Drake may not have “started from the bottom” in the literal sense, but
he certainly is enjoying the bounty that comes from being at the top
in the hip-hop world- and he has undeniably been reigning for a while
now. No one can deny him that, even if they don’t personally care for
his music. As a result of his grind, Drake has already earned a Grammy
Award, (and is nominated candidate for the 2016 Grammy Awards) five
Juno Awards, over twenty BET Awards and he’s also
set several
significant Billboard charts records. Those are just a few of his
accolades though. Interestingly, Drake and 50 Cent alone have held the
Billboard charts top three positions. Let’s face it, this young man
has earned his spot in the game!
So, just how does a young, half Black, half Jewish kid by the name
“Aubrey” (Drake is his middle name) Graham go from being a young actor
on Degrassi to one of the hottest names in hip-hop? Well, like Drake
states on the remix of Alicia Key’s Unbreakable (which he wrote, by
the way, as he is also recognized as a songwriter and producer for
major artists): “A chance is like a picture, it’d be nice if you just
take one.” Well, Drake, the unconventional hip-hop artist, took a
chance on something that he always loved and was inspired by- music-
and it changed his entire life.
Drake was raised in Toronto, Canada in a working class neighborhood,
but moved to a more affluent one during his young teenage years. At
the age of five, he witnessed and had to deal with the divorce that
happened between his African-American father, who was from Memphis, TN
(where Drake also spent a lot of his time growing up), and his mother,
a Canadian White Jew. Drake’s father exposed him to music at a young
age which is what fueled a lot of his passion. Even from behind prison
walls, where his father served time on two different occasions during
his childhood, his father would make sure to reserve time for Drake to
speak directly with a fellow inmate that was a rapper.
At the age of fifteen, Drake landed a role on a hit show being taped
in Canada- Degrassi. Although being a pretty regularly featured actor
on Degrassi over many seasons, Drake notes that the television
industry wasn’t a lucrative one for him. Shortly after being “laid
off” along with a bunch of his peers on the hit show-on which he
appeared in 138 episodes over the course of his career- Drake
self-dropped his first mixtape in 2006. It was no dumb move to feature
his friend, hit R & B crooner Trey Songz as well as Lupe Fiasco on the
mixtape and as a result, he saw quite a bit of success and opened the
eyes of many that hadn’t considered him a music artist. But it was his
third official mixtape, which also featured Trey Songz, that really
became the propellant to his current hip-hop status. Although
underground, the mixtape received so many downloads and chatter via
social media, that it eventually segued into the mainstream world,
receiving radio play and eventually being re-released as an EP with
five of the original mixtape songs.
Since then, it seems that Drake hasn’t sat down at all. While much of
his success was achieved before he was even signed to his mentor, Lil
Wayne’s Young Money label in 2009, the partnership with the label did
propel his career to brand new heights. There was one point where the
radio stations were so saturated with Drake’s work that many would
refer to the radio as “Drake Radio” in general. Some might even say
that is still the case. Since the point of being signed back in 2009,
Drake has seen the sweet success of twelve number one singles, more so
than any other artist on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs Chart. With ten
number one singles on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, he bumped one
of his musical mentors, Jay-Z along the line and has continued to
thrive as an artist, producer and songwriter and even an actor. He
showed the world exactly what he was made of, wowing many during his
debut as both the host and the musical guest for the hit NBC show
Saturday Night Live in January of 2014. His dead on execution in the
live skits, including comedic timing and his musical performances
gained him much acclaim and respect as a multi-faceted artist.
Drake has been featured on songs with hot mainstream artists like
Nicki Minaj, Jay Z, Kanye West, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and Rhianna, to
name just a handful. Says Drake: “The music that I make is bigger than
the box that people try to put us all in in as rappers.” – MTV News
(2012) Drake has proven those words time and again with his
unconventional style of rapping/singing and deriving a lot of
inspiration from his mother for his music, whom he lovingly refers to
as his “only”. Sorry, Serena.
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