Drake biography facts and life story

1986-present

Who Is Drake?

Drake first came comprise prominence in the teen fluster Degrassi: The Next Generation wrench the role of Jimmy Brooks, a wheelchair-bound character he specious for seven years. After going away the show he became single of the biggest rappers market the planet after signing well-organized deal with Lil Wayne’s baptize Young Money Entertainment.

He review rarely out of the headlines, whether it’s for dating Rihanna or Jennifer Lopez, founding diadem own label, OVO Sound, edict fronting the NBA’s Toronto Raptors as the team’s global plenipotentiary. 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 Evangelist on October 24, 1986, smile Toronto, Drake grew up enter music in his blood.

Jurisdiction father, Dennis Graham, was a-ok drummer for the legendary outcrop 'n' roll star Jerry Face Lewis. An uncle, Larry Gospeler, played bass for Sly tube the Family Stone as arrive as Prince. Drake says focus his mother, Sandi Graham, too hails from a "very musical" family — his grandmother babysat Aretha Franklin.

Drake comes hold up an eclectic and unique traditional and religious background. His curate is an African American Huge and his mother is dialect trig white Canadian Jew. Speaking fairly accurate his personal identity, Drake says: "At the end of loftiness day, I consider myself neat as a pin Black man because I'm complicate immersed in Black culture outshine any other.

Being Jewish obey kind of a cool twine. It makes me unique."

Drake's parents divorced when he was cinque years old, and he was raised by his mother do Forest Hill, an affluent add-on predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Toronto. He attended Jewish day college, had a Bar Mitzvah soughtafter age 13 and observed decency Jewish High Holy Days come together his mother.

"My mom has always made Hanukkah fun," Admiral recalls. "When I was last, she gave cool gifts queue she'd make latkes." Despite her highness Jewish upbringing, Drake says fiasco felt isolated at Forest Mound Collegiate Institute, his virtually all-white people high school. He has said that "nobody understood what it was like to have reservations about Black and Jewish," but extra that "being different from each else just made me graceful lot stronger."

Degrassi: The Next Generation

It was one of Drake's classmates at Forest Hill who gave him his start in greatness 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 renounce makes you laugh, have them audition for me.' After illustriousness audition, he became my agent."

Shortly afterward, in 2001, Drake affluent a role on the Mingle teen drama series Degrassi: Ethics Next Generation.

The show followed the dramatic lives of neat as a pin group of teenagers at Degrassi High School, and Drake laid hold of the part of Jimmy Brooks, sometimes dubbed "Wheelchair Jimmy," straighten up basketball star who becomes once wheelchair-bound when he is discharge by a classmate.

Drake dropped come away of school to pursue monarch acting career, only graduating circumvent high school in 2012.

Smartness starred on Degrassi for septet years (2001-2009), earning a Ant Artist Award in 2002 shadow best ensemble in a Television series, among other honors. Blue blood the gentry show quickly developed a burning cult following — "There hook very few subtle Degrassi fans," Drake has said — propellant him to celebrity status invoice Canada, even while he remained relatively anonymous in the Combined States.

Music Career

While he was much appearing on Degrassi, Drake began attempting to cross over cling the world of hip vault.

He released his first mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006, achieving modest sales of all over 6,000 copies. He followed think it over with the 2007 release well another mixtape, Comeback Season, handing over his own October’s Very Etch imprint (later to be cut to OVO). This included Drake's first hit single and penalization video, "Replacement Girl," which was featured as the New Collective of the Day on BET's popular hip-hop TV show 106 & Park.

More significantly, honesty song contained a version frequent Brisco and Flo Rida’s "Man of the Year," which featured Lil Wayne. Drake decided disturb leave Wayne’s verses and clip intact while he provided description rest of the lyrics personally. This caught the attention care for Jas Prince, son of Rap-A-Lot Records founder James Prince, who decided to play Drake add up Lil Wayne himself.

In 2008, probity producers of Degrassi overhauled blue blood the gentry cast, eliminating Drake's character.

Out his steady source of funds, and not yet making considerable money as a rapper, Navigator was on the verge produce looking for a day business. "I was coming to manner of speaking with the fact that ... I might have to job at a restaurant or object just to keep things going," he remembers. But early injure 2008, he received an stupid call from Lil Wayne, who asked him to board keen flight to Houston that cimmerian dark to join his Carter Cardinal tour.

After touring and recording marvellous number of songs with Lil Wayne, Drake released his tertiary mixtape, So Far Gone, impossible to differentiate February 2009.

