S. Samuel
Young Money's Drake has revealed that his favorite verse that he has ever written does not appear on his platinum-selling Thank Me Later debut, but is featured on his pre-fame EP, So Far Gone.
According to the rapper/singer, one of the mixtape’s records has stood out as his most emotional and heartfelt tracks to date.
“Lyrically, my favorite verse would be ‘The Calm,’ a song off So Far Gone,” Drake revealed in an interview. “The reason it’s my favorite is because of the situation that came about. On that day I was probably at one of the lowest points in my life, like, ever, ever, ever. I don’t ever remember being that angry, depressed, I mean, I was truly changing as a person due to like, family situations. And I remember I had never fought with my uncle before. I was on the phone screaming, I was in [producer] 40‘s apartment on the balcony screaming back and forth with a man I care about with all my heart and that’s where the lyrics came from. ‘I’m just so far gone/October’s own/Please leave me alone/Drunk off champagne, screaming on the phone/See my house is not a home, f*ck is going on.’ Those lyrics to me are very much exactly what was going on at that moment. Between my uncle, my mother and my dad, I felt like I had nobody at that point. I was just at odds with everyone in my life. It was just negative energy going on. Yeah, that verse came about. That verse means a lot to me because I can really listen back to it and I feel I did a great job at getting the emotion across because when I listen to it, I can relive it. I feel that moment again and it reminds me of how far we’ve come.” (Soul Culture)
In 2009, Drake re-released his So Far Gone mixtape to retail outlets.
“I also want people to know that I am only releasing this EP so that everyone involved in the project can hold a physical copy of the CD in their hands and see it in the store,” he wrote Thursday (August 20). “And for anybody else who feels that So Far Gone marked a moment in time I just wanted to give you the option to have the disc. If you got it for free and want to keep it that way than by all means I urge you too. That was a gift from me to you…Thank Me Later.” (October’s Very Own)
Hoping to capture the same feel as his underground effort, Drake recently said he wanted to take a similar approach to his upcoming sophomore album as he did with So Far Gone.
“Take Care is it’s own mission,” Drake said in an interview. “I’m really going back to the So Far Gone where, first of all, as much as the label and people are fighting me, I’m not doing 14 songs, ’cause it doesn’t give me enough. I want to do interludes, transitions and different moments. I have an overabundance. I’ve never had this many raps…It’s gonna be an experience…I often hear people reference So Far Gone and Comeback Season, ‘Aww, we miss that.’ And while that was a point in time they miss, I was an underdog, and that will never happen again, unfortunately…That’s not to say I can’t provoke those same emotions…I really want to write great ‘life’ raps. I just want to write for the people and speak for my generation.” (Shade 45)
To date, Drake’s Thank Me Later debut album has sold over a million copies.
Young Money rapper Drake’s Thank Me Later moved up two notches to No. 41 with 10,700. After 30 weeks on the chart, Drizzy’s debut album stands at 1,279,500 copies sold. (SOHH Sales Wrap)
Check out Drake speaking on “The Calm” down below:
