 
Drake (born Aubrey Drake Graham on October 24, 1986)
hails from Toronto, Canada. Before becoming an
up-and-coming rap star, Drake was an actor. Drake
joined the cast of Degrassi:
The Next Generation (a Canadian teen TV show) when he was
13 playing 'Jimmy Brooks' until 2009. In 2007, Drake
appeared in the film Charlie
Bartlett.
Before finishing up his acting role, Drake began
releasing mixtapes (Room For Improvement and
Comeback Season) through his MySpace page.
Drake's music eventually made it Lil Wayne which resulted in Drake
touring with the rap superstar. In 2009, Drake
started his journey toward solo hip hop stardom with
a few hits and multiple appearances on other artist's
tracks - all in preparation for his much-anticipated
debut LP. Drake's upbringing was hardly the story
often associated with rap stars. Drake was born to an
African-American father with many music associations,
and a white, Jewish, Canadian mother. He was raised
by his mom in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood
after his parents split when he was very young.
Drake's acceptance of his musical fate came when:
“My dad was in jail for two years and he shared
a cell with this dude who didn’t really have
anyone to speak to. So, he used to share his phone
time with this dude and at the time I was probably 16
or 17, this dude was like 20 or 22, and he would
always rap to me over the phone—it was Poverty,
that was his rap name. I started to get into it and I
started to write my own s*** down. He would call me
and we would just rap to each other. And after my dad
got out I kept in touch with the dude and eventually
I accepted the fact that I wanted to be in
music.”
Drake could be heard on the Page LP Page on the track "I'm Still
Fly," the Colin Munroe LP Colin
Munroe Is The Unsung Hero on the track
"Cannon Ball," and the mixtape
Dedication 3 on the track
"Stuntin'."
Drake could be heard on the Jamie Foxx LP
Intuition on the track
"Digital Girl (Remix)" (available for
download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
 # 37
Singles Artist of the Year
Drake released the mixtape So
Far Gone
and this time the tracks got noticed by radio.
Drake signed with Young Money Entertainment (founded
by Lil Wayne) after a major bidding war.
Drake began touring as part of the 'America's Most
Wanted' tour with Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy,
Soulja Boy, Jeremih, and
Pleasure P.
Drake hit the Top 40 with "Best I Ever Had" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
Drake hit the Top 10 with "Best I Ever Had."
Drake could be heard on the Trey Songz LP
Ready on the track "I
Invented Sex" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
Drake released the EP So
Far Gone
- a shortened version of the original mixtape with
the addition of a new songon the track "I
Invented Sex" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
Drake topped the Canadian LP chart with So
Far Gone.
Drake could be heard on the Jay-Z LP The
Blueprint 3 on the track "Off
That" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
The video for "Best I Ever Had" was nominated for a MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist.
Drake hit the Top 40 with Kanye West, Eminem, and Lil Wayne with "Forever" from the Music
Inspired By The Film More Than A Game soundtrack (available for
download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
Drake could be heard on the Birdman LP
Priceless on the tracks
"Money To Blow," "Mo Milly," and
"4 My Town (Play Ball)" (available for
download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
Drake could be heard on the Young Money
collaboration LP We
Are Young Money on the tracks "Every Girl,"
"Pass The Dutch," "F*** da
Bulls***," "BedRock," and
"Finale" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3), the Mary J. Blige LP Stronger
With Each Tear on the track "The One"
(available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3), the Alicia Keys LP The
Element Of Freedom on the track "Un-Thinkable (I'm
Ready)" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3), and the Timbaland LP Timbaland
Presents Shock Value 2 on the track "Say Something"
(available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
Drake topped the Billboard 2009 Year-End Chart
Toppers as the Top New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist,
and with the Top Hot Rhythmic Song and Top Rap Song
("Best I Ever Had").
 # 15
Singles Artist of the Year
Drake was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Solo Rap Performance and Best Rap Song (awarded to
songwriter) ("Best I Ever Had").
Drake topped the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart and Top Rap Songs chart helping out Timbaland with "Say Something."
Drake hit the Top 40 helping out Timbaland with "Say Something."
Drake hit the Top 40 with "Over" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
Drake hit the Top 40 with "Find Your Love" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
Drake topped the Billboard Rap Songs chart with
"Over"
Drake released Thank
Me Later.
Drake topped the Canadian LP charts with Thank
Me Later.
So
Far Gone
was certified gold.
Drake topped the Billboard 200 LP chart, Digital
Albums chart, R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and Rap Albums
chart with Thank
Me Later.
The LP sold over 447,000 copies its first week of
release in the US.
Drake hit the Top 10 with "Find Your Love."
Thank
Me Later
was certified platinum.
Drake topped the Billboard Digital Songs chart
helping out Lil Wayne with "Right Above It."
Drake topped hit the Top 40 helping out Lil Wayne with "Right Above It" (available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3).
The video for "Find Your Love" was nominated for a MTV Video Music Award for Best
Male Video.
The video for "Forever" was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video.
Drake could be heard on the Lil Wayne LP I Am
Not A Human Being on the tracks "Gonorrhead,"
"With You," and "Right Above It."
Drake topped the Billboard Rap Songs chart with T.I. and Swizz Beatz
with "Fancy."
Drake topped the Billboard Rap Songs chart helping
out Lil Wayne with
"Right Above It."
Drake hit the Top 40 helping out Rihanna with "What's My Name."
Drake topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Digital
Songs chart helping out Rihanna with "What's My Name."
Drake was nominated for 3 American Music Awards for Favorite
Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist, Breakthrough Artist, and Favorite
Rap/Hip-Hop Album (Thank
Me Later).
Drake could be heard on the Nicki Minaj LP Pink
Friday on
the track "Moment 4 Life."
Drake could be heard on the T.I. LP No
Mercy on
the track "Poppin Bottles."
Drake hit the Top 10 helping out Rihanna with "What's My Name."
Drake's LP Thank
Me Later
was the #8 top selling LP of the year.
 # 15
Singles Artist of the Year
Drake topped the Billboard Radio Songs chart helping
out Rihanna with "What's My Name."
Drake topped the UK singles chart helping out Rihanna with "What's My Name."
Drake topped the Billboard Radio Songs chart helping
out Nicki Minaj with "Moment 4 Life."
Drake was nominated for 4 Grammy Awards including Best New Artist, Best Rap Solo Performance ("Over"), Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group ("Fancy" with T.I. and Swizz
Beatz), and Best Rap Album (Thank
Me Later).
Drake topped the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart helping out Nicki Minaj with "Moment 4 Life."
Drake hit the Top 40 helping out Nicki Minaj with "Moment 4 Life."
Drake hit the Top 40 helping out DJ Khaled,
Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross with
"I'm On One."
Drake topped the BIllboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart and
Rap Songs chart helping out DJ Khaled,
Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross with
"I'm On One."
Drake could be heard on The Game LP The
R.E.D. Album on the track "Good Girls
Go Bad."
The video for "Moment 4 Life" was nominated for a MTV Video Music Award for Best
Collaboration.
Drake could be heard on the Lenny Kravitz LP Black
And White America on the track "Sunflower."
Drake could be heard on the Lil Wayne LP Tha
Carter IV
on the tracks "She Will" and "It's
Good."
Drake topped the Billboard Digital Songs chart
helping out Lil Wayne with
"She Will."
Drake hit the Top 40 with "Headlines."
Drake topped the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart helping out Lil Wayne with
"She Will."
Drake topped the Billboard Rap Songs chart with
"Headlines."
Drake performed on Saturday Night Live.
Drake hit the Top 40 with Nicki Minaj with "Make Me Proud."
Drake released Take
Care.
Drake could be heard on the Mary J. Blige LP My
Life II: The Journey Continues, Act 1 on the track
"Mr. Wrong."
Drake topped the Billboard 200 chart, R&B Hip-Hop
Albums chart, Rap Albums chart, and Digital Albums
chart with Take
Care. The
LP sold over 631,000 copies its first week of release
in the US.
Drake hit the Top 40 with Rihanna with "Take Care."
Drake topped the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart and
Rap Songs chart with Nicki Minaj with
"Make Me Proud."
Drake was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards including Best Rap Performance ("Moment 4 Life") and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("I'm On One" and "What's My Name").
Find Drake
at:
   
| Note: Song title and position
links lead you to the song's Top 40 chart run
(from the ARC Weekly Top 40) and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound samples). |
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