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Revision as of 22:43, 24 October 2012

Drake
Drake at the Polson Pier, Toronto in 2011.
Drake at the Polson Pier, Toronto in 2011.
Background information
Birth nameAubrey Drake Graham
Born (1986-10-24) October 24, 1986 (age 38)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresHip hop, R&B, Pop
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer, songwriter, actor
Years active2001–present
LabelsCash Money, Young Money, Universal Republic
Websitedrakeofficial.com

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986), who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor from Toronto, Ontario.[1] He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, but also began to rise to stardom with the release of multiple mixtapes that began to generate hype for his future career as a rapper, the most successful of these being So Far Gone which led to the release of an EP that would lead to Drake's career breakthrough.

In June 2009, Drake signed a recording contract with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment.[2] Drake rose to stardom with the release of the EP So Far Gone (2009), which spawned the smash single "Best I Ever Had" and moderate hit "Successful". After the success of So Far Gone, Drake prepared to release his first studio album, Thank Me Later. The album was released on June 15, 2010, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.[3] The album has since gone platinum and has spawned the successful singles "Over" and "Find Your Love". His second studio album titled Take Care was released on November 15, 2011 and topped the charts in the U.S. and Canada and produced multiple smash singles, including "Headlines", "Take Care", "Make Me Proud", and "The Motto", the latter of which is also credited for popularizing the widely used acronym YOLO. Other than his musical career, Drake is a songwriter for other artists in the industry such as Alicia Keys and Jamie Foxx, and continues to pursue his acting career with his latest appearance being in the No. 1 box office hit Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012).[4]

Drake has sold over 5 million albums worldwide, with his latest release Take Care being the most successful.[5] Drake's achievements range from 3 Juno Awards to 3 BET Awards. Drake also claims many significant Billboard records. He currently has more number-one singles, twelve, on Billboard's Rap Songs chart than any other artist, and is, other than 50 Cent, the only artist to simultaneously occupy the chart's top three positions. He also currently has more number-one singles, ten, on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart than any other rapper, recently passing Jay-Z in August 2012.[6] Drake's latest global tour, Club Paradise is the most successful hip-hop tour of 2012, grossing over 42 million worldwide.[7]

Drake was tied with Rihanna for the most nominees at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.[8] He was ranked No. 2 on MTV's Hottest MCs In The Game VII list in 2012.[9]

Life and career

1986–2005: Early life and acting career beginnings

Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where Drake attended high school.

Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. He is the son of Sandi Graham (née Sher), an educator, and Dennis Graham, a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis. Two of his uncles, Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges, are also musicians.[10][11][12][13] Drake's father is an African American from Memphis, Tennessee, and Drake's mother is a white Jewish Canadian. He attended a Jewish day school and had a Bar Mitzvah.[14][15][16] His parents divorced when he was five years old, and he was raised by his mother in two Toronto neighbourhoods; he lived on Weston Road in the city's west end,[17] until the sixth grade, when he moved to the wealthy Forest Hill.[18][19] As a youth, he played minor hockey with the Weston Red Wings.[20] Drake has commented on the move to Forest Hill and his mother's struggle, saying that "She wanted the best for her family. She found us a half of a house we could live in. The other people had the top half, we had the bottom half. I lived in the basement, my mom lived on the first floor. It was not big, it was not luxurious. It was what we could afford." Drake then began attending Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he began acting,[21] but did not graduate.[22] It was the first of two high schools he would attend, as he later went to Vaughan Road Academy, describing it as "not by any means the easiest school to go to. It's a tough school."[17] Despite dropping out of high school, years later, he graduated in October 2012.[23]

At the age of 15, Drake was a high school cutup who had a friend with a father who was an agent. He got him a role on the Canadian TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation as Jimmy Brooks.[24] In the show, Brooks is a basketball star who became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate. Drake describes how his early acting career affected his family, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was off of Canadian TV, which isn’t that much money when you break it down. A season of Canadian television is under a teacher’s salary, I’ll tell you that much. It’s definitely not something to go fucking get."[17] He would continue his acting career on Degrassi: The Next Generation until 2009, when his character graduated from Degrassi. Overall, he appeared in a total of 138 episodes. Drake is mentioned in the 2010 television movie Degrassi Takes Manhattan, making him one of two Degrassi actors (along with Shenae Grimes) who exist within the series' fictional universe independently of their characters. Besides Degrassi, between 2001-2009 Drake appeared on other various Television shows in smaller roles such as, Blue Murder as Joey Tamarin, Soul Food as Fredrick, The Border as PFC Gordon Harvey, and Beyond the Break as himself.


