By: Julia Swee
These days, Drake is a huge name among the common youth. More than the youth, but young adults as well. The 35-year-old rapper and actor grew up in Toronto, Canada with biracial parents; his father, Dennis Graham, is a Catholic African American, and his mother, Sandra, is white and Ashkenazi Jewish Canadian. Drake grew up listening to all different types of music, and this led him to become accustomed to many different genres.
“We have a very deep musical background. My grandmother, who passed away in Memphis, used to babysit Louis Armstrong. And my dad was a drummer for Jerry Lee Lewis,” Drake told Hip Hop Canada in 2006. Drake took his stage name from his middle name, which his father Dennis had given him. Drake’s full name is Aubrey Drake Graham.
In 2001, Drake got his big break when he landed a role at 14 in the famous Canadian teenage drama ‘Degrassi’. This gave Drake a head start in his career, as his influence rose with his role as Jimmy Brooks in the show.
“17, 18, is when I was really getting into that hip hop phase, you know, and really studying the things that I needed to study as far as learning about flows and learning about lyrics,” Drake told GQ in an interview about his life. He told the interviewer that he was a natural, and he soon became more interested in music than his acting. During the fourth episode in the seventh season of the show, Drake’s skills are featured as he freestyles during a school talent show. This allowed viewers to take an interest in Drake’s musical career, as he was immediately deemed a very talented musician.
In 2008, Drake quit his acting career to pursue his music full time. At the time, Drake had already released his debut album, ‘Room for Improvement’ in 2006 and his second album ‘Comeback Season’ in 2007. On February 13th, Drake released his third album, ‘So Far Gone’, which dramatically improved his career. The album’s most successful track, “Best I Ever Had” had gone on to be nominated for two Grammy awards – best rap solo performance and best rap song. This release had shown the country Drake’s best talents, and with it came the increase in his musical fame. Drake would go on to collaborate with many other famous artists such as Lil’ Wayne, Kanye West, Eminem, and was even featured in the LeBron James documentary in 2009.
Drake’s most recent release, ‘Certified Lover Boy’, on September 3rd of 2021, showed the world that Drake still had it, as the album instantly topped charts with its release. To this day, Drake boasts the most top 10 hits, with 54 hit songs. Over the years, Drake has made many many influential pieces of music, and will forever remain in history as one of the greatest rappers of all time.
Personally, I have listened to every single one of Drake’s albums. Each and every song he continues to amaze me with his lyrical genius and his ability to incorporate so many different types of music within each album. No matter if it’s a rainy day, a sunny afternoon, or even snowing, I can always count on Drake to bless my ears with his tunes.
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