'The Drake Effect' Part 1: How Drizzy Changed Mixtape Culture Forever
Welcome to The Drake Effect, a weekly miniseries created by Fuse's Esteban Serrano in which we explore the various ways in which Aubrey "Drake" Graham has helped shape the culture at large. The first installment, "The Mixtape," features thoughts from Drizzy, 2 Chainz, Meek Mill (!), Rich Homie Quan, Hot 97's Bobby Trends, Genius' Rob Markman and YouHeardThatNew's Low Key about the mixtape as a shifting art form.
"Dropped a mixtape, that shit sounded like a album
Who'da thought a country wide tour would be the outcome?"
–Drake, "Forever," August 2009
In February 2009, Drake dropped So Far Gone, a 17-song free digital release featuring Lil Wayne, Bun B, Santigold and packed with original beats. Fast-forward seven years and you can't get two inches down your social media feeds without encountering that day's new mixtape, or two mixtapes, or five.
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