Drake
Aubrey Drake Graham[10] (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, and businessman.[11] Drake initially gained recognition as an actor on the teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation in the 2000s; intent on pursuing a career in music, he left the series in 2007 after releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement. He released two further independent projects, Comeback Season and So Far Gone, before signing to Young Money Entertainment in June 2009.[12]
Drake released his debut studio album Thank Me Later in 2010,[13] which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was soon certified platinum. His next two releases, 2011's Take Care and 2013's Nothing Was the Same,[14][15] were critically and commercially successful; the former earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. In 2015, he released two mixtapes—the trap-influenced If You're Reading This It's Too Late and a collaboration with Future titled What a Time to Be Alive—both of which earned platinum certification in the U.S.[16] His fourth album, Views (2016), broke several chart records.[17] The dancehall-influenced album[18] sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks,[19] becoming the first album by a male solo artist to do so in over a decade. The album's second single, "One Dance", topped the charts in several countries, and became his first number-one single as a lead artist. That year, Drake led both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200 charts simultaneously for eight weeks.[20]
Views achieved quadruple platinum status in the US, and earned over 1 million album-equivalent units in the first week of its release, and became Drake's best-selling album to date.[21][22] Its lead single "Hotline Bling" peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and received Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song.[23] In 2017, he released the playlist More Life.[24] It became his seventh consecutive number one on the Billboard 200, and set multiple streaming records.[25] A year later, he released the double album Scorpion, which also broke several streaming records,[26] and contains the Grammy Award winning number-one single "God's Plan", and the bounce-infused number one singles "Nice for What" and "In My Feelings".
Among the world's best-selling music artists,[27] with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the world's highest-certified digital singles artist by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[28][29] Drake also holds several Billboard chart records; he has the most charted songs (208) of any artists in the history of the Billboard Hot 100,[30] the most simultaneously charted Hot 100 songs in a single week (27), the most time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks), and the most Hot 100 debuts in a week (22).[31] He also has the most number one singles on the Hot Rap Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Charts.[32][33] Drake has also won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, twenty-seven Billboard Music Awards and three Juno Awards. As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012.
Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986 in Toronto, Ontario. His father, Dennis Graham, is an African American and a practising Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, and worked as a drummer, performing alongside country musician Jerry Lee Lewis.[34][35] Drake's mother, Sandra "Sandi" Graham (née Sher), is an Ashkenazi Jewish Canadian who worked as an English teacher and florist.[36][37][38][39][40] His parents met after Dennis performed at Club Bluenote in Toronto, where he first interacted with Sandra, who was in attendance.[35] He is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.[3][4][41] In his youth, Drake attended a Jewish day school, and formally celebrated becoming a Bar Mitzvah in a religious service.[42][43]
Drake's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, he and his mother remained in Toronto, while his father returned to Memphis, where he was incarcerated for a number of years on drug-related charges.[44] Dennis' limited finances and legal issues caused him to remain in the United States until Drake's early adulthood. Prior to his arrest, however, Dennis would travel to Toronto and bring Drake to Memphis every summer.[45][46][47] His father later collaborated with Canadian music group Arkells on the music video for a song titled "Drake's Dad".[48] Graham claimed in an interview that Drake's assertions of him being an absent father were embellishments used to sell records,[49] which Drake vehemently denies.[50]
Drake was raised in two Toronto neighbourhoods. He lived on Weston Road in the city's working-class west end[46] until grade six, playing minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings.[51] He then moved to one of the city's affluent neighbourhoods, Forest Hill, in 2000.[52][53] When asked about the move, Drake replied, "[We had] a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford."[54]
He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he demonstrated an affinity for the arts, first acting while an active student at the school.[55] He later attended Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighbourhood. Due to the economic status associated with the neighbourhood, Drake described the school as "not by any means the easiest school to go to."[46] Drake was often bullied in school for his racial and religious background,[56] and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his burgeoning acting career, Drake dropped out of school.[57] He later graduated in October 2012.[58]
Career
2001–2005: Degrassi: The Next Generation
At 15, eager to begin as an actor, a high school friend introduced Drake to his father, an acting agent.[59] The agent found Drake a role on Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Drake portrayed Jimmy Brooks,[60] a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. When asked about his early acting career, Drake replied, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was off of Canadian TV."[46] He continued to appear on the show until 2007, returning for sporadic appearances until his character graduated from school: Drake appeared in a total of 145 episodes.[61]
2006–2009: Early mixtapes and So Far Gone
After becoming musically inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, Drake self-released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006. The mixtape featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco, and included vast production from Canadian producers Boi-1da, and Frank Dukes. When asked about the mixtape, Drake described the project as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, [and] not much content to it." The mixtape was released for sale only, and confirmed to have sold over 6,000 copies.[60] In 2007, he released his second mixtape Comeback Season. Released from his recently founded October's Very Own label, it spawned the single "Replacement Girl", featuring Trey Songz. The song made Drake become the first ever unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET, with "Replacement Girl" being featured on the channel's "New Joint of the Day" segment on April 30, 2007.[63] The song also saw Drake sample "Man of the Year" by Brisco, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne's verse, and adjoined his own to the song's earlier half. This caused Jas Prince to gift Lil Wayne the song, which prompted the rapper to invite Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour.[64] Throughout the duration of the tour, Drake and Lil Wayne recorded multiple songs together, including "Ransom", "Forever", and a remix to "Brand New".[64] Despite the collaborations between the duo, Drake was yet to be signed by Young Money Entertainment.
