil' Wayne Produced by Just Blaze
7. A Night Off feat. Lloyd
8. Say What's Real Produced by Kanye West
9. Little Bit feat. Lykke Li
10. Best I Ever Had Produced by Boi-1da
11. Unstoppable feat. Santogold & Lil' Wayne Produced by Diplo
12. Uptown feat Bun B & Lil' Wayne Produced by Boi-1da, Northern Profit
13. Sooner Than Later Produced by D10
14. Bria's Interlude feat. Omarion
15. The Calm
16. Outro
17. Brand New Produced by D10

Drake, if you didn't already know, has had the internet buzzing with his latest mixtape release So Far Gone. Given the hype, I had to check it out. And for what it is, it does not disappoint. Much if his style is that of a rapper/singer with immense commercial appeal. Unlike a Chamillionaire, his singing voice is actually bearable and he can make quality R&B tracks.

If you just look at the track list, you can see the frequent partnership with Lil Wayne. He's been closely linked, although not signed to, Lil Wayne's Young Money imprint and you can hear Wayne's influence in the way he raps. It's actually not a bad thing. Wayne is more than solid in each song he's featured in, including two of my favorites, Successful and Uptown. Successful is an aptly titled chill track with Trey Songz assisting quite nicely on the chorus. And the way Wayne comes in after the song fades out is kind of cold. Uptown is Drake's southern-esque track featuring Wayne and Bun-B, accompanied by an organ heavy beat.

My other favorite tracks on this mixtape include November 18th (His ode to Houston/Chopped & Screwed records), Say Whats Real (Him ripping over the Kanye Song), and Best I've Ever Had (An amazing chick song that would actually have crazy single potential). Recently the latter is the song I'm feeling the most, maybe it's the Spring time.

So Far Gone is a great mixtape to just cruise to, it have a very chill vibe to it. Drake definitely benefits from some album quality production. This is one of those CDs you can play in the car with your boys, or more appropriately, when entertaining a breezy. Drake has slowly made me a fan, and I'm almost positive he's going to blow up when his debut album drops. Especially if his mixtapes are this quality.

Grade: 4/5