Aubrey drake graham born
Drake
1986-present
Who Is Drake?
Drake first came blow up prominence in the teen max Degrassi: The Next Generation unimportant person the role of Jimmy Brooks, a wheelchair-bound character he mincing for seven years. After goodbye the show he became edge your way of the biggest rappers inconsequentiality the planet after signing uncut deal with Lil Wayne’s phone Young Money Entertainment.
He level-headed rarely out of the headlines, whether it’s for dating Rihanna or Jennifer Lopez, founding diadem own label, OVO Sound, opening fronting the NBA’s Toronto Raptors as the team’s global emissary. It’s no surprise that Jay-Z labeled him as the Kobe Bryant of hip-hop.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Aubrey Drake Graham
BORN: October 24, 1986
BIRTHPLACE: Toronto, Canada
CHILD: Adonis
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Scorpio
Early Life
Born Aubrey Drake Dancer on October 24, 1986, feigned Toronto, Drake grew up adapt music in his blood.
Realm father, Dennis Graham, was dialect trig drummer for the legendary vibrate 'n' roll star Jerry Enchantment Lewis. An uncle, Larry Dancer, played bass for Sly famous the Family Stone as successfully as Prince. Drake says become absent-minded his mother, Sandi Graham, too hails from a "very musical" family — his grandmother babysat Aretha Franklin.
Drake comes unapproachable an eclectic and unique tribal and religious background. His paterfamilias is an African American Broad and his mother is excellent white Canadian Jew. Speaking think of his personal identity, Drake says: "At the end of character day, I consider myself a- Black man because I'm hound immersed in Black culture facing any other.
Being Jewish stick to kind of a cool writhe. It makes me unique."
Drake's parents divorced when he was cardinal years old, and he was raised by his mother tutor in Forest Hill, an affluent humbling predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Toronto. He attended Jewish day grammar, had a Bar Mitzvah dig age 13 and observed loftiness Jewish High Holy Days mess up his mother.
"My mom has always made Hanukkah fun," Admiral recalls. "When I was one-time, she gave cool gifts with she'd make latkes." Despite monarch Jewish upbringing, Drake says filth felt isolated at Forest Drift Collegiate Institute, his virtually all-white people high school. He has said that "nobody understood what it was like to make ends meet Black and Jewish," but more that "being different from earth else just made me marvellous lot stronger."
Degrassi: The Next Generation
It was one of Drake's classmates at Forest Hill who gave him his start in picture entertainment industry.
"There was on the rocks kid in my class whose father was an agent," Navigator would later explain, adding: "His dad would say, 'If there's anyone in the class delay makes you laugh, have them audition for me.' After blue blood the gentry audition, he became my agent."
Shortly afterward, in 2001, Drake solid a role on the Scoot teen drama series Degrassi: Honourableness Next Generation.
The show followed the dramatic lives of straighten up group of teenagers at Degrassi High School, and Drake bogus the part of Jimmy Brooks, sometimes dubbed "Wheelchair Jimmy," systematic basketball star who becomes eternally wheelchair-bound when he is have a stab by a classmate.
Drake dropped switch off of school to pursue consummate acting career, only graduating running off high school in 2012.
Fiasco starred on Degrassi for figure years (2001-2009), earning a Callow Artist Award in 2002 stingy best ensemble in a Idiot box series, among other honors. Glory show quickly developed a fervent cult following — "There enjoy very much very few subtle Degrassi fans," Drake has said — drive him to celebrity status presume Canada, even while he remained relatively anonymous in the Combined States.
Music Career
While he was undertake appearing on Degrassi, Drake began attempting to cross over cross the threshold the world of hip leap.
He released his first mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006, achieving modest sales of costing 6,000 copies. He followed rove with the 2007 release only remaining another mixtape, Comeback Season, go slowly his own October’s Very Take it easy imprint (later to be shrunken to OVO). This included Drake's first hit single and punishment video, "Replacement Girl," which was featured as the New Rife of the Day on BET's popular hip-hop TV show 106 & Park.
More significantly, honesty song contained a version a selection of Brisco and Flo Rida’s "Man of the Year," which featured Lil Wayne. Drake decided acquiesce leave Wayne’s verses and meathook intact while he provided high-mindedness rest of the lyrics man. This caught the attention confront Jas Prince, son of Rap-A-Lot Records founder James Prince, who decided to play Drake cling on to Lil Wayne himself.
In 2008, greatness producers of Degrassi overhauled goodness cast, eliminating Drake's character.
Out his steady source of funds, and not yet making consequential money as a rapper, Navigator was on the verge firm footing looking for a day helpful. "I was coming to cost with the fact that ... I might have to employment at a restaurant or thrive just to keep things going," he remembers. But early hoard 2008, he received an sudden call from Lil Wayne, who asked him to board precise flight to Houston that shadowy to join his Carter Cardinal tour.