Looking back on his early life, Drake had to essentially live two different lives because of his parent's divorce; he lived in a very upper-class part of Toronto, and, when in Memphis, was told he was “the furthest thing from hood.” He witnessed many life-changing experiences because of this, one being his father's arrest, which he describes by saying “The fact that I didn’t have a father, because he was in jail two separate times. He did a two-year bid and a three-year bid, I was there when he got taken down. We had just gotten back from Memphis.” However, Drake comments on his childhood experiences by saying “I’ve seen things that didn’t make me happy. They were character building. That’s why I think people in the hood can still connect with what I’m saying even though I’m not saying ‘yeah I got crack in my pocket’ ’cause that wasn’t my struggle necessarily, [but] I speak from a place that’s just human emotion.” Drake stated that his parents' divorce greatly affected him as a person, saying, “I had to become a man very quickly and be the backbone for a woman who I love with all my heart, my mother." At the age of 24, Drake commented on his early life by saying "I’ve seen a lot man. I’ve seen a lot of life, put it that way. I’ve been with the most blessed kids in the world. I’ve been with people whose life is right at the bottom of the barrel. I was on a TV show, I went to art school, I went to hood schools. I’ve lived. I’ve lived a full 24 years man."[17][25]

2006–09: Mixtapes and So Far Gone

In February 2006, Drake self-released his first mixtape Room for Improvement. The mixtape features artists Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco. He described it as "pretty straightforward, radio friendly, not much content to it." In a TeenNick interview from that time, he cited his influences as rappers Jay-Z, Clipse, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and singers Anthony Hamilton and Maxwell.[24] In 2007, he released another mixtape, Comeback Season, spawning a single and a music video for "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. Also in 2007, Drake became the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET when his first single, "Replacement Girl" was featured as the "New Joint of the Day" on April 30, 2007.[26] It also contained a freestyle over a song with Lil Wayne, a remix of "Man of the Year" originally by Brisco and Flo Rida. In 2008, Lil Wayne was given some of Drake's music from Rap-A-Lot founder, J. Prince's son, Jas Prince, and he immediately called Drake to invite him to fly to Houston and tour with him. Drake and Wayne recorded a couple of songs during this time, including "Ransom", the original version of "I Want This Forever", and the remix to Drake's song, "Brand New". Though now part of Lil Wayne's crew, Young Money, Drake was not signed. On February 13, 2009, Drake released his third official mixtape, So Far Gone, for free download on his blog site which included Drake's mentor Lil Wayne, Bun B, Omarion, Lloyd and his friend, Trey Songz. It received over 2,000 downloads in the first 2 hours of release. It was extremely successful in the underground and eventually made its way to radio. Due to the success of the mixtape's two singles, "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful", it was released as an EP featuring only five songs from the mix tape and one new song. MTV named it "The Hottest Mixtape of 2009 (So Far)".[27] Since So Far Gone, Drake worked with Rihanna, DJ Khaled, Young Money, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem, Young Jeezy, Mary J. Blige, Timbaland, Birdman, Trey Songz, and Jamie Foxx. Drake has also written for Alicia Keys, and Dr. Dre. So Far Gone is credited as being his commercial and critical breakthrough as it was much more critically acclaimed and commercially successful than his previous two releases.

