Drake’s “Over” producer Boi-1da has expressed his thoughts on the Young Money artist’s upcoming Thank Me Later debut and classified it as being possibly one of the “greatest” hip-hop releases to date.

According to Boi, the album’s “Over” lead single is only a preview of what is yet to come.

“Let me just say that the album is coming sooner than anyone can expect, when it’s just going to drop. It’s coming very soon, and it’s going to be very close to now. That’s all I’m going to say. And this isn’t it. I mean this ‘Over,’ joint is dope but Thank Me Later as a whole, is probably…and I’m not being biased cause I worked on it…but from what I’ve heard it’s one of the greatest albums I’ve ever heard. I haven’t heard some songs, just because Drake’s been on the road and he’s still doing some recording. It’s just an album of Epic-ness.” (The Source)

Boi recently said he was focused on making the release a certified classic.

“Yes I do, that’s just because I love doing that and experimenting, whereas if you work with someone who has their sound already, you have to cater to it,” he told interviewer Sajae E. “Right now I’m solely focused on making Drake’s album a classic album as of right now, so that’s all I can say, but be on the look out for a bunch of stuff coming through. Shout-out to all of Toronto.” (iLuvLoLa)

Scheduled for a May release, Drake will reportedly open up about his alleged romance with R&B singer Rihanna on the new project.

Drake’s LP is a reflection of how the upstart Toronto MC has become hip-hop’s new leading man. “I tried to capture every great moment I’ve had in the last year,” he says. “It’s triumphant.” To wit: He raps about a presumed love affair with Rihanna and his friendship with mentor Lil Wayne on “Fireworks.” Drake mostly eschewed big names in favor of home-town producers (Boi-1da, Noah “40″ Shebib) and a collaboration with New York indie rockers Francis and the Lights. “It’s gonna be interesting,” he says. “I hope it’s pleasing to the ear.” (Rolling Stone)

Drake has also opened a guest feature slot for rap mogul Jay-Z.

“I actually did the record with Jay-Z last night,” Drake revealed in an interview. “It’s crazy, I’m really really excited about it. I hope he likes it, I just did it and I’ma shoot it to him and I hope he likes it. But it’s crazy. It’s actually produced by, well, the one that I want him on, produced by this dude from Toronto — it is nice. It’s a special, special record because at first I was like, ‘I don’t know what kinda hook I’ma do,’ I really wanted to make this rap record and I managed to get this rap with a crazy chorus in the lane of like a ‘Forever’ but not really. It’s like that type of triumphant feel though. I’m excited. The record is called ‘Light It Up.’” (Rap-Up)

Via SOHH

The Young Money star references Ebert and his movie-critiquing partner Richard Roeper on “Over,” the much-buzzed-about first single from his debut album Thank Me Later, and now Ebert is sharing his appreciation.

“‘Two thumbs up, Ebert & Roeper’ is now a viral catch-phrase?” tweeted the Chicago film buff. “Thank you, Drake!”

In addition to Ebert and Roeper, Drizzy also name drops Jada Pinkett Smith and Michael Jackson on the Boi-1da production, which will be available on iTunes Monday.

Roger Ebert tweeted a link to this story, adding, “Drake: You are my granddaughter’s great favorite. She’s a sophomore at Pomona. My cred is up.”

Via Rap-Up

Drake and Nicki Minaj will help headline MTV Spring Break 2010, along with other members of the YM supergroup, performing their No. 2 single in the country “BedRock.” Drizzy will get the crowd hyped with “Over,” the first offering from his debut album Thank Me Later, while Young Money’s First Lady ambushes the stage with the first live performance of her new single “Massive Attack,” produced by Sean Garrett and Alex Da Kid.

Hip-hop’s Barbie won’t only pop up during Young Money’s set. Minaj will storm the sandy shores of Mexico with Ludacris for their collaboration “My Chick Bad” from Luda’s Battle of the Sexes album.

The ATL rapper will have spring breakers asking “how low can you go” when he performs the remix to his smash hit with Pitbull, who will get the party started with some of his own crowd pleasers.

If that wasn’t enough, the ladies will break into a sweat once Trey Songz serenades them with material from his Ready album, including the Top 10 hit “Say Aah,” while his labelmate, hip-hop freshman B.o.B, crashes la fiesta with his breakout single “Nothin’ on You” featuring Bruno Mars.

