Drake

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Aubrey Drake Graham, known as Drake, was born in 1986 in Toronto. His father is an African American drummer from Memphis, his mother a Canadian teacher. At fifteen he landed the role of Jimmy Brooks in the Canadian teen series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Alongside acting he began making music. In 2006 he released the mixtape Room for Improvement himself and in 2009 came So Far Gone, available as a free download via his blog, with the singles Best I Ever Had and Successful. He then signed to Young Money Entertainment.

Music and breakthrough

His debut album Thank Me Later appeared in 2010 and went straight to the top of the Billboard 200. Take Care in 2011 and Nothing Was the Same in 2013 built his name further. Views in 2016, Scorpion in 2018, Certified Lover Boy in 2021 and Her Loss and Honestly, Nevermind in 2022 followed. He founded the label OVO Sound and became an ambassador for the Toronto Raptors.

Influence

Drake is seen as someone who brought R&B feeling into hip hop by rapping and singing on the same track. His lyrics often deal with doubt, love and fame, over dark, spacious beats. He is one of the best-selling artists in the world and showed that a Canadian rapper could define the hip hop of the 2010s, in a scene that had long been mainly American.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 2010Thank Me Later
• 2011Take Care
• 2013Nothing Was the Same
• 2016Views
• 2018Scorpion
• 2021Certified Lover Boy
• 2022Her Loss
• 2022Honestly, Nevermind
• 2023For All the Dogs
• 2025$ome $exy $ongs 4 U
• 2026HABIBTI
• 2026ICEMAN
• 2026MAID OF HONOUR

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• After Hours: Session 4^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Afrobeats GenreWizkid, Davido and Burna Boy became global stars; Wizkid sang on Drake's One Dance (2016), and Burna Boy won a Grammy in 2021.

See also

• Afrobeats