If you don’t counting his So Far Gone mix tape, Drake’s debut album Thank Me Later is one of the most highly anticipated hip-hop records of the year—and, with “Over,” we finally get our first glimpse of what the Canadian MC has in store for us.

Produced by Boi-1-da and Al Khaaliq, “Over” is very much a first single, in that it sounds like Drake is almost overwhelmed by the opportunity to officially go off. Even though the track is less than four-minutes long, it sounds like he’s pouring all of himself into every corner of the song.

“Over” is a mixture of singing, rapping and ingenious wordplay. We love the lines, “Everything is kosher/Two thumbs up/Ebert & Roeper,” which also happen to be a favorite rhyme of Amanda Bynes.

Congrats, Drake. “Over” is a fantastic musical appetizer. We’re still hungry, though, so bring on the main course! Thank Me Later is due out in the next few months.

+ Listen to Drake’s “Over” here.

Drake has teamed up with Sprite for the first commercial of its recently launched “Spark” campaign, aimed at giving teens a platform to express their creativity through music and film.

Photo: Polk/Getty
Mastodon continue to Crack the Skye with a new leg of headlining dates, Drake lines up a tour of college campuses and “private locations” and Arctic Monkeys return in April in support of their third album Humbug. Full dates for all three treks are below.

Mastodon
Apr. 16 – Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
Apr. 17 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater
Apr. 18 – Richmond, VA @ The National
Apr. 20 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head
Apr. 21 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
Apr. 22 – Hartford, CT @ Webster
Apr. 23 – Worcester, MA @ Palladium
Apr. 24 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
Apr. 26 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Palace Theater
Apr. 27 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street
Apr. 29 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Orbit Room
Apr. 30 – Indianapolis, IN @ Vogue
May 1 – Columbia, MO @ Blue Note
May 3 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
May 4 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater
May 5 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
May 7 – Pomona, CA @ Fox Theater
May 8 – Oakland, CA @ The Missing Link
May 9 – Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory
May 10 – Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theater
May 11 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
May 13 – Billings, MT @ The Shrine
May 14 – Fargo, ND @ The Venue
May 14 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol Hall
May 16 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
May 18 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum
May 19 – Urbana, IL @ Canopy Club
May 20 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood
May 21 – Knoxville, TN @ Valarium
May 22 – Lexington, KY @ Busters

Drake
Apr. 6 – Charleston, IL @ Eastern Illinois University
Apr. 7 – Columbus, OH @ Private Location
Apr. 9 – State College, PA @ Penn State University
Apr. 10 – Boston, MA @ Private Location
Apr. 11 – Lock Haven, PA @ Private Location
Apr. 14 – East Lansing, MI @ Michigan State University
Apr. 15 – Rochester Hills, MI @ Oakland University
Apr. 16 – Morgantown, WV @ West Virginia University
Apr. 21 – Orlando, FL @ University Central Florida
Apr. 22 – Greenville, SC @ Furman University
Apr. 23 – TBA
Apr. 24 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Apr. 26 – Kansas City, MO @ University of Missouri
Apr. 27 – Lexington, KY @ University of Kentucky
Apr. 29 – Lowell, MA @ University Mass Lowell
Apr. 30 – Syracuse, NY @ Private Location
May 1 – Boston, MA @ Private Location
May 1 – East Rutherford, NJ @ Bamboozle Festival
May 4 – Worcester, MA @ Holy Cross
May 5 – Towson, MD @ Towson University
May 6 – Cheney, PA @ Cheyney University
May 7 – Ithaca, NY @ Private Location
May 8 – Plymouth, NH @ Private Location

Arctic Monkeys
Apr. 1 – Miami, FL @ Fillmore
Apr. 2 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
Apr. 3 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
Apr. 5 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club
Apr. 6 – Raleigh, NC @ Disco Rodeo
Apr. 7 – Baltimore, MD @Rams Head Live
Apr. 9 – Covington, KY@ Madison Theatre
Apr. 11 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
Apr. 12 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
Apr. 13 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
Apr. 15 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee

Drake will headline “The Away From Home Tour,” his first North American solo trek, which runs from Apr. 6 through May 8.