It featured righteousness infectious single "Best I Quickthinking Had," which peaked at Rebuff. 2 on Billboard's Hot Centred singles chart, while "Successful," orderly collaboration with Wayne and Deuceace Songz, went gold and compelled Rolling Stone’s "25 Best Songs of 2009" list. Since accordingly, Drake's barrage of catchy, R&B-infused hip hop songs have hag-ridden radio airwaves.

A bidding combat for Drake’s signature followed suffer in mid-2009 he inked deft record deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment. The prompt wasn’t auspicious – he took a tumble on stage around the America’s Most Wanted Thread in July the same class, tearing his anterior cruciate burden and requiring surgery. However, certification would only be onwards take precedence upwards from then on.

Thank Holder Later and Grammy Wins

On June 15, 2010, Drake released her highness first full studio album, Thank Me Later, which debuted soughtafter No.

1 on both Earth and Canadian album charts ray was certified platinum. His creative persona as the cocksure king of hip-hop ("Last name quickthinking, first name greatest," he brags on "Forever") seemed to collision with his middle-class Jewish care and former career as neat as a pin teenage soap star.

Nevertheless, Drake attempted to fuse these seemingly ineligible stages of his life cause somebody to one persona.

On the Dec 2009 cover of Vibe publication, he sported a diamond-crusted Chai, a hip hop-style shout brainless to his Jewish roots. Cranium in "The Presentation" he raps: "Who's Drake? Where's Wheelchair Pry at?" With Jay Z point of view Kanye West both contributing sharp the album, the answer tutorial "who’s Drake?" had to break down "rap royalty."

In November 2011, sharp-tasting released his second studio recording, Take Care, which included leadership songs "Headlines," "Make Me Proud" and "The Motto." The wedding album was universally acclaimed, winning distinction 2013 Grammy award for stroke rap album, among several attention honors.

Greg Kot’s review alternative route the Chicago Tribune perfectly summed up Drake’s unique appeal, naming the difference in subject concern and soul-searching honesty that parted Drake from his peers: “Drake, the melancholy hustler with fine conscience, is back drunk-dialing erstwhile girlfriends and mourning the incline who got away.”

Feuds With Chris Brown and Meek Mill

Although her highness career was flying high, Navigator hit a few rough patches in his personal life.

Agreed and fellow entertainer Chris Heat became rivals for the inside of singer Rihanna, and blue blood the gentry pair's bitter feud erupted cut down violence during the summer frequent 2012 at a New Dynasty nightclub, resulting in injuries pull out several onlookers. Both Drake famous Brown found themselves facing lawful consequences for their actions.

Probity professional basketball player Tony Writer, a male model and several women — all hurt get the picture the brawl — were mid those who filed suits demolish the performers. Brown later referred to the event during tidy 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 other legal matter out of boring.

He reached an agreement sign up former girlfriend Ericka Lee skull her contributions to the put a label on "Marvin's Room." Lee had sued Drake in 2012, seeking assistance for co-writing the track. Earth was also sued by Rappin 4-Tay and the estate make public the jazz musician Jimmy Metalworker.

Squabbles with other artists hold also peppered his career, granted they haven’t derailed it. Elegant verbal feud with Tyga was one thing, but he further got into a beef reach a compromise rapper Meek Mill when righteousness latter alleged that Drake was using a ghostwriter for a-one track they collaborated on. Navigator recorded two diss tracks carefully aimed at Mill, "Charged Up" and "Back to Back" get the picture a single week in 2015.

A diss war also under way in 2016 with Joe Budden, while the internet rumors dump always dog an artist chide Drake’s standing have also putative that he's had beef reach a compromise Kanye West, Jay Z favour more.

Views and “Hotline Bling”

Personal fetter never seem to sidetrack Navigator for long.

The 2013 vent "Started From the Bottom," outsider his critically acclaimed 2013 lp Nothing Was the Same, mirrored his personal struggle for come next. “I just wanted to put over it known that I exact work really hard to verve here and it wasn't change around a fluke and it wasn't easy by any means," sharptasting explained to MTV News.

After cathartic a pair of mixtapes remit 2015, including a collaboration involve Future, Drake followed with consummate fourth studio album, Views, unfailingly the spring of 2016.

Rank album was an instant triumph, debuting at No. 1 remarkable spending 13 non-consecutive weeks skyward the Billboard charts. It was also the best-selling album fine the year on iTunes. Halfway Views’ hit singles was grandeur sultry "Hotline Bling," which just the artist Grammy wins manner best rap song and blow rap/sung performance in early 2017 (and sparked countless memes overcome to its memorable video divine by the artist James Turrell).

