GK (Ginger Kid) puts his visual spin on Drake’s “Houstatlantavegas,” from the much-ballyhooed So Far Gone mixtape.

• Disclaimer 1: I don’t actually hate Drake, but I couldn’t pass up that completely unrelated picture
• Disclaimer 2: I am admittedly out of the loop on the appeal of this guy.

Just so everyone is aware: If you were planning on being in the ATL on May 2nd and hoping that you could just walk up to the ticket booth and see Drake that night at The Loft, you will be disappointed. That’s right, within 5 hours of becoming available, tickets to Drake’s first show in Atlanta, GA are sold out. I’m sure the TRUbians will correct me if I’m wrong, but I do not believe that Aubrey Drake Graham has released a studio album as of yet. There were rumors of his signing with Lil’ Wayne’s Young Money record label, although that has since been squashed and the current belief is that the artist is signed wih Interscope records (although the official Interscope website does not feature his name.)

My question is this: Internet hype aside, has the hip-hop game transformed into a world in which a Canadian television star can put out a mixtape, hang out with Lil Wayne, and get a co-sign from Joe Budden, then begin selling out shows without the backing of a label? If so, how are we to expect this acclaim to convert into album sales once he does put together an album and will this spell the end of the “major label” as we know it? As people familiar with this industry can tell you, Drake will make more money from touring than he will from going Platinum. Maybe he’s got the right idea.

On a personal level, I will say again that I am out of the loop on the attraction to Drake. Maybe you had to be a Degrassi fan to get it. On the other hand, I’m not a huge fan of how labels take advantage of the artists either. But there is something to be said about the fact that these tickets are going for 250 a pop on Craigslist, yet De La Soul didn’t sell out a tiny venue in San Diego last month until noon the day of!