Aubrey Drake Graham, known professionally as Drake, is a Canadian-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur who has become one of the best-selling and most-streamed music artists of all time. With over 75 billion streams on Spotify and more Billboard Hot 100 entries than any artist in history, Drake has dominated popular music for over a decade. His ability to blend hip-hop, R&B, pop, and dancehall into a commercially accessible sound fundamentally changed the landscape of modern rap.
Born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Canada, Drake grew up in a multicultural household. His father, Dennis Graham, is an African-American musician from Memphis, Tennessee, and his mother, Sandi Graham, is a Canadian educator of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Before his music career, Drake gained fame as an actor on the Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, playing the character Jimmy Brooks from 2001 to 2008. He began releasing mixtapes while still on the show.
Drake's third mixtape, So Far Gone (2009), produced the breakthrough hit 'Best I Ever Had' and earned him a deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment. His debut studio album, Thank Me Later (2010), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. He followed with Take Care (2011), Nothing Was the Same (2013), Views (2016), and Scorpion (2018), each achieving multi-platinum status. Views spent 13 non-consecutive weeks at number one and produced the global smash 'One Dance.'
By the mid-2020s, Drake had accumulated more Hot 100 entries than any artist in Billboard history, surpassing the previous records held by the Glee Cast and Elvis Presley. His 2023 album For All the Dogs continued his commercial dominance. However, his career was also marked by a high-profile feud with Kendrick Lamar that escalated in 2024 with a series of diss tracks that dominated cultural conversation.
Drake's business ventures extend well beyond music. He founded the OVO (October's Very Own) brand, which includes a record label, clothing line, and annual OVO Fest in Toronto. He has an ownership stake in the Toronto Raptors-affiliated clothing line and served as the team's global ambassador during their 2019 NBA Championship run. His Toronto mansion, known as 'The Embassy,' has become an iconic cultural landmark.
