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Drake: From TV Actor to the Defining Rap Star of His Era

Aubrey Drake Graham, born October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Canada, is one of the most commercially successful recording artists of the streaming era. Before music, he spent eight seasons playing Jimmy Brooks on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2008). His move from teen television to rap superstardom is one of modern music's most unlikely career arcs.

Mixtapes and the Breakthrough

Drake released his first mixtape, Room for Improvement, in 2006, and signed with Young Money Entertainment in 2009. His early single "Best I Ever Had" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut studio album, Thank Me Later, arrived in 2010 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The follow-up, Take Care (2011), won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2013 and cemented his signature blend of rapping and melodic R&B singing.

Chart Dominance

Nothing Was the Same (2013) sharpened his fusion of rap and R&B, producing the anthems "Started from the Bottom" and "Hold On, We're Going Home." Views (2016) featured "One Dance," his first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist, and became the first album to reach one billion streams on Apple Music. Its lead single "Hotline Bling" peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and won Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song. He followed with the playlist project More Life (2017) and the double album Scorpion (2018), which included the Grammy-winning number-one single "God's Plan," plus "Nice for What" and "In My Feelings."

Later Albums and Business Moves

Certified Lover Boy arrived in 2021, followed by the dance-leaning Honestly, Nevermind (2022) and For All the Dogs (2023). Beyond music, Drake co-founded the OVO Sound record label in 2012, became the Toronto Raptors' global ambassador in 2013, and built a fashion and spirits portfolio. Billboard named him the Artist of the Decade for the 2010s.

Legacy

Drake holds 15 Billboard 200 number-one albums and 14 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles — both records among male solo artists. He also holds numerous Billboard chart records and broke streaming records with Views and Scorpion. With over 170 million units sold and five Grammy Awards, he reshaped what a rap career could look like: melodic, globally minded, and built for the streaming age.

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