Drake, Lil Wayne, Eminem and Travis Barker are the latest acts added to the Grammy roster.

Drake and Ke$ha are the latest acts to be added to The Bamboozle Festival roster, joining the likes of MGMT, Paramore, Mike Posner and headliners Weezer, among others.

Drake isn’t a singer—and he’s the first to admit it.

Cliff’s Notes to Chris’ Top 5 Songs Of 2009: #5: Mario, “Break Up,” #4: Paramore, “Where The Lines Overlap,” #3 The Clipse: “Popular Demand (Popeyes)” and now…

+ Number 2: Drake, “Best I Ever Had”

Ah, Drake. Music’s Can’t-Miss-Kid drew a considerable amount of ire for “Best I Ever Had”’s Kanye West-directed, chest-focused video. Regardless of how you feel about Kanye the filmmaker, Drake’s qualities as a a singer/songwriter/rapper/burgeoning star are pretty much indisputable.

The Canadian DeGrassi veteran/Young Money all-star made a big splash with this mixtape cut (taken from his essential So Far Gone). It’s got everything that’s good about Drake: hooks coming at you from all over the place; a great match of voice and beat (Drake’s smooth tones over the rising/falling bass line); and, of course, a lot of aw-shucks-I’m-the-greatest charm and braggadocio.

As Ron Burgundy might say, keep your head on a swivel: there’s mad elements of freedom flying around these Internets today, friends.

Alicia Keys‘ fourth studio platter (Element Of Freedom) is so hotly desired and breathlessly anticipated that a couple jams from the album have already trickled out.

We’ve hipped you to “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart,” and its superhero-themed video. Then yesterday saw the soft release of Keys’ sequel to her and Jay-Z’s chart-buster, “Empire State Of Mind,” with the appropriately titled, “Empire State Of Mind Part II: Broken Down.”

Finally, today, we get two (2!) new jams from the piano woman. The initial tracks we’ve heard from Element… have been a little… what’s the best way to put this… classy? Really regal, soft focus, romantic (perhaps lacking a little bit in the attitude department).

So it’s nice to hear Alicia let her hair down with Beyonce on “Put It In A Love Song.” It’s got a floor-board-shaking beat and some really playful, old school hip-hop interplay between “B. and A.,” as they refer to themselves.

The other Alicia Keys track that popped up is “Unthinkable.” It’s closer to the previously released tracks; soft, relaxed and lovelorn. It also, unofficially, features Grammy-nominated rookie Drake on backing vocals.

+Listen to Alicia Keys’ “Put It In A Love Song,” featuring Beyonce and listen to “Unthinkable” (possibly featuring Drake) here.

This video is not realistic. Now, you might be thinking, “Oh, Buzzworthy. If I want realism, I’ll watch The Hills.” But here’s the thing: there is no way on God’s green earth that DJ Khaled picks China Palace as a meeting point (as he does in the beginning of this clip for “Fed Up,”). DJ Khaled is nothing if not a DEDICATED AND LOYAL MCDONALD’S CUSTOMER. China Palace? Are you pulling my leg, director Gil Green!?

Other than that “Fed Up,” taken from Khaled’s forthcoming Global album, is by the numbers pomp and circumstance from Mr. We The Best.

The major tropes of DJ Khaled vids are revisited: Young Jeezy breaks the speed limit and Rick Ross looks like Grover from Sesame Street in his New York Mets attire. Drake is on a boat, and Usher is in the air. Totes plausible. Totally awesome.

Earlier this month, Alicia Keys told Billboard.com that since her album, “The Element of Freedom,” was pushed back from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15, she used the additional time to work on possibly “the most exciting collaborations of my career yet.”