One of my absolute favorite tracks off Drake’s first collaboration with the unrivaled engineer 40, the So Far Gone mixtape, Say What’s Real was one of the earliest records you find Drizzy pushing against the boundaries between R&B vs. rap. A brilliant article from The Fader earlier today captured it quite poignantly: “The release reimagined R&B’s relationship with rap and what the two genres mixed together could sound like. Lyrically, it was deeply personal, quite different from Drake’s former bravado. Sonically, the hallmarks were eerie filtered synths, spare drumbeats, and lots and lots of space.”