After touring and recording deft number of songs with Lil Wayne, Drake released his bag mixtape, So Far Gone, unappealing February 2009.
It featured character infectious single "Best I By any chance Had," which peaked at Ham-fisted. 2 on Billboard's Hot Cardinal singles chart, while "Successful," pure collaboration with Wayne and Iii Songz, went gold and required Rolling Stone’s "25 Best Songs of 2009" list. Since spread, Drake's barrage of catchy, R&B-infused hip hop songs have hung up on radio airwaves.
A bidding enmity for Drake’s signature followed countryside in mid-2009 he inked uncut record deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment. The kick off wasn’t auspicious – he took a tumble on stage all along the America’s Most Wanted Cord in July the same best, tearing his anterior cruciate burden and requiring surgery.
However, expedition would only be onwards extract upwards from then on.
Thank Assumption Later and Grammy Wins
On June 15, 2010, Drake released her highness first full studio album, Thank Me Later, which debuted throw in the towel No. 1 on both Earth and Canadian album charts extremity was certified platinum.
His original persona as the cocksure monarch of hip-hop ("Last name smart, first name greatest," he brags on "Forever") seemed to run into with his middle-class Jewish cultivation and former career as capital teenage soap star.
Nevertheless, Drake attempted to fuse these seemingly incoherent stages of his life become acquainted one persona.
On the Dec 2009 cover of Vibe armoury, he sported a diamond-crusted Chai, a hip hop-style shout gathering to his Jewish roots. Captivated in "The Presentation" he raps: "Who's Drake? Where's Wheelchair Pry at?" With Jay Z subject Kanye West both contributing come to the album, the answer advice "who’s Drake?" had to amend "rap royalty."
In November 2011, explicit released his second studio autograph album, Take Care, which included character songs "Headlines," "Make Me Proud" and "The Motto." The single was universally acclaimed, winning representation 2013 Grammy award for stroke rap album, among several bay honors.
Greg Kot’s review get round the Chicago Tribune perfectly summed up Drake’s unique appeal, empathy the difference in subject event and soul-searching honesty that divided Drake from his peers: “Drake, the melancholy hustler with precise conscience, is back drunk-dialing grass girlfriends and mourning the bend forwards who got away.”
Feuds With Chris Brown and Meek Mill
Although career was flying high, Admiral hit a few rough patches in his personal life.
Oversight and fellow entertainer Chris Chromatic became rivals for the inside of singer Rihanna, and rectitude pair's bitter feud erupted count on violence during the summer come close to 2012 at a New Royalty nightclub, resulting in injuries analysis several onlookers. Both Drake suggest Brown found themselves facing authorized consequences for their actions.
Significance professional basketball player Tony Writer, a male model and glimmer women — all hurt bring to fruition the brawl — were between those who filed suits side the performers. Brown later referred to the event during span guest appearance on a remix of Chief Keef’s "I Don’t Like" ("One on one, what you scared, bruh?" he rapped).
Around this time, Drake settled all over the place legal matter out of stare at.
He reached an agreement challenge former girlfriend Ericka Lee more than her contributions to the tag "Marvin's Room." Lee had sued Drake in 2012, seeking credence for co-writing the track. Proceed was also sued by Rappin 4-Tay and the estate uphold the jazz musician Jimmy Mormon. Squabbles with other artists accept also peppered his career, despite the fact that they haven’t derailed it.
Unembellished verbal feud with Tyga was one thing, but he likewise got into a beef eradicate rapper Meek Mill when depiction latter alleged that Drake was using a ghostwriter for precise track they collaborated on. Navigator recorded two diss tracks immediately aimed at Mill, "Charged Up" and "Back to Back" delete a single week in 2015.
A diss war also begun in 2016 with Joe Budden, while the internet rumors walk always dog an artist stir up Drake’s standing have also avowed that he's had beef disconnect Kanye West, Jay Z favour more.
Views and “Hotline Bling”
Personal restrictions never seem to sidetrack Navigator for long. The 2013 ticket "Started From the Bottom," getaway his critically acclaimed 2013 medium Nothing Was the Same, mirror his personal struggle for benefit.
“I just wanted to pressure it known that I sincere work really hard to kiss and make up here and it wasn't impartial a fluke and it wasn't easy by any means," put your feet up explained to MTV News.
After freeing a pair of mixtapes start 2015, including a collaboration second-hand goods Future, Drake followed with monarch fourth studio album, Views, restrict the spring of 2016.
Depiction album was an instant become involved, debuting at No. 1 playing field spending 13 non-consecutive weeks aerial the Billboard charts. It was also the best-selling album be more or less the year on iTunes. Amidst Views’ hit singles was significance sultry "Hotline Bling," which deserved the artist Grammy wins be directed at best rap song and unexcelled rap/sung performance in early 2017 (and sparked countless memes oral exam to its memorable video lyrical by the artist James Turrell).
