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With so much buzz building around Toronto rapper Drake, and his mixtape So Far Gone still in high rotation on ipods everywhere, it’s no surprise that people are clamouring to find out what’s going on with an official debut album. While travelling to his first hometown show, he told MuchMusic exclusively that he’s aiming for an end of year release. Drizzy’s already been in the studio with Jay-Z and super-producer Just Blaze, as well as Kanye and Young Jeezy according to MTV News, but he revealed that the real work is coming up next month.

“I start working on it June 1,” Drake said about his upcoming album. “I’ve just kind of been crafting a sound in my head.”

With approximately half a million downloads of So Far Gone tracked from his official blog (and likely many more via other avenues), Drake knows his album will be highly anticipated.

“I have a lot to prove – to myself and people, period. I released this mixtape and it’s kinda like: ‘Now you really have to release an album. That’s what artist’s do.’ It’s like: ‘Can you do that? Can you release an album and sell records?’”

Judging by the shows Drake’s been doing across North America, we’d like to believe that’s possible. Especially considering venues are rammed with fans who know almost every lyric to every song. But the actor-slash-rapper seems to have a handle on his current hype and is aware of the challenge time may bring.

“Can excitement last from May or June all the way till the end of this year? ’Cause that’s when the album’s going to come out,” he says. “How do I maintain that excitement?”

After the Toronto show on May 13, fans were speculating what an “official” album from Drake would sound like. But of course, there’s only one man who knows for sure.

“The one thing I know is I’m going to make some phenomenal music just because I’m working with people that I’ve been dying to work with,” he says. “I think great things are going to come of it.

Tags: drake, interviews, music

Posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 12:11 pm by Celine and is filed under The NewMusic.

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