Drake (musician)

Drake
Drake performing in concert in July 2016
Born	Aubrey Drake Graham (1986-10-24) October 24, 1986 (age 38) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Other names	Champagne Papi[1] Drizzy[2] 6 God[3]
Citizenship	Canada United States
Occupations	Rapper singer songwriter entrepreneur actor
Years active	2001–present
Children	1
Relatives	Larry Graham (uncle) Teenie Hodges (uncle)
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Hip hop pop rap R&B pop trap
Labels	OVO Sound Republic Young Money Cash Money
Website	Official website

Aubrey Drake Graham^[4] (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor.^[5] who has sold over five million album copies. He was born in Toronto, Ontario. He was the character Jimmy Brooks for eight seasons on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2008). He is of Jewish and Black/Afro-American descent. His mother is white and his father is black.

Drake has worked with a lot of other musicians. Drake collaborated with Rihanna on the number-one singles "What's My Name?" (2010) and "Work" (2016). He also rapped on "Moment 4 Life" (2011) by Nicki Minaj. "Moment 4 Life" was nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award in the category Best Rap Performance.^[6] His third album Take Care won the award for Best Rap Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards.^[7]

In 2012, Drake along with his producer 40 and manager Oliver El-Khatib started the OVO Sound record label.^[8]

On September 30, 2013, he was named as the "global ambassador" for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[9] On March 14, 2019, the Raptors renamed their practice facility to the OVO Athletic Centre after Drake's brand.^[10]

In 2016, he released Views, an album that was only on iTunes at first. His single "One Dance" became his first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 as a main artist.

Drake went on the 54-show Summer Sixteen Tour alongside American rapper Future to promote Views, Future's fourth studio album Evol, and the two's collaborative mixtape What a Time to Be Alive. The tour earned $84.3 million which made it the highest grossing hip-hop tour of all time.^[11]

On March 18, 2017, Drake released More Life, which he referred to as a "playlist" instead of an album. The singles "Fake Love" and "Passionfruit" reached the top ten in countries worldwide.

In 2018, Drake worked with Travis Scott and published "Sicko Mode". It was nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.

Drake's single, "God's Plan", from the EP Scary Hours, entered at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. After 11 weeks at number one, the single "Nice for What" also entered at number one, making Drake the first artist to have a number-one entry replace another number-one entry at the top of the chart. "Nice for What" became Drake's fifth American chart-topper. Drake released the single "I'm Upset" in May 2018 and announced he would release his next album, Scorpion, in June.^[12] Despite rumors, particularly a beef with rapper Pusha T, Drake revealed in the album that he has a child, a son named Adonis, with French artist Sophie Brussaux.^[13]

On April 2, 2020, Drake released the single "Toosie Slide", based on the dance of the same name that had been posted to social media app TikTok.^[14] It became his third number-one entrance on the Billboard Hot 100, tying him with Mariah Carey as having the most songs enter at the top. It became his seventh US number-one single overall.

On October 31, 2023, Drake released the song "First Person Shooter" which also featured J. Cole. The song debuted number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. This gave Drake his thirteenth number-one single and Cole's first number-one. By earning number one, Drake tied the record with Michael Jackson for most number-one singles by a male solo artist.^[15] The song also started a feud with rapper Kendrick Lamar after Cole rapped about Drake, Cole and Lamar being the "Big 3" of hip hop.^[16]

On August 2, 2024, Drake made an unannounced appearance at PartyNextDoor's concert. He performed and then said that Party and he were working on an album together.^[17]

1. ↑ "11 Times Drake Channeled His 'Champagne Papi' Alter-Ego: From 'The Motto' to 'Mia'". Billboard.
2. ↑ "The Drake Look Book". GQ. October 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
3. ↑ FNR Tigg (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. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Drake – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic.
5. ↑ Caramanca, Jon (November 16, 2011). "Drake Pushes Rap Toward the Gothic". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
6. ↑ "Grammys 2012: Rap and hip-hop nominees/winners". CBC Music. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
7. ↑ "Grammys 2013: Drake's 'Take Care' wins in rap album category". Los Angeles Times. February 10, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
8. ↑ "Drake's OVO Sound Label Teams Up With City of Toronto to Create Music Committee". TheDrop. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
9. ↑ "From rapper to Raptor, Drake takes on new role". NBA. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
10. ↑ "Raptors and OVO Elevate Partnership with OVO Athletic Centre Naming Rights Deal". Toronto Raptors. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
11. ↑ "Drake and Future Break Highest-Grossing Record With Summer Sixteen Tour". XXL. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
12. ↑ "Drake Releases New Single 'I'm Upset'". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
13. ↑ "Who Is Sophie Brussaux? What to Know About the Mother of Drake's Son Adonis". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
14. ↑ Holmes, Charles; Holmes, Charles (April 3, 2020). "Before Drake Released 'Toosie Slide,' He Turned to a Few Dancers for Help". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
15. ↑ "Drake Gets No. 1 Album and Single, Tying Michael Jackson for Billboard Hot 100 Record". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
16. ↑ "Kendrick Lamar Disses Drake and J. Cole on Future and Metro Boomin's New Song 'Like That'". Variety. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
17. ↑ "Drake Announces New Album With PartyNextDoor, Live-Debuts 'Wah Gwan Delilah' in Toronto". Billboard. Retrieved September 26, 2024.