Although Drake has had a string of hits on radio and in the club, from his own “Best I Ever Had” to collaborations like “Forever” and “Say Something,” the pressure was on for the first official single from Thank Me Later to deliver. And, judging from the reaction he’s getting from some of hip-hop’s biggest tastemakers, Drizzy has another smash on his hands with “Over.”

Over is real dope,” DJ Statik Selektah said. “He could have chose to run with a soft, candy-coated record, but he didn’t. The beat is crazy. I’m looking forward to his album!”

I love this record,” DJ Khaled told MTV News. “It’s amazing! It’s special! Drake did it again! It’s a hit!

I think Drake’s record is dope,” said host of MTV2′s “Sucker Free” and Power 105.1 on-air personality DJ Envy. “I know he had a lot of pressure and the world staring at him, but I think he delivered. He did it his way — outside the box.

Drake’s song talks about how he’s dealing with his fame since coming on the scene last year.

“On a couple of different levels, it’s not what you might think somebody would do,” DJ Green Lantern said. “Its not like, ‘Let me make “Best I Ever Had” Part 2.’ It’s an everybody type of record.”

“I put him in the box with Kanye, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne — artists that love the craft,” Envy added.

“As I’m listening [to the song], I’m like, ‘Yeah man. It’s dope,” Green Lantern said. “In the sense of the general straight-listener sense, it’s a catchy song. It’s a catchy song that will stick in your mind, be on repeat and connect to people. ‘I’m doing me.’ That was the first part that stuck out to me. The ‘hood is gonna love the ‘I’m doing me. I’m doing me.’ That’s the ‘hood right there.”

Green says the record has ‘hood and pop appeal — it’s universal.

“As Drake said before, the hipsters and the hood f—s with him, so his single has to be across the board. The Jay Electronica lovers f— with Drake and the Lil Wayne/Gucci Mane lovers f— with Drake, so his single has to go across the board. It’s not a lot of people that could do that. Technically, the beat is different too — it’s a sample. I’m like, ‘This sh– is dope.’ ”

Source: MTV

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After laying down tracks for his debut album Thank Me Later in his hometown of Toronto and traveling to Hawaii to record with Kanye West, Drake’s globetrotting brought him to Jamaica, where he’s reportedly working with dancehall artist Mavado. Drizzy has been holed up at Geejam Studios, but took a little time to pose for photos with fans and even received some herbal “gifts.”

He also shared a photo of a computer screen displaying the file name for the final mix of his first single “Over” under the heading “Almost Time Again.”

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The wait is almost over. Drake has selected the first single from his highly-anticipated debut album.

The first offering from Thank Me Later will be called “Over.” Drizzy exclusively tells Rap-Up.com that the track was produced by fellow Canadian Boi-1da, who is responsible for two of his biggest hits, “Best I Ever Had” and “Forever.”

The Young Money signee went through a painstaking process before choosing the right single. “Before I start working a single, I need to get about 10, 15, 20 songs done so I can pick from a batch of music as opposed to just committing to something right now,” he told Rap-Up.com in November. “It takes a lot for me to put a song onto that list. It’s gotta be a real great song. It’s gotta be something that I feel is timeless and is better than anything that I’ve ever done.”

The album, due this spring, is expected to feature collaborations with Jay-Z (“Light Up”), Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, and The-Dream (“Shut It Down”), as well as production from Kanye West, Noah “40” Shebib, and Tone Mason.

Source: RapUp

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Drake performing the ” Bed Rock ” and talking about his new single ” over “at HAZE Nightclub on February 2nd, 2010 in Las Vegas. This was his very first Las Vegas Performance Ever, and it was insane. The crowd was packed with girls singing every word to his songs. Drake’s DJ – Future the Prince was on the Turntables tearing it up.

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Thank Me Later Coming Soon…

Drake’s long-awaited debut, “Thank Me Later,” was recently pushed from a fall release to early 2010. But one of the album’s producers, Harlem-based Omen, says the Toronto MC is ready to release first single, “Shut It Down” featuring The-Dream, in the coming weeks.

“We’re filming a video for it soon helmed by Hype Williams. The track will be serviced just a few weeks after,” Omen tells Billboard.com.

The song came about when Omen teamed up with Drake’s longtime musical collaborator, 40, and together they came up with the production. “I was working on some drum patterns and 40 had the melody going. 40 is very skilled and has a crazy ear for obscure sounds and chords,” says Omen. “It took us the whole night to come up with the track, but we finished it and played it for Drake the next day, who already had the song’s concept.”

The idea for the track, which Omen describes as a “Prince-like, powerful song,” is about “empowering females. Drake said he had a song idea called ‘Shut It Down’ aimed at club-going females. When they go out and they get dressed up and put their makeup on and get their hair done, they have the capacity to shut the club down,” Omen recalls.

The-Dream eventually got on the track; as of now, he has a verse and appears on the last two choruses and on the bridge.

But Omen’s working relationship with Drake started years before this track came into fruition. Omen, an up-and-coming producer then, met 40 in Toronto back in 2003 while working on Canadian artist Jellystone’s album. A few years later, during another visit to Canada, Omen was introduced to a new artist 40 was working with named Drake. “He told me he needed my insight on Drake’s direction,” says Omen. “I heard Drake, and immediately thought, ‘this kid is crazy!’”

In 2007, Omen reunited with 40 in the studio, this time asking him to bring Drake. Omen played Drake a song he had created for his own release, a track titled “Overdose On Life,” and asked Drake to write to it. 30 minutes later, Drake had finished the “craziest 32 bar verse ever, and we laid it,” says Omen.

Coincidentally, a few days after that, Omen got a call from an A&R at Aftermath Records, asking Omen for tracks for Dr. Dre’s upcoming “Detox” album. Omen told them about the very fitting “Overdose On Life,” and sent it over.

Although “Overdose To Life” didn’t make the cut for “Detox,” Dre flew Drake and 40 out to the west coast off the strength of the track, where they remained for a couple of months working on music.

“Overdose On Life,” which also features rappers Mickey Factz and Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes, also served another purpose: after leaking in the early part of 2008, the track became the first taste the U.S. market got of Drake’s lyrical prowess. “No one knew this kid yet, not even Wayne was checking for him then,” says Omen, “but when people heard that record, they were like, ‘this song is hot. Who is Drake?’ I told Drake then, ‘you’re on your way to greatness.’”

Although Omen couldn’t reveal any more details on “Thank Me Later,” he did say it will be the equivalent to “‘So Far Gone’ on steroids,” which is Drake’s mixtape that propelled him to superstardom and a record deal with Universal Motown via Young Money Records earlier this year. He also says him and 40 will be doing a lot of the production on the album collectively and currently have a couple of more records in the works.

Omen’s been producing since the early 90s, when he was part of a local New York aspiring rap group. In 1999, when Rocafella artist Memphis Bleek was working on his debut album, he heard a track Omen had produced and used it for his “Coming of Age” debut. “That was my first placement,” says Omen.

Since then, Omen has worked with a slew of artists, including Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Jae Millz and Ludacris, for which he won a Grammy when his 2006 album “Release Therapy” won Best Rap Album.

In the future, Omen hopes to get into film scoring and dabble more into R&B production.

Source: Billboard

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