Drake

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Aubrey Drake Graham, known professionally as Drake, is a Canadian rapper, singer, and actor born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. He is credited with popularizing R&B sensibilities in hip-hop through rap-singing, and is widely considered one of the best-selling and most influential musicians of the 21st century. Drake has sold over 170 million records worldwide and is ranked by the RIAA as the top-selling digital artist of all time in the United States.

Drake has released eight studio albums between 2010 and 2023, all of which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, along with two collaborative albums — Her Loss with 21 Savage (2022) and Some Sexy Songs 4 U with PartyNextDoor (2025). He holds the record for most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 as a solo artist. In 2026, Drake’s ninth studio album Iceman is in full rollout, following a year-long cinematic campaign and a string of pre-release singles.

Beyond music, Drake co-founded OVO Sound in 2012 with longtime collaborator and producer Noah “40” Shebib. He is global ambassador to the Toronto Raptors, founder of the OVO fashion label, co-founder of production company DreamCrew (Euphoria, Top Boy), and partner on Nike’s Nocta line.

QUICK FACTS

EARLY LIFE AND DEGRASSI

Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, to Dennis Graham, a drummer from Memphis who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis, and Sandra “Sandi” Graham, a Canadian English and French teacher. His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised primarily by his mother in Toronto. During summers, he visited his father in Memphis, where exposure to his father’s musical world shaped his early interest in music.

Drake attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute before transferring to Vaughan Road Academy, a program designed for students with commitments outside school. It was during his teens — at age 15 — that he auditioned for and was cast as basketball player Jimmy Brooks in the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. The role, which ran from 2001 to 2008, would become his first public identity.

On Degrassi, Drake’s character was shot by a classmate and paralyzed from the waist down, a storyline that earned him significant on-screen material over the course of seven seasons and 100 episodes. Drake later said the income from acting helped support his family — his mother was ill at the time. He often recorded music at night and slept in dressing rooms on set. In 2008, producers wrote out his character to make way for a new cast, and Drake focused fully on music.

MIXTAPE ERA: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT TO SO FAR GONE (2006–2009)

Drake released his first mixtape, Room for Improvement, in February 2006. He sold approximately 6,000 copies and earned around $304 in royalties. His first-ever concert came in August 2006, opening for Ice Cube at Toronto’s Kool Haus venue for half an hour — he was paid $100.

In 2007, Drake released his second mixtape, Comeback Season, through his newly established October’s Very Own imprint. The tape’s single “Replacement Girl” featuring Trey Songz became the first music video by an unsigned Canadian rapper to be featured on BET, airing as the network’s “New Joint of the Day” in April 2007. The song sampled “Man of the Year” by Brisco, Flo Rida, and Lil Wayne, retaining Lil Wayne’s verse — which would prove pivotal.

Jas Prince, son of Rap-A-Lot Records founder J. Prince, brought Drake’s music to Lil Wayne, who invited Drake to Houston to join his Tha Carter III tour. Drake and Wayne recorded together throughout the tour, laying the groundwork for Drake’s signing to Young Money Entertainment in June 2009.

Before officially signing, Drake released his third and most impactful mixtape, So Far Gone, in February 2009. Produced primarily by Drake and 40, the mixtape introduced the introspective, rap-sung style that would define his career. Its breakthrough single “Best I Ever Had” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Successful” with Trey Songz earned significant radio airplay. So Far Gone was repackaged as a 2009 EP and certified platinum.

YOUNG MONEY ERA: THANK ME LATER TO NOTHING WAS THE SAME (2010–2013)

Drake’s debut studio album, Thank Me Later, was released on June 15, 2010, through Young Money, Cash Money, and Republic Records. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 447,000 first-week units — the biggest debut album sales week of the 2010s at the time. Featuring Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay-Z, the album produced hits including “Over,” “Find Your Love,” “Miss Me,” and “Fancy.”

His sophomore album, Take Care, arrived on November 15, 2011. Co-executive produced by 40, it marked a major creative leap — a cohesive, emotionally layered work that blended hip-hop with R&B, downtempo, and electronic textures. Take Care debuted at No. 1 with 631,000 first-week units and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 55th Grammy Awards. Singles included “Headlines,” “The Motto” (which popularized the phrase “YOLO”), and the title track featuring Rihanna.

Nothing Was the Same followed on September 24, 2013, debuting at No. 1 with 658,000 first-week units. The album leaned moodier and sharper than Take Care, with standout singles “Started From the Bottom” and “Hold On, We’re Going Home.” By this point, Drake had cemented himself as the defining voice of a new generation in hip-hop.

