Canadian-born Aubrey Drake Graham, better known as simply Drake, has proven to be a talented triple threat — a dramatic and comedic actor, a rapper with R&B authenticity and a songwriter for himself and others.
Drake was born in 1986 to an African-American father who once drummed for Jerry Lee Lewis and a white Jewish mother (he “remembered” his Bar Mitzvah during his monologue when he hosted/musical guested on Saturday Night Live earlier this year; he also parodied Katt Williams and Alex Rodriguez with hilarious results).
At 15, Drake was represented by a friend’s father who was an agent, which led to a role on the Canadian franchise series DeGrassi: The Next Generation. Drake played disabled basketball star Jimmy Brooks for eight seasons.
In 2006, Drake launched his music career with his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, followed a year later by Comeback Season; he named Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Clipse and Mos Def as Rap influences and Anthony Hamilton and Maxwell as singing inspirations. In 2008, Lil Wayne heard Drake’s music and offered the rising star a spot on his tour, and in 2009, Drake released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, which spawned the hits “Best I Ever Had” and “Successful.”
After a heated bidding war, Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment inked the contract; Drake’s 2010 debut, the long-delayed Thank Me Later, featured an almost Ambient R&B/Rap vibe and was a critical and commercial smash. Drake’s sophomore album, Take Care, dropped a year later and featured a handful of platinum singles, including “The Motto,” which popularized the acronym “YOLO.”
In 2012, Drake and producer Noah “40” Shebib formed the OVO Sound label; within months they secured distribution through Warner Brothers Records. In 2013, Drake’s third album, Nothing Was the Same, was released, again topping Billboard’s album chart in its first week.
Over his eight-year career, Drake has earned a Grammy and three Junos and his chart feats include recently passing Usher for most No. 1 hits on Billboard’s R&B/Hip Hop Airplay charts with his collaboration with Lil Wayne, “Believe Me.”
Hey Drake, what’s that in your ass pocket? I think it’s the world.
DRAKE performs with Lil Wayne on Friday, Aug. 15 at Riverbend Music Center. Tickets/more info
here .
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2014.