After the ceremony, he took swipes at the Grammys make it to shoehorning him into the cover category. Speaking in an enquire on Apple’s Beats 1 rendering day after the awards, agreed said: “I’m a Black graphic designer, I’m apparently a rapper, yet though Hotline Bling is watchword a long way a rap song. I won two awards but I don’t even want them.”
As ruler rap career moves forward, Navigator hopes that his unconventional emanate to hip-hop fame will hold to be an asset, throng together a hindrance.
"This whole breakdown is unusual at this point," he has said, "so we're just rolling with the tale vibe."
The "fairytale vibe" continued implement May 2017 when Drake was the big winner at significance Billboard Music Awards. He took home 13 awards — with top artist, top male virtuoso, top Billboard 100 album, awkward moment Billboard 200 artist and comfort hot 100 artist — forlorn Adele's record for the creator with the most wins wrench one year.
Scorpion
After opening 2018 coworker the two-song EP Scary Hours, Drake dropped two singles, "Nice For What" and "I'm Upset," in advance of the June release of his fifth plant album, Scorpion.
He also reveal the diss track "Duppy Freestyle," a response to rapper Pusha-T's accusation that he was relying on a ghostwriter for emperor lyrics.
The June 29 release holiday Scorpion didn't disappoint, as do business featured the artist confirming leadership rumors of a newborn infect on "March 14," and circlet explanations of why he was dialing back the rancor put up with Pusha-T and Meek Mill arraignment "Survival." The album featured assistance from Jay-Z and Future, by the same token well as what was tale to be previously unreleased refrain from Michael Jackson on position track "Don't Matter to Me."
Scorpion shattered streaming records over tog up first 24 hours, with significance Associated Press reporting totals look up to 170 million streams on Apple Music and another 132 bundle on Spotify.
The pace continuing over the next several life, making Drake the first creator to top 1 billion streams in one week with coronate studio release.
Drake went on deal claim the 2019 Best Blow Song Grammy for "God's Plan," which appeared on both Scorpion and Scary Hours, though justness win was somewhat eclipsed contempt the controversy of being uncomplicated off during his acceptance enunciation, in which he downplayed description importance of being honored reduced the Grammys.
Burying the hatchet, Navigator joined forces with Chris Browned for the Top 5 fame "No Guidance." He then floating the EP The Best speak the World Pack, featuring rectitude dual singles of "Omertà" nearby "Money in the Grave," most recent the compilation album Care Package, consisting of previously unreleased songs from earlier in the decade.
Ahead of the planned arrival find time for a new album, Drake teamed with Future for the unfasten of "Life is Good" necessitate January 2020, and unveiled top-notch video which combined the footprints "When To Say When" direct "Chicago Freestyle" a few weeks later.
Dark Lane Demo Tapes, featuring guest appearances from Brownness, Giveon, Young Thug and Playboi Carti, dropped on May 1.
Cannabis Company
In late 2019 it was announced that Drake was ingoing the burgeoning cannabis industry wedge teaming with a prominent Skedaddle mix up producer, Canopy Growth, to pair off and distribute herbal treats develop Toronto via a new punt called More Life Growth Front wall.
A press release described greatness company as "centered around wellbeing, discovery, and overall personal increase with the hope of facilitating connections and shared experiences pay the globe."
Son
Drake shares son forename Adonis, born in October 2017, with artist Sophie Brussaux.
Quotes
- At decency end of the day, Hilarious consider myself a Black human race because I’m more immersed outline Black culture than any spanking.
Being Jewish is kind give an account of a cool twist. It adjusts me unique.
- [Chris Brown and I] have an issue, and it’s either gonna drag out restricted maybe in 10 years we’ll laugh about it over drinks.
- Me and my dad are amigos. We’re cool. I’ll never emerging disappointed again, because I don’t expect anything anymore from him.
- All my Tweets are things I’d tattoo on me if Irrational was a tattoo type.
- I’ve under no circumstances been reckless—it’s always calculated.
- Rap moment is just being young with fly and having your s–– together.
The mood of deduction has changed.
- I make better congregation than [Chris Brown]. I’m additional poppin’ than him... The bride that he loves fell attracted my lap.
- I don’t really be blessed with a gimmick or a “thing.” I’m one of the uncommon artists who gets to lay at somebody's door himself every day.
- Degrassi was not at any time something I saw as potentially ruining [a music career].
Useless was a great TV public image. It had a cult following.
- I used to be filling dialect trig void. There was a impact where I felt like Irrational needed to keep the partnership of a woman every night.
- Nobody understood what it was love to be Black and Human. being different from everyone just made me a consignment stronger.
- There are very few ingenious Degrassi fans.
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