OVO ERA: VIEWS, MORE LIFE, SCORPION (2014–2018)

In 2015, Drake released the commercial mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late in February, followed by What a Time to Be Alive, a joint mixtape with Future, in September. Both debuted at No. 1. In April 2016, he released his fourth studio album, Views, which dominated the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks — one of the longest runs in modern chart history.

Views produced the global hit “One Dance,” Drake’s first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist. The track topped charts in 15 countries and became Spotify’s most-streamed song at the time, eventually surpassing two billion plays on the platform. Other singles — “Hotline Bling,” “Controlla,” and “Too Good” — made Views one of 2016’s defining commercial releases.

In March 2017, Drake released the playlist project More Life, which debuted at No. 1 and produced hits “Passionfruit,” “Fake Love,” and “Portland.” His fifth studio album Scorpion followed in June 2018. A 25-track double album, Scorpion debuted at No. 1 with 732,000 first-week units and became the first album to be streamed over one billion times in its opening week. It produced three No. 1 Hot 100 singles — “God’s Plan,” “Nice for What,” and “In My Feelings” — cementing Drake’s status as the most commercially dominant figure in hip-hop.

PANDEMIC ERA: DARK LANE DEMO TAPES TO CERTIFIED LOVER BOY (2020–2021)

In May 2020, Drake released the commercial mixtape Dark Lane Demo Tapes, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 — his first project since 2009’s So Far Gone to not debut at No. 1. The mixtape featured “Toosie Slide,” which became his seventh No. 1 Hot 100 single, accompanied by a viral dance challenge that defined the pandemic era.

In March 2021, he released the EP Scary Hours 2, which included “What’s Next” — his eighth Hot 100 No. 1. His sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy, arrived on September 3, 2021, debuting at No. 1 with 613,000 first-week units. The album set the then-record for most U.S. top-10 songs from a single album (9) and produced the No. 1 single “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug.

HONESTLY NEVERMIND, HER LOSS, FOR ALL THE DOGS (2022–2023)

Drake’s seventh studio album, Honestly, Nevermind, arrived on June 17, 2022, with no rollout or advance notice — a surprise release that pivoted heavily toward house and dance production. The album polarized fans on release but its closing track “Jimmy Cooks” featuring 21 Savage became his eleventh No. 1 Hot 100 single.

In November 2022, he returned with Her Loss, a collaborative studio album with 21 Savage. Released on November 4, Her Loss debuted at No. 1 with 404,000 first-week units, making Drake the first artist in history to achieve 10 chart-topping albums on the Billboard 200. Singles included “Rich Flex” (#2 Hot 100) and “Major Distribution.”

His eighth solo studio album, For All the Dogs, followed on October 6, 2023, debuting at No. 1 with 402,000 first-week units — the highest-selling rap album of 2023. Singles “Slime You Out” featuring SZA and “First Person Shooter” featuring J. Cole both debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100. “First Person Shooter” tied Drake with Michael Jackson for the most No. 1 singles by a solo male artist at the time.

THE KENDRICK LAMAR FEUD AND 2024

The most consequential event of Drake’s recent career was his 2024 feud with Kendrick Lamar. Triggered by Lamar’s verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s March 2024 single “Like That” — which took aim at Drake and J. Cole — the feud escalated across a series of diss tracks from both artists.

Drake fired back with “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle” in April 2024. Kendrick responded with “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA.” The exchange reached its peak with Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” in May 2024 — a diss track that became a cultural moment, debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100, winning Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2025 Grammy Awards, and dominating radio and social media for months.

In January 2025, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit against his own label, Universal Music Group, alleging that UMG’s promotion of “Not Like Us” undermined his safety and well-being. A judge later dismissed the case on the grounds that the song’s lyrics could be reasonably interpreted as opinion rather than factual claim. The feud and its aftermath dominated hip-hop discourse throughout 2024 and 2025.

SOME SEXY SONGS 4 U AND THE ICEMAN ROLLOUT (2025–2026)

On February 14, 2025, Drake released Some Sexy Songs 4 U, a collaborative album with longtime friend and fellow OVO artist PartyNextDoor. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was supported by the $ome $pecial $hows 4 U European tour — a co-headlining run that included Drake’s three-night residency at London’s Wireless Festival in July 2025.

Drake began teasing his ninth solo studio album, Iceman, in early 2025. The rollout officially began over Fourth of July weekend 2025 with “ICEMAN Episode 1,” a livestream event featuring Drake driving a branded ice truck through Toronto before premiering the lead single “What Did I Miss?” The track referenced Kendrick Lamar’s Pop Out event and was widely interpreted as commentary on the previous year’s feud.