MTV will premiere a performance from a different artist each night at 8 p.m. from March 22-26.

Via Rap-Up

The first single off Drake’s long-awaited debut Thank Me Later.

The album is slated to drop in May, towards the end of his month-long Away From Home tour.

Drake – Over (prod. Boi-1da)

Via NahRight

Single of the year:

Rusted From The Rain – Billy Talent

Anybody Listening – Classified

Best I Ever Had – Drake

Haven’t Met You Yet – Michael Bulé

New artist of the year:

Carly Rae Jepsen

Danny Fernandes

Drake

Justin Bieber

Shiloh

Rap recording of the year:

Still Fly Big Page ft. Drake

Self Explanatory – Classified

So Far Gone – Drake

Yes! – k-os

Troubadour – K’Naan

Grammy-nominated recording artist Drake will join undefeated World Boxing Council super lightweight champion Devon Alexander “The Great” during the boxer’s walk to the ring for his world championship unification match on Saturday at Mohegan Sun that will be televised live on HBO (9:30 p.m. ET/PT) from Mohegan Sun. The event is being promoted by Don King Productions.

Drake will perform his smash-hit “Forever,” which will provide a perfect opportunity to play to the song’s lyric, “Last name ever, first name greatest,” as Alexander’s ring nickname is “The Greatest.”

The song was included on the soundtrack of the LeBron James documentary film “More Than a Game” and peaked in Billboard magazine at No. 1 on the Rap chart; No. 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart; and No. 8 on the overall Hot 100 chart.

The boxer and rapper, both 23, recently met in Las Vegas where Alexander, a native of St. Louis, had set up his training camp. The boxer’s trainer-manager Kevin Cunningham and Drake’s managers noted the chemistry between the two emerging superstars and decided to pair them at Saturday’s boxing event.

“Naturally I’m a big fan of Drake’s,” Alexander said. “He’s a really nice guy and I like the ‘Forever’ lyric. I’m looking forward to hearing it as an added bit of motivation while I’m walking into the ring to face Juan Urango on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun.”

Music fans that viewed the recent national telecast of the 52nd-Annual Grammy Awards may remember seeing Drake’s performance of “Forever” alongside Lil Wayne and Eminem to close out the show.
Alexander’s promoter Don King—whose music exploits include owning The Corner Tavern in Cleveland during the 1950s and 1960s, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002; the classic 1974 music festival that accompanied the “Rumble in the Jungle”; and promoting the “Jacksons Victory Tour” in 1984—is excited to have Drake joining with his fighter.

“I’ve always loved music and Drake is one of the hottest artist’s in the world today,” King said. “We’ve got the best young boxer in Devon Alexander and this sparkling young singer Drake. It’s going to be something special on Saturday night.”

Drake is currently putting the finishing touches on his debut album, “Thank Me Later,” which is slated for a May 2010 release. Starting in April, Drake will headline the Away From Home Tour, a Campus Consciousness Tour, which has been selling out in ticket pre-sales.

Via FightHype

Drake in the Toronto Star as he overtook last year’s field of new rappers.

Elliott Wilson, founder of RapRadar.com, told The Star last year that “(early in ‘09) people were talking about Asher Roth, Kid Cudi and Wale, and no one put Drake in. But by April, it was all about Drake.” So let’s update you on Wale’s putative rivals to be rap’s next superstar:

Asher Roth: After a modest hit on debut album Asleep in the Bread Aisle with “I Love College,” the 24-year-old says he’s trying to get a vision for his next album, with production team The Neptunes. “I’m not the traditional, ‘Let’s get a radio hit out of you guys,’ it’s more for that esoteric sound.”

Kid Cudi: The man behind the club hit “Day ‘n’ Nite” may be wobbling under the pressure of fame after opening for Lady Gaga at the Air Canada Centre in November. He left Gaga’s tour after a violent incident at a Vancouver show, and he confessed in an interview, “I’m not Justin Timberlake (and) I never tried to make myself seem larger than life.” Cudi, alias Scott Mescudi, stars in the HBO series How to Make It in America, airing Sundays.

Drake: Before his debut album Thank Me Later comes out March 30, the local hero has a sartorial photo spread in the latest GQ, accompanying an interview where he declares that Kanye West’s upcoming album Good Ass Job, which he’s helping with, will be “one of the best hip-hop albums of the last 10 years.”

Via AllThingsFresh