Drake,
the world's only black Jewish-Canadian rap star, was born Aubrey Drake
Graham on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Canada. Drake grew up with music
in his blood. His father, Dennis Graham, was a drummer for legendary
rock star Jerry Lee Lewis, and Drake says that his mother, Sandi Graham,
also hails from a "very musical" family. Drake comes from an eclectic
and unique racial and religious background. His father is an
African-American Catholic and his mother is a white Canadian Jew.
Speaking about his personal identity, Drake says, "At the end of the
day, I consider myself a black man because I'm more immersed in black
culture than any other. Being Jewish is kind of a cool twist. It makes
me unique."
Drake's parents divorced when he was 5 years old, and
he was raised by his mother in Forest Hill, an affluent and
predominantly Jewish Toronto neighborhood. He had a Bar Mitzvah at age
13 and observed the Jewish High Holy Days with his mother. "My mom has
always made Hanukkah fun," Drake recalls. "When I was younger, she gave
cool gifts and she'd make latkes." Despite his Jewish upbringing, Drake
says he felt isolated at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, his virtually
all-white high school. Drake remembers, "Nobody understood what it was
like to be black and Jewish." However, he also adds, "being different
from everyone else just made me a lot stronger."
It
was one of Drake's classmates at Forest Hill who gave him his start in
the entertainment industry. "There was a kid in my class whose father
was an agent," Drake would later explain, adding, "His dad would say,
'If there's anyone in the class that makes you laugh, have them
audition for me.' After the audition he became my agent."
Shortly afterward, in 2001, Drake landed a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation.
The show follows the dramatic lives of a group of teenagers at
Degrassi High School, and Drake played the part of Jimmy Brooks,
sometimes dubbed "Wheelchair Jimmy," a basketball star who becomes
permanently wheelchair bound when he is shot by a classmate.
Drake starred on Degrassi
for seven years (2001-09), earning a 2002 Young Artist Award for best
ensemble in a TV series, among other honors. The show quickly developed a
devoted cult following—"There are very few subtle Degrassi
fans," Drake has said—propelling Drake to celebrity status in Canada,
even while he remained relatively anonymous in the United States.
While still staring on Degrassi, Drake began attempting his transition into the world of hip-hop. He released his first mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006, achieving modest sales around approximately 6,000 copies. He followed that with the 2007 release of another mixtape, Comeback Season. Comeback Season
included Drake's first hit single and music video, "Replacement Girl,"
which was featured as the New Joint of the Day on BET's popular hip-hop
television show 106 & Park.
In 2008, the producers of Degrassi
overhauled the cast, eliminating Drake's character. Without his steady
source of income, and not yet making significant money as a rapper,
Drake was on the verge of looking for a day job. "I was coming to terms
with the fact that ... I might have to work at a restaurant or
something just to keep things going," he remembers. But early in 2008,
Drake received an unexpected call from rap star Lil Wayne, who asked
Drake to board a flight to Houston that night to join his tour.
Since
that phone call, Drake has enjoyed a rapid ascent to the top of the
music world. After touring and recording with Lil Wayne, Drake released
his third mixtape, So Far Gone, in February 2009. It featured
the infectiously catchy single "Best I Ever Had," which peaked at No. 2
on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. Since then, Drake's barrage of
catchy, R&B-infused hip-hop songs have dominated radio airwaves.
His most popular singles at this time included "Every Girl," "Forever"
and "Money to Blow."
By mid-2009, Drake had inked a record deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment.
On June 15, 2010, Drake released his first full studio album, Thank Me Later, which debuted at No. 1 on both American and Canadian album charts and has since been certified platinum. Drake's new persona as the cocksure prince of hip-hop ("Last name ever, first name greatest," he brags on one track) seems to clash with his middle-class Jewish upbringing and former career as a teenage soap-opera star.
Nevertheless, Drake attempts to fuse these seemingly incongruous stages of his life into one persona. On the December 2009 cover of Vibe magazine, Drake sports a diamond-crusted Chai, a hip-hop style shout out to his Jewish roots. And in his song "The Presentation," he raps, "Who's Drake? Where's Wheelchair Jimmy at?"
In November 2011, Drake released his second studio album, Take Care, which included songs like "Headlines," "Make Me Proud," "The Motto" and "Take Care." The album met with wide acclaim, winning the 2013 Grammy Award for best rap album, among several other honor
Despite his big successes on the music charts, Drake has hit a few rough patches in his personal life. In recent years, he and fellow entertainer Chris Brown have become rivals over singer Rihanna. The pair's bitter feud erupted in violence during the summer of 2012 at a New York nightclub. Several people were injured as a result of Drake and Brown's fight.
While no one has been criminally charged for the incident, both Drake and Brown have found themselves facing legal consequences for their actions. Professional basketball player Tony Parker, a male model and two women—all hurt in the brawl—are among those who have filed suit against the performers. In addition, Drake and Brown began legal proceedings against each other in court in early 2013 over who is responsible for starting the grisly clash.
Around this time, Drake settled another legal matter out of court. He reached an agreement with former girlfriend Ericka Lee over her contributions to the song "Marvin's Room." Lee had sued Drake in 2012 seeking credit for co-writing the track.
Personal obstacles never seem to sidetrack Drake for long. He released a new single, "Started from the Bottom," in early 2013. The song, from his critically-acclaimed 2013 album Nothing was the Same, reflects his personal struggle for fame and success. "I just wanted to make it known that I did work really hard to get here and it wasn't just a fluke and it wasn't easy by any means," he explained to MTV News.
As his rap career moves forward, Drake hopes that his unconventional rise to hip-hop fame will continue to prove an asset, not a hindrance. "This whole thing is unusual at this point," he says, "so we're just rolling with the fairytale vibe."
