Drake: Lil Wayne's Apprentice Expected to Shine

Chances are you're doing pretty well for yourself if Lebron James is willing to host your mixtape release party, agreed? Aubrey Drake Graham - recognized by a small percentage of the population as the school basketball star turned physically handicapped teen, Jimmy Brooks, from the Canadian drama, Degrassi: The Next Generation - has emerged from our northern neighbors as the respected rapper/singer "Drake," and expects to release his first studio album entitled "Thank Me Later" in 2009.

Fresh off his third mixtape labeled "So Far Gone"-released February 13^th (which, was indeed held at the "King's" palace)-"Drizzy" Drake offers an impressive blend of melodious vocals and apparent Lil Wayne-inspired "I'm so high I can vomit on a comet" style rap. The Canadian rapper has recently collaborated with Wayne on more than a few tracks from Wayne's tapes and his own, such as Drake's "Ignant S***," where the rapper asserts, "One touch I could make the drapes an the sheers change/ An show me the city that I without fear claim." Featured artists on "So Far Gone" include Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Peter Bjorn, Lloyd, Omarion, Bun B, and others. Upon release of the mixtape, 8,000 listeners downloaded it within two hours.

There were recent rumors that Drake may be the newest member to Wayne's own label, Young Money Entertainment, though the rapper denies all rumors and insists his relationship with Wayne is strictly affiliation.

In an interview with AllHipHop.com, Drake told readers, "I'm not signed to Young Money but I'm definitely Young Money affiliated. Like I said, me and Wayne do a lot of work together and Wayne is going to be executive producing my album."

Regardless of who's claiming this young Canadian, it's difficult to ignore Drake's rising presence in hip-hop, and especially his unique personality. In an interview just prior to his release party with Complex Magazine, Drake talked about the right way to be an artist.

"You don't make stupid internet videos or show people you have too much free time, you just say the right things and they'll be like, 'Damn this dude's a real person and I can relate to that,'" Drake told Complex. "That can make somebody's life, that can make somebody's day,

Download "So Far Gone" at free sites such as hiphopmusicdotcom.com or zshare.net, and look for his highly anticipated 2009 drop, "Thank Me Later," expected to release soon.