Throughout 2025, the Iceman rollout continued with “ICEMAN Episode 2” in July 2025, which premiered “Which One” featuring Central Cee. “ICEMAN Episode 3” in September 2025 premiered “Dog House” featuring Yeat and Julia Wolf. In December 2025, Drake released the OVO x Marvel capsule, a Marvel Comics collaboration with designs featuring Venom, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and Doctor Doom.

The Iceman era drew heavily on cold-themed symbolism — NBA legend George Gervin, UFC fighter Chuck Liddell, and Marvel’s Iceman character all nicknamed with the same “Iceman” moniker. In early 2026, Drake released additional promotional material including a diamond-encrusted ICEMAN chain designed by Eric the Jeweler. As of April 2026, Iceman remains unreleased but confirmed as imminent, with Drake publicly confirming its arrival via Instagram.

DISCOGRAPHY

Studio Albums & Major Projects

Mixtapes & Collaborative Projects

Room for Improvement (2006) • Comeback Season (2007) • So Far Gone (2009) • If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2015) • What a Time to Be Alive with Future (2015) • Views From the 6 era mixtape material • More Life playlist (2017) • Care Package compilation (2019) • Dark Lane Demo Tapes (2020) • Her Loss with 21 Savage (2022) • Some Sexy Songs 4 U with PartyNextDoor (2025)

KEY COLLABORATIONS AND SINGLES

TOURS AND LIVE PERFORMANCES

Drake’s touring history includes some of the highest-grossing hip-hop tours in history. The Summer Sixteen Tour (2016), co-headlined with Future, grossed $84.3 million across 56 dates — at the time, the highest-grossing hip-hop tour of all time according to Pollstar. The It’s All a Blur Tour (2023) with 21 Savage and the $ome $pecial $hows 4 U tour (2025) with PartyNextDoor continued his dominance as a live performer.

A full Iceman world tour is widely expected to follow the album’s release, with speculation pointing to late 2026 or 2027.

OVO SOUND AND BUSINESS VENTURES

Drake co-founded October’s Very Own (OVO) in 2012 with Noah “40” Shebib. The label’s roster includes PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Roy Woods, and others. OVO has evolved into a full creative enterprise — a record label, a fashion line with partnerships including Nike (the Nocta line) and Canada Goose, and a broader cultural brand with flagship retail stores in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, and London.

In 2013, Drake was named global ambassador of the Toronto Raptors. He later secured naming rights to the team’s practice facility, now known as OVO Athletic Centre. In 2017, Drake and Future Adel “Future” Nur co-founded DreamCrew, a production company responsible for HBO series including Euphoria and Top Boy. In 2021, Drake partnered with Live Nation to open History, a live entertainment venue in Toronto.

SOUND AND ARTISTIC IDENTITY

Drake’s sound is defined by the fusion of rap and R&B — a combination he is widely credited with popularizing at scale. His vocal approach blends melodic singing with confessional, conversational rap, typically delivered over atmospheric production from longtime collaborator 40 and a rotating cast of producers including Boi-1da, T-Minus, and Mike Zombie.

His lyrical preoccupations include fame, relationships, hometown loyalty to Toronto, loneliness at the top, and the rituals of wealth. Critics have often described his style as introspective and emotionally accessible, particularly compared to the bravado-heavy norms of hip-hop when he emerged. Drake’s willingness to sing — and sing vulnerably — helped reshape what was sonically possible in mainstream rap.

Across eight studio albums, Drake has moved between trap, dancehall, afrobeats, house, and drill, often absorbing the dominant sonic trend of a given moment and amplifying it to global scale. His ability to adapt to new production styles while maintaining his signature vocal identity has been central to his longevity.

CULTURAL IMPACT

Drake is ranked by the RIAA as the top-selling digital artist of all time in the United States, with over 251 million in certified digital singles. He holds the record for most Billboard 200 No. 1 albums by a solo male artist and has the most No. 1 singles on the Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts (30 each).

Beyond music, Drake’s cultural footprint extends into sports, fashion, and entertainment. His association with the Toronto Raptors — including his role in the team’s 2019 NBA Championship run — made him a defining figure in North American sports celebrity. The phenomenon known as the “Drake Curse,” in which teams and athletes he publicly supports tend to lose, has become a running cultural joke. OVO’s fashion releases routinely sell out, and the brand’s collaborations with Nike, Canada Goose, and the NBA have established him as one of music’s most effective cross-category operators.

WHAT’S NEXT

As of April 2026, Iceman remains Drake’s most anticipated forthcoming project. The album is confirmed as imminent, with a full world tour expected to follow. Beyond Iceman, Drake’s continued involvement in OVO Sound, DreamCrew, Nocta, and the Toronto Raptors ensures his cultural footprint extends well beyond any single album cycle. His position in hip-hop — both commercially and historically — remains one of the genre’s most documented and debated narratives.