ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Drake
ALBUM: More Life
RELEASE DATE: March 18, 2017
Aubrey Drake Graham or as he’s better known as Drake is a Canadian rapper and songwriter who was born in Toronto, Ontario on October 24, 1986 (30). He came into recognition as an actor on the teen drama television show Degrassi: The Next Generation. In 2007, he departed the series to pursue his career as a rapper and released his very first mixtape entitled “Room for Improvement”. However, he is mostly known for his more successful albums such as “Take Care”, “Nothing Was the Same” and “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”.
Drake lived in Toronto with his mother and father before they divorced when he was five-years-old. After the divorce, he was raised Jewish and attended a Jewish school, and even had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. His career first focused mainly on acting for a few years as he was a main character named Jimmy on Degrassi: The Next Generation for 145 episodes. After graduating from Forest Hill Collegiate Institute and being inspired by Jay-Z and Clipse, he self released his first debut mixtape “Room for Improvement” which featured Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco. However, his second album “Comeback Season” put him out there more because of the song featuring Trey Songz entitled “Replacement Girl”.
Drake became the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have a video featured on BET. The song and video was good enough to be featured a week after it was produced. On the other hand, he is also known for making many collaborations with Lil Wayne and receiving awards for his widely listened to albums. After releasing three collaborations, he was then signed on to Young Money Entertainment. His third album is one that people still listen to today entitled “So Far Gone” which was released in 2009. It heavily featured Lil Wayne, Bun B, Lloyd and Omarion. This album received the Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards and debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200.
Drake was on a winning streak with releasing albums that would be on the Top 10 in the Billboard 200. “Take Care”, “Thank Me Later”, “Nothing was the Same” and “Views” are albums that are still bought and listened to repeatedly today. Although, with the releases of “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” and “More Life”, people noticed a change with Drake’s flow. He has won Grammys for these albums and for singles like ‘Hotline Bling’ and ‘Work’. However, his fans weren’t going anywhere. Drake’s fan base is too large to suddenly decrease because of a sudden change in his rhythmic tone. Other than being one of the most successful rappers today, Drake still stars in short comedies and owns a clothing line called ‘OVO’ (October’s Very Own).
Drake still resides in Toronto while getting ready for a tour in the Netherlands.