News : Drake Blows Hot 97’s Who’s Next Live Show

You can call him Drake, Drizzy or even Young Angel. He’s got the biggest buzz in hip-hop these days, new artist or not.

To start the Hot 97 Who’s Next Live series at S.O.B.’s in Manhattan on Tuesday night was Drake, where he swiftly ran through songs from his popular mixtape, So Far Gone, during a lively 30-minute set.

Drake hit the stage at approximately 11:20 and had the crowd, which also featured a mix of college kids and plenty of young women, singing along with him from the start.

Sporting a striped sweater, jeans and sneakers, the Toronto-based rapper and singer entered to an instrumental version of Coldplay’s “Vida la Viva,” then quickly dived into his songs “Unstoppable” and “Uptown,” for which Bun B joined him onstage.

“I’m a new artist, by the way,” Drake slyly told the packed house. “I don’t know if you can tell by this show.”

You would think he had a catalog albums-deep by the way his songs were being chanted throughout his set. The rapper has released three mixtapes: the DJ Smallz-hosted Room for Improvement, Comeback Season and So Far Gone, which was released in February of this year and feted with a party attended by NBA superstar LeBron James.

The sold-out S.O.B.’s show marked Drake’s last performance before he starts working on his debut album, Thank Me Later. The rapper told MTV News he plans to begin work on his solo project in June. He has yet to announce what label he’ll sign to, however.