Drake

Drake

Aubrey Drake Graham[4] (/ɔːˈbriː/ aw-BREE; born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, actor and businessman[5] An influential figure in contemporary popular music, Drake has been credited for popularizing singing and R&B sensibilities in hip hop. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), he pursued a career in music releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in 2006. He followed this with the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment.[6]

Drake's first three albums, Thank Me Later (2010), Take Care (2011) and Nothing Was the Same (2013), were all critical successes and propelled him to the forefront of hip hop.[7] His fourth album, Views (2016), saw exploration of dancehall and stood atop the Billboard 200 for 13 non-consecutive weeks, making it the first album by a male artist to do so in over a decade, and featured the international hit singles "Hotline Bling" and "One Dance", which has been credited with popularizing Afrobeats worldwide.[8][9] In 2018, Drake released the double album Scorpion, which contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Known for frequent accompanying releases to his albums, Drake achieved critical and commercial success with the mixtapes If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015) and More Life (2017).

As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, Drake became the "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining their executive committee and later obtaining naming rights to their practice facility. In 2016, he began collaborating with Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black.[12] Drake heads the OVO fashion label and the Nocta collaboration with Nike, and founded the production company DreamCrew and the fragrance house Better World. In 2018, Drake was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income.