He achieved success before signing to a major record label, according to his management Hip Hop Since 1978.[28] In June 2009, it was revealed that an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake and credited to Drake was up for sale on iTunes. A lawsuit was planned against the label.[29] On the Billboard Hot 100 chart of July 4, 2009, both "Best I Ever Had", and "Every Girl" by Young Money Entertainment entered the top ten at positions 3 and 10 respectively. Drake is only the second artist to have his first two top ten hits in the same week. The first was fellow Canadian Nelly Furtado who entered the top ten in 2001 with "I'm Like A Bird" the same week as Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On", a remix of which included a credited contribution from Furtado. On June 29, 2009, it was confirmed, that Drake signed a record deal with Young Money Entertainment.[30] This followed what Billboard purported to be "one of the biggest bidding wars ever".[31] Drake toured with Wayne and other rap artists on the America's Most Wanted Tour. On July 31, 2009, Drake, who was performing on an already injured knee, fell on stage while performing "Best I Ever Had", with Lil Wayne in Camden, New Jersey.[32] Drake underwent surgery on September 8, 2009 for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. He underwent rehabilitation and was soon able to walk.[33] On September 15, 2009, So Far Gone was released as a seven-track EP in which five of the tracks were from the original mixtape. It debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. Since then the album was certified gold by the RIAA with over 500,000 copies sold in the United States. On April 18, 2010, the album won Rap Recording of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards.[34]

2010: Thank Me Later

Drake performing at Fox theater

Drake planned to release his official debut album, Thank Me Later, in late 2008, but the album's release date was postponed, first to March 2010,[35] then May 25, 2010.[36] Universal Motown then stated the album had been pushed back three weeks for a June 15, 2010, release.[35][37] Thank Me Later was finally released on June 15, 2010. On that day, 25,000 fans gathered at New York's South Street Seaport for a free concert by Drake and Hanson. A near-riot ensued after police canceled the show due to overflowing crowds.[38] The week of the album's release, the album sold 447,000 copies and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.[39] Due to his first week sales, Drake had sold the most records for any hip hop artist in one week in 2010.[40] Eminem surpassed that accomplishment a week later.[41] The album has collaborations with the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z[42] and Lil Wayne while forgoing planned duets with Trey Songz[43] and Danny!.[43] On March 9, 2010, Drake released the first single from his Thank Me Later album, titled "Over".[44] The song was well-received and performed well both commercially and critically. The song reached a peak of No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Rap Songs chart. The song also received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards. [45] On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti was released. Drake is featured in the song, performing a solo verse near the end of the song. In June 2010, it was announced that Drake would have a prominent role in the video game Gears of War 3. He was scheduled to play the part of Jace Stratton, but a scheduling conflict meant it went to someone else.[46] On April 29, 2010, it was announced that Drake had finished Thank Me Later. According to reports, Drake announced the completion of the album to a crowd during his April 26, 2010, show at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. His camp has since confirmed that Drake was finished with the final track to the album and the next single from the album would be titled "Find Your Love".[47]

"Find Your Love" was released as the second single on May 5, 2010. Critics commended Drake's attempt to move into the singing lane on the song, and compared it to Kanye West's work on 808s & Heartbreak. The single became the most successful single from the album, peaking at number 5 on the Hot 100 and receiving a Platinum certification by the RIAA.[48] "Find Your Love" also performed well internationally and was Drake's first top 40 appearance in the United Kingdom and Italy. To date it also remains Drake's only solo top 10 appearance in his home country of Canada. The music video for the single was shot in Kingston, Jamaica and tells the story of Drake being involved in a fateful encounter with a gang-affiliated woman. The video was criticized by Jamaica's minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett who said "We just have to say that care has to be taken by all, including our creative artists, in portraying images of our destination and people, Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing [the island's image]"[49] The third single from the album, "Miss Me", featuring Lil Wayne, was released on June 1, 2010.[50] The single proved to be moderately successful, and reached No. 15 on the Hot 100.[51] The fourth and final single released from the album was "Fancy". The song was performed at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2010 with appearances by Swizz Beatz and Mary J. Blige in the performance. The song proved to be his least successful single of the era, peaking at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it managed to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Rap Songs chart and received a nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. Drake hosted the first annual OVO (October's Very Own) Festival. In that festival he brought out the VIP list of rap stars including Jay-Z, Eminem, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Bun B and Fabolous.[52] Drake kicked off his "Lights Dreams and Nightmares Tour" on September 20, 2010 in Miami, Florida.[53] The tour traveled to major cities in the United States, winding down on November 6 in Las Vegas.[54]

2011–12: Take Care

Drake performing on his Club Paradise Tour in support of his second studio album Take Care.