In 2009, Drake released his third mixtape So Far Gone. It was made available for free download through his OVO blog website, and featured Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Omarion, Lloyd, and Bun B. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release, finding mainstream commercial success due to the singles "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", both gaining Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the former also peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.[65] This prompted the mixtape's re-release as an EP, featuring only four songs from the original, as well as the additions of the songs "I'm Goin' In" and "Fear". It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, and won the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards.[66]
Due to the success of the mixtape,[67] Drake was the subject of a bidding war from various labels, often reported as "one of the biggest bidding wars ever".[68] Despite this, Drake was rumoured to have secured a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009.[69] This was later confirmed following a planned lawsuit from Young Money, in conjunction with Drake, against an unauthorized album titled The Girls Love Drake, which was released on iTunes under dubious means.[70]
Drake then joined the rest of the label's roster on the America's Most Wanted Tour in July 2009. However, during a performance of "Best I Ever Had" in Camden, New Jersey, Drake fell on stage and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.[71] He underwent surgery later that year.
2010–2012: Thank Me Later and Take Care
Drake planned to release his debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010,[72] and then to May 25, 2010.[73] Young Money and Universal Motown had then released a statement that the album had again been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010 release.[72][74]
On March 9, 2010, Drake released the debut single "Over",[75] which peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart. It also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards.[76] His second single, "Find Your Love", became an even bigger success; peaking at number five on the Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[77] The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, and was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett. Bartlett condemned the portrayal of the island in the video, saying, "care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in [showcasing] images of our destination and people. Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]."[78] The third single and fourth singles, "Miss Me" and "Fancy" respectively,[79] attained moderate commercial success; however, the latter garnered Drake his second nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.[80] On April 29, it was reportedly announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later during a show in Kansas City, Missouri.[81]
Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010,[82] debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week.[83] Upon the album's release, 25,000 fans gathered at New York City's South Street Seaport for a free concert, hosted by Drake and Hanson, which was later cancelled by police after a near-riot ensued due to overflowing crowds.[84] The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010,[85] and featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West,[86] and Jay Z.[87]
It was soon announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the military science fiction video game Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the part of Jace Stratton, but scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Away from Home Tour[88] prevented Drake from accepting the role.[89] He began the tour on September 20, 2010 in Miami, Florida, performing at 78 shows over four different legs.[90] It concluded in Las Vegas in November 2010.[91] Due to the success of the Away from Home Tour, Drake hosted the first OVO Festival in 2010. It would soon become a regular event during the summer, with the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto playing host to the festival on its annual cycle. Drake also had an eco-friendly college tour to support the album, beginning with Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. It concluded in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 8, and he had also performed at The Bamboozle on May 1.[92][93]
Beginning his second effort in fall 2010,[94] Drake announced his intentions to allow for Noah "40" Shebib to handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others.[95] In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album will be Take Care.[96] In comparison to his debut album, Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn't get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn't get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' Once it was done, it was done. That's why my new album is called Take Care, because I get to take my time this go-round."[97] Drake sought to expand on the low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic esthetic of Thank Me Later.[98][99] Primarily a hip hop album, Drake also attempted to incorporate R&B and pop to create a languid, grandiose sound