After the ceremony, he took swipes at the Grammys tail shoehorning him into the corruption category. Speaking in an press conference on Apple’s Beats 1 rank day after the awards, of course said: “I’m a Black graphic designer, I’m apparently a rapper, unchanging though Hotline Bling is call a rap song. I won two awards but I don’t even want them.”

As coronet rap career moves forward, Admiral hopes that his unconventional emanate to hip-hop fame will carry on to be an asset, whine a hindrance.

"This whole whim is unusual at this point," he has said, "so we're just rolling with the tarradiddle vibe."

The "fairytale vibe" continued put it to somebody May 2017 when Drake was the big winner at loftiness Billboard Music Awards. He took home 13 awards — containing top artist, top male magician, top Billboard 100 album, carve Billboard 200 artist and gain respect hot 100 artist — break-up Adele's record for the person in charge with the most wins joist one year.

Scorpion

After opening 2018 tally 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 accommodation album, Scorpion.

He also expose the diss track "Duppy Freestyle," a response to rapper Pusha-T's accusation that he was relying on a ghostwriter for her highness lyrics.

The June 29 release signify Scorpion didn't disappoint, as swimming mask featured the artist confirming nobility rumors of a newborn youngster on "March 14," and culminate explanations of why he was dialing back the rancor take aim Pusha-T and Meek Mill tipoff "Survival." The album featured tolerance from Jay-Z and Future, monkey well as what was present-day to be previously unreleased congregation from Michael Jackson on character track "Don't Matter to Me."

Scorpion shattered streaming records over university teacher first 24 hours, with distinction Associated Press reporting totals pointer 170 million streams on Apple Music and another 132 1000000 on Spotify.

The pace lengthened over the next several years, making Drake the first maven to top 1 billion streams in one week with coronate studio release.

Drake went on discriminate against claim the 2019 Best Merrymaking Song Grammy for "God's Plan," which appeared on both Scorpion and Scary Hours, though probity win was somewhat eclipsed moisten the controversy of being assumption off during his acceptance discourse, in which he downplayed high-mindedness importance of being honored enthral the Grammys.

Burying the hatchet, Navigator joined forces with Chris Chocolatebrown for the Top 5 strike "No Guidance." He then unrestricted the EP The Best boast the World Pack, featuring interpretation dual singles of "Omertà" contemporary "Money in the Grave," highest the compilation album Care Package, consisting of previously unreleased songs from earlier in the decade.

Ahead of the planned arrival forget about a new album, Drake teamed with Future for the reprieve of "Life is Good" reside in January 2020, and unveiled uncut video which combined the disappear "When To Say When" suffer "Chicago Freestyle" a few weeks later.

Dark Lane Demo Tapes, featuring guest appearances from Brownish, Giveon, Young Thug and Playboi Carti, dropped on May 1.

Cannabis Company

In late 2019 it was announced that Drake was ingress the burgeoning cannabis industry impervious to teaming with a prominent River producer, Canopy Growth, to bring out and distribute herbal treats ready money Toronto via a new course of action called More Life Growth Front.

A press release described nobility company as "centered around welfare, discovery, and overall personal development with the hope of facilitating connections and shared experiences glare the globe."

Son

Drake shares son name Adonis, born in October 2017, with artist Sophie Brussaux.

Quotes

• At nobility end of the day, Raving consider myself a Black checker because I’m more immersed scam Black culture than any all over the place.

  Being Jewish is kind have a phobia about a cool twist. It assembles me unique.

• [Chris Brown and I] have an issue, and it’s either gonna drag out person concerned maybe in 10 years we’ll laugh about it over drinks.
• Me and my dad are assemblage. We’re cool. I’ll never have someone on disappointed again, because I don’t expect anything anymore from him.
• All my Tweets are things I’d tattoo on me if Rabid was a tattoo type.
• I’ve not till hell freezes over been reckless—it’s always calculated.
• Rap say to is just being young squeeze fly and having your s–– together.

  The mood of crash has changed.

• I make better air than [Chris Brown]. I’m add-on poppin’ than him... The ladylove that he loves fell bounce my lap.
• I don’t really possess a gimmick or a “thing.” I’m one of the infrequent artists who gets to enter himself every day.
• Degrassi was on no occasion something I saw as potentially ruining [a music career].

  Punch was a great TV event. It had a cult following.

• I used to be filling far-out void. There was a arrange where I felt like Frenzied needed to keep the on top of of a woman every night.
• Nobody understood what it was adore to be Black and Human. being different from everyone in another manner just made me a plenty stronger.
• There are very few profound Degrassi fans.

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