On November 17, 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio com to be Take Care.[55] In late January 2011, Indiewire announced that Drake was in negotiations to join Eva Green and Susan Sarandon in the cast of Nicholas Jarecki's forthcoming feature-film "Arbitrage.".[56] However in April 2011, it was announced that Drake would no longer star in the movie in order to focus on his sophomore album. On June 9, 2011, it was unveiled that Drake's second studio album would be released on October 24, 2011.[57] However, the album's release date would eventually be postponed to November 15, 2011.[57] Drake posted a new track, "Dreams Money Can Buy", on his October's Very Own blog on May 20.[58] The song was never featured on the album's official release. On June 9 another track from the album, "Marvins Room" was made available on his blog.[57] After the song began to gain considerable airplay on Urban radio, "arvins Room" was officially released on July 22, 2011, via iTunes as a promotional single.[59] The single performed relatively well, obtaining a Gold certification by the RIAA,[60] peaking at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100,[61] and reaching the top 10 of the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[62] On June 28 he released a music video for "Marvins Room" that featured him feeling depressed in a club.[63]

The first single from Take Care was released officially to iTunes on August 9, 2011 and was titled "Headlines". The song received positive critical reviews and was also commercially successful. The song reached No. 13 on the Hot 100 and was eventually certified Platinum both in the United States and Canada.[64] The song also became his 10th single to reach the summit of the Billboard Rap Songs chart, which led him to be the artist with the most No. 1 hits on that chart ever, a record which he still presently holds with 12 number one hits.[65] In January 2012 Drake performed "Headlines" on ice during the second intermission of the NHL All Star Game in his home country of Canada.[66] The music video for the single was released on October 2, 2011 and depicts Drake rapping in various locations around Toronto such as Guild Park and Rogers Centre. The second single released "Make Me Proud" which features Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on October 16, 2011.[67] The single was commercially successful reaching a peak position of No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.[61] It also holds the record for largest jump on the Billboard Hot 100 for a male artist (tied with Akon's Smack That), when the song vaulted from No. 97 to No. 9 in a 88 position jump.[68] The song also reached the peak of both the Billboard Rap Songs chart and the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart, marking Drake's 11th and 8th No. 1s on both charts respectively.[69] "Make Me Proud" also became Drake's fourth consecutive single from the Take Care era to receive a Platinum certification by the RIAA.[70]

"The Motto", which features American rapper Lil Wayne, was released as the third from Take Care on November 29, 2011. The track proved to be one of the most successful singles Drake has ever released, performing very well commercially. It peaked at No. 14 on the Hot 100 and topped both the Rap and R&B/Hip-Hop songs charts, further extending his lead for most No. 1 hits on the rap chart and matching a record set by fellow rapper Jay-Z, for most No. 1 hits on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart for a Rap artist.[61][71] The song has also proved to have cultural impact, especially in the United States, popularizing the phrase YOLO which is featured in the song's hook with the line "You only live once: that's the motto, nigga, YOLO".[72][73] The official music video for the single was released on February 10, 2012, and features appearances by fellow Young Money rapper Tyga, E-40, and Mistah F.A.B..[74] The fourth single released from Take Care was the album's title track, "Take Care" featuring Rihanna on February 21, 2012. The song is Drake's biggest worldwide hit as a lead artist with the song being his first top 10 hit in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.[75] The single was certified 2x Platinum in the United States for sales of over 2,000,000 units, being the second single after "The Motto" to do so.[60] The music video for the single was released after many delays on April 6, 2012, simultaneously with the music video for the 5th single "HYFR".[76] The video for "Take Care" depicts various scenes of both Drake and Rihanna embracing along with various scenes of natural landscapes and wildlife. Critically, the video was praised with a review from MTV even saying "None of his contemporaries — not even the ever-obtuse Kanye [West] - make videos like this, mostly because no one else can get away with it."[77] The music video received four nominations at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and even Video of the Year.[78] The fifth single from Take Care, "HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)" was released on April 24, 2012 and proved to be the least successful single from the 'album peaking only at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100.[79] However, even though the single performed poorly, it still managed to obtain a Gold certification from the RIAA indicating sales of over half a million units.[60] The Judaism themed video for the song won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video.

2012–13: Third studio album

Jake One produced a song for him, which seems to be personal.[80] A video of Drake previewing the song while smoking hookah was released on June 26, 2012 via Vimeo.[81] It is unclaimed who he's retorting to and unknown if it will be featured on his upcoming album. The song was thought to be released in anticipation for the third annