Let's take it back to '09. Drake had just released "So Far Gone" and his buzz garnered the attention of millions without an actual full-length album. Now fast forward a few months: the Toronto singer/rapper was preparing to release the video for "Best I Ever Had" and working on his debut, "Thank Me Later." His growth in the past six years has been remarkable, and as he's taken over the headlines for the past two weeks, we've decided to dig through the archives and take a look a look a Drizzy before he reached his prime.

During a 2009 interview with retired radio host, Kevin W. Reese, Drake talks about his songwriting skills, and why watching rapper Grafh spit a three-minute freestyle made him realize he couldn't possible do the same. Though he can spit four to eight bars off the dome, he admits to Reese "that's something that I truly can't do, you know. I'm a writer."

Watch on as Drake prepares for his show in Connecticut above. For more Kevin Reese interviews, click here.