Drake “Think Good Thoughts” featuring Phonte and Elzhi
When 2009 is all said and done, Drake will surely stand out as one of the more captivating music-related success stories of the year. A former tween TV-star (who no one wants to really take seriously) suddenly takes what feels like the entire industry by storm thanks to an excellent, 808s & Heartbreak-inspired mixtape and a couple of the year’s biggest crossover pop hits (“Best I Ever Had”, “Every Girl”)…all without even having an official label backing (well, until recently)? In a sense, it’s perfect “underdog-turned-top dog” Hollywood script fodder.
But what of Drake’s pre-So Far Gone years?
Take the Drizzy you appreciate right now with less focus on all the singing, replace Lil’ Wayne cameos for Little Brother guest spots and trade in the blog pop rehauls for soul-sample-based beats, and you’d pretty much nail what the emcee was bringing to the hip hop table prior to ‘09.
“Think Good Thoughts”, an entry from one of those older mixtape releases (2007’s much-acclaimed Comeback Season, to be more specific) was recently leaked to the masses in full (it’s previous incarnation omitted the final verse from Slum Village’s Elzhi), and while the track proves that Drake has always been a charismatic lyricist, it’s appeal lies more in the Native Tongue-y vibe Drake tended to favor back then.
Produced by 9th Wonder and based around a nicely looped sample of Anita Baker’s 1986 goodie “Sweet Love”, “Thoughts” sees Drake, Elzhi and Phonte (of Little Brother/ Foreign Exchange fame) doing their best to disprove rampant gossip gab that they subscribe to the typical “rap star” ways.
“We know what you thinkin love/ You think we out smokin’ and drinkin love/ Pushing big whips, chains clinkin’ love/ Well you don’t really know me like you think you know me,” Drake rhymes on the hook, later sharing a few words of wisdom concerning the negative rumors-spewing haters (“My groove theory is that when you too cheery/ They try to bring you down to the level they at”).
If we were to be honest though, we’d have to honor his trackmates as the true stars of this cut. Especially Phonte’s contribution, which starts off strong with this neck-chopping four-bar assault: “You probably think I walk around with my gun tucked in/ Swing dick to these hoes like nun chucks well/ You can think what you want but/ I think you been watchin’ too much BET Uncut“.
Drake’s official debut Thank Me Later is expected to drop sometime later this year (you can peep the long-awaited, and slightly disappointing, vid for “Best I Ever Had” here); but in the meantime, do yourself a favor and get familiar with the projects that really started “Drake-mania” off. A simple Google search should do the trick.
DL: “Think Good Thoughts” (alt)
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