Drake (musician)

Drake
Drake, on stage, holding a microphone and facing forwards
Drake in 2016
Born
Aubrey Drake Graham

(1986-10-24) October 24, 1986 (age 38)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Other names
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • United States
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • entrepreneur
  • actor
Years active2001–present
Works
Children1
Relatives
AwardsFull list
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Labels
Websitedrakerelated.com

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor. An influential figure in popular music, he has been credited with popularizing R&B sensibilities in hip hop artists. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2008), Drake began his recording career in 2006 with the release of his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement (2006). He followed up with the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment.[5]

Drake's first three albums, Thank Me Later (2010), Take Care (2011) and Nothing Was the Same (2013) each debuted atop the Billboard 200 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten singles "Find Your Love", "Take Care" (featuring Rihanna), "Started from the Bottom", and "Hold On, We're Going Home" (featuring Majid Jordan).[6] His fourth album Views (2016) lead the Billboard 200 for 13 non-consecutive weeks and contained the singles "Hotline Bling" and the US number one "One Dance" (featuring WizKid and Kyla), which has been credited for helping popularize dancehall and Afrobeats in contemporary American music.[7][8] Views was followed by the double album Scorpion (2018), which included the three US number-one singles: "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". His sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021), set the then-record (9) for most US top-ten songs from one album with its lead single, "Way 2 Sexy" (featuring Future and Young Thug), reaching number one. In 2022, he released the house-inspired album Honestly, Nevermind and his collaborative album with 21 Savage, Her Loss, which yielded the number-one single "Jimmy Cooks". His eighth album, For All the Dogs (2023), featured his twelfth and thirteenth number ones, "Slime You Out" (featuring SZA) and "First Person Shooter" (featuring J. Cole). In 2024, Drake was involved in a high-profile rap feud with Kendrick Lamar, producing the diss songs "Push Ups, "Taylor Made Freestyle",[a] "Family Matters", and "The Heart Part 6".

As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, he became the "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining their executive committee and later obtaining naming rights to their practice facility OVO Athletic Centre. In 2016, he began collaborating with Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black.[10] Drake heads the OVO fashion label and the Nocta collaboration with Nike, Inc., and founded the production company DreamCrew and the fragrance house Better World. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income.[11]

Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million units sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[12] He has won five Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, 39 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards. He has achieved 13 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, a joint-record for the most number-one singles by a male solo artist (tied with Michael Jackson).[13] Drake holds further Hot 100 records, including the most top 10 singles (78), and the most charted songs (338).[14] From 2018 to 2023, Drake held the record for the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22);[15] and held the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks).[b] He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts.

  1. ^ "11 Times Drake Channeled His 'Champagne Papi' Alter-Ego: From 'The Motto' to 'Mia'". Billboard. October 12, 2018. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "The Drake Look Book". GQ. October 2016. Archived from the original on August 28, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  3. ^ Tigg, FNR (July 29, 2020). "Drake's Engineer Noel Shares How Close Rapper Is to Finishing New Album". Complex. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  4. ^ "Drake Introduces New 'Alter-Ego' Complete With Its Own Accessory". HipHopDX. December 19, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  5. ^ "Drake Signs To Young Money, Distribution By Universal Republic". Billboard. June 30, 2009. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  6. ^ XXL Staff (September 24, 2018). "How 'Nothing Was the Same' Made Drake the Face of Hip-Hop – XXL". XXL Mag. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  7. ^ "How Afrobeats Is Influencing American Pop Music, According to Producer P2J". Complex. Archived from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  8. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (September 5, 2016). "Sean Paul: 'Drake and Bieber do dancehall but don't credit where it came from'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  9. ^ Yang, Angela; Hamedy, Saba (April 26, 2024). "Drake pulls 'Taylor Made Freestyle' after Tupac estate threatens action for apparent use of AI voice". NBC News. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "Drake's whiskey venture breaks sales record". October 18, 2016. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  11. ^ "Drake Is Responsible for 5% of Toronto's Tourism Economy, Expert Finds". Billboard. July 6, 2018. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  12. ^ Mitchell, Gail (June 29, 2018). "Drake Certified as RIAA's New Top Digital Singles Artist". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  13. ^ Hussey, Allison; Lindert, Hattie (October 16, 2023). "Drake Gets No. 1 Album and Single, Tying Michael Jackson for Billboard Hot 100 Record". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  14. ^ "Drake". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  15. ^ Trust, Gary (March 27, 2017). "Drake Breaks Hot 100 Records: Most Hits Among Solo Artists & Most Simultaneously Charted Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.


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