Drake Nominated For Best New Artist At VMA Awards 2009

The 2009 Video Music Awards nominations are out, and though much of the attention is on Best Video, one of the most intriguing categories is the race for Best New Artist. It pits Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” against 3OH!3 (”Don’t Trust Me”) and three top-shelf MCs: Drake (”Best I Ever Had“), Kid Cudi (”Day ‘N’ Nite”) and Asher Roth (”I Love College”).

Drake has certainly built up a great deal of buzz in the hip-hop community. And unlike some artists, he has fully delivered on that hype. A smooth, crooning MC in the Lil Wayne mold, his runaway hit “Best I Ever Had” has not only found a home on regular rotation on MTV but also has camped out near the top of the Billboard chart for most of the summer. Though the Canadian rapper has recently hit on hard times (he re-injured his knee at a concert stop in New Jersey), he’s still had an incredible year: He dropped a much-downloaded mixtape, signed with Lil Wayne’s Young Money label, was drafted to the “American’s Most Wanted” tour and got Kanye West to direct the clip for “Best I Ever Had“.