So Far Gone

So Far Gone is the debut extended play by Canadian recording artist Drake, released on September 15, 2009, originally released as a mixtape on February 13, 2009. It features only five songs from the mixtape, and two new songs. There are guest appearances by Trey Songz, Lil Wayne, Bun B, and Young Jeezy. Its three singles are "Best I Ever Had", "Successful", and "I'm Goin' In"[1]  In April 2010, the EP won Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Background  ==Background[ edit] == So Far Gone was originally released as the third mixtape from Drake in February of 2009. As a result of the mixtape's success, an EP was determined to be released in later in the year on September 15th, 2009. The track-list however cuts the original seventeen songs on the mixtape to only seven on the EP. A track titled "Fear" would be the only new song to be released on the Extended Play.[2]  "Fear" serves as the transition song between So Far Gone and his debut studio album Thank Me Later. Drake described the song in an interview with MTV as "eerie", and mentioned that "the last line of the third verse is gonna be the first line on my album [Thank Me Later]" he also signed MoneyGangMafia.[3] ==Singles[ edit] == "Best I Ever Had" was released as the first single seven months prior to the release of the EP as a digital download from the So Far Gone mixtape. The song was eventually released as an official single on June 16th, 2009. The single is one of Drake's most successful songs to date, and charted for 24 weeks while eventually peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.[4]  The single also managed to peak at number one on both the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chartand the Billboard Rap Songs Chart, thus becoming Drake's first number one hit on both of these charts. The song was certified Platinum by the RIAAindicating sales of over 1,000,000 copies in the US.
 * 2 Singles
 * 3 Reception
 * 3.1 Commercial performance
 * 3.2 Critical response
 * 4 Track listing
 * 5 Chart history
 * 5.1 Year-end charts
 * 6 References

"Successful" was released as the second single from So Far Gone. The single managed to peak at number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  The song also reached the Top 5 on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts peaking at number 3 and number 2 respectively. It was certified Gold by the RIAA indicating sales of over 500,000 copies in the US.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">"I'm Goin' In" charted and peaked at number 40 the week after the EP was released. It was later sent to urban radio as the album's third single on October 27, 2009.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[6]  It managed to remain on the Hot 100 for seventeen weeks.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]  The single was later certified Platinum by the RIAA indicating sales of 1,000,000 copies in the US. ==Reception<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Commercial performance<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The EP debuted at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with 73,000 units sold.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]  It dropped in the second week to number nine, with sales of 36,000, totalling 109,000 copies sold.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  Despite being an EP, it was the fifth best selling rap album of 2009.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]  As of February 2012, the album has sold 639,000 copies in the United States.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 4, 2010 for sales exceeding 500,000.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12] ===Critical response<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Overall the Extended Play has received generally positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, the album has received an average score of 76 which indicates "generally favorable reviews". RapReviews.com reviewed the album positively and commented on the EP by saying "The songs that were already previously available on "So Far Gone" are a winner and the new songs don't bring Drake down off the high cloud he's already on". All Music Guide also reviewed the EP positively and said "So Far Gone shows that Drake is for real, and works as a tantalizing teaser for his first full-length record." Entertainment Weekly gave So Far Gone a positive review, and commented on the EP by saying "For those unfamiliar with Drake's ambidextrous style - crooning Auto-Tune love songs one moment, spitting clever bars the next - it's a handy primer. Everyone else can put the neurosis-exploring new cut Fear on repeat and continue anticipating". However, PopMatters gave the album a mixed review and pointed out that musically, "I'm Goin' In" was the "weak link" in the EP.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18] ==Track listing<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Chart history<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Year-end charts<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ===
 * "Best I Ever Had" samples "Fallin' in Love" by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
 * "Uptown" samples "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel