The most successful rapper in hip-hop history, Drake began his career by releasing mixtapes. In just a few years, an undistinguished Canadian guy became a rap idol, accumulated a collection of prestigious awards, and joined the top of the most prominent musicians in the world.
Childhood
The artist’s full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, he was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto in the family of Dennis Graham, an African American, and Sandra Sher, a Jew. At one time, Dennis was a well-known musician and cooperated with the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis, but traded his musical career for drugs. After the first term for the distribution of drugs, he promised his wife to quit, but he did not keep his word.
Sandra did not want to wait for her husband to deign to settle down and divorced him. From persistent experiences, she started to progress with rheumatoid arthritis, which she ached from her youth. Together with her five-year-old son, Sandra moved to the outskirts of Toronto, and Dennis again ended up in jail.
The woman was encouraged to raise her son by her brother, who maintained a small business for the production of custom-made furniture. Suffering from joint disorders, she quit working and dedicated all her time to parenting her son. Aubrey attended a Jewish school and studied music and literature.
Having learned about the next release of her ex-husband, Sandra did not interfere with his communication with her son. Aubrey was a sensible guy, and she was not afraid that Dennis would have a bad influence on him.
Career start
Sandra made sure that her son devoted every minute of his time to study and creativity. After school, Aubrey attended a theater club and went in for sports, tap dance, ballet, and music.
His friend’s father was a casting agent, it was thanks to him that fifteen-year-old Aubrey got a significant role in the popular youth project “Degrassi”. Filming in the series and the first popularity prevented Aubrey, who even then began to call himself Drake, to study at a prestigious college, and he left school with a light heart and much to his mother’s displeasure.
In the line, Drake performed for several seasons, and when filming finished, he already understood that he did not desire to be an actor. In addition, Sandra felt worse and worse, Drake had to take care of his mother, and the money he received for participating in “Degrassi” was not enough for this.
Call of Blood
According to Drake, music is in his blood, because his father played with Jerry Lee himself, and his grandmother nursed the future soul queen Aretha Franklin. By the beginning of 2006, the young man was seriously interested in music and finally settled down. Dennis advised him to dilute the recitative with singing. Subsequently, this will become Drake’s trademark and he will be grateful to his father for the advice.
Following two mixtapes that instantly grew popular, in 2009 Drake delivered a mini “So Far Gone” under October’s Very Own label. The disc includes seven tracks that reliably drove the name of Drake into the heads of even those who were far from rap music.
REP-KRONER No. 1
The combination of reading and singing polished with vocals with Dionne Osborne, as well as a sense of style and ability to express what he feels, made Drake a star before his debut album came out. The mini “So Far Gone” went gold and was named the best rap album of 2010. In all subsequent albums, Drake faced the same fate.
The first full-length album “Thank Me Later”, released in the summer of 2010, confirmed the birth of a new star. The album includes 14 tracks, including the gentle “The Resistance”, the melancholic “Fancy” and, of course, “Find You Love”, in which Drake uniquely weaves vocals with a leisurely beat.
Next came to Take Care, and the hip-hop crowd, which, contrary to speculation, is a very conservative subculture, was forced to accept new rules of the game.
The third disc “Nothing Was the Same” unconditionally became the best album of 2013 and amazed listeners with its emotional strength, the revelation of a man who does not even try to seem brutal, as is customary in hip-hop culture. Drake is amazingly sincere here. He can afford to seem weak and vulnerable. The record was designed with the cooperation of old friends Drake Noah “40” Shebiba and Dionne Osborne.
In “Views”, which came out a little over two years later, and followed by “More Life”, Drake sings about love again, and in such a way that everyone wants to sing along. More Life featured Kanye West and Sampha.
Drake’s commercial success breaks all records, and fans fight to the death, arguing which of his compositions is better. Luxurious video clips occupy first place in all kinds of charts and charts. In just a few years, the guy from Toronto managed to create a unique style and become one of the most influential musicians in the world.
