Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. He is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor credited with popularizing R&B sensibilities in hip-hop music through rap-singing.
๐ฌ Early Acting and Music Beginnings
Drake first gained recognition as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001โ2008). He began his music career by independently releasing the mixtapes Room for Improvement (2006), Comeback Season (2007), and So Far Gone (2009).
๐ฟ Debut Album and Breakthrough
Drakeโs debut album, Thank Me Later (2010), debuted atop the Billboard 200 and included his breakthrough hit โBest I Ever Hadโ. He followed it with the albums Take Care (2011) and Nothing Was the Same (2013).
๐ Major Chart Records
Drake holds Hot 100 records including the most top 10 singles (81), the most top 40 singles (217), the most charted songs (359), and the most consecutive weeks on the chart (431). He has achieved 14 Billboard 200 number-one albums and 13 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
๐จโ๐ฉโ๐ฆ Family and Early Life
His father, Dennis Graham, is an African-American drummer from Memphis, Tennessee. His mother, Sandra โSandiโ Graham, is a Canadian Ashkenazi Jew who worked as an English teacher and florist. Drakeโs parents divorced when he was five years old.
๐ซ Education and Childhood
Drake was raised in two neighbourhoods: Weston Road in Torontoโs working-class west end and later Forest Hill. He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute and Vaughan Road Academy, and dropped out of school to pursue acting.
๐ญ Degrassi and Early Career
At 15, Drake was introduced to an acting agent and landed the role of Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation. His first recorded song, โDo What You Doโ, appeared on The N Soundtrack.
๐ต Mixtapes and Signing
Drake self-released his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006, selling roughly 6,000 copies. In 2009, he released So Far Gone, which received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours and prompted a bidding war from various labels.
๐ Debut Album Release
Thank Me Later was released on June 15, 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 447,000 copies in its first week. The album became the top selling debut album for any artist in 2010.
| Category | Detail | Category | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth Date | October 24, 1986 | Birth Place | Toronto, Ontario |
| Debut Album | Thank Me Later (2010) | Breakthrough Hit | โBest I Ever Hadโ |
| Record Label | Young Money Entertainment | First TV Role | Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi |
| Number-One Albums | 14 Billboard 200 | Number-One Singles | 13 Billboard Hot 100 |