He began to capture the hearts of young teeny boppers with his role in Degrassi: The Next Generation but now Aubrey “Drake” Graham captivates the souls of all age groups. As a successful actor, rapper, singer and songwriter, he is more than the typical triple threat in this business. The bi-racial Canadian rapper of Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment label is a threat to many. His talents are highly requested on many songs of well-known artists. He became extremely popular and respected from being an actor on a teen show and jumped right into the big leagues without any extra needed help. He grew up adjusting to the difficult lifestyle changes. His parents divorced at a young age and lived in separate cities so he was forced to embark upon a strange life. It is no wonder why his music relates to so many different people. He only speaks on the experiences that he has endured. He remembers attending the top schools and living borderline poverty. Drake had to witness his father being taken to jail on more than one occasion. To help his mother who became sick, he was casted on Degrassi: The Next Generation show. Drake had a friend whose father was an agent and helped him to get a spot on the show. Although it may seem as if he were bringing a large amount of income, he brought just enough to help his family above water. He once said that one season on the show was less than a teacher’s salary.

Drake’s first self-released mixtape in 2006 was “Room for Improvement” and included Lupe Fiasco and Trey Songz. The following year, he came out with his next mixtape, Comeback Season.  The sophomore mixtape contained the smash hit single “Replacement Girl” featuring Trey Songz. The song created a huge buzz and he was named the first Canadian independent rapper to have his video streamed on BET. He named Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Clipse and Anthony Hamilton as his influences in music, little did he know of who would be his biggest influence and mentor to change his life forever. In 2008, Lil Wayne received some of Drake’s music and he immediately flew Drake to Houston to tour with him. They recorded a few songs together but he was still unsigned. Drake then released his next mixtape, So Far Gone for free downloads. The third mixtape received over two thousand downloads in the first two hours of posting it. It wasn’t until 2009 that he was officially a member of Young Money. His first studio album, Thank Me Later, was supposed to be released in 2008, but was postponed to June 2010. The album had singles “Find Your Love,” “Over,” and “Miss Me.” Drake was beginning to become a household name and his prominence landed more collaborations. Drake’s sophomore studio album, Take Care was released November 2011. It contained hits that allowed him to travel all over the world and collabs with artists like The Weeknd and Rihanna. On December 5, 2012, it was announced that his October’s Very Own (OVO) Label landed a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records.

Drake was featured on Aaliyah’s unreleased song “Enough Said” which received a ton a radio airplay in April 2012. He speaks of the late singer Aaliyah in a few songs, naming her on his major influences, Also, he was featured Rick Ross’ “Diced Pineapples” with Wale, Kendrick Lamar’s “Poetic Justice” and A$AP Rocky’s first official single “F**kin’ Problems.” With fame, comes controversy at times but despite alleged and some obvious beefs with Pusha T, Charlamagne Tha God, Ludacris, Chris Brown, Common and Rihanna, he remained focused and continually successful in this mentally strange, at times, industry. To some comedic relief, he was unknowingly in the beginning episode of Ashton Kutcher’s show Punk’d this year.  Hilarity can shed light in some rather tough times but regardless of the tough times Drake endured, he channeled that as his motivation towards phenomenal success. He teaches life lessons so one must have a good ear and listen. Currently working on a third album, don’t sleep on a true artist who’s more than just a typical. -Free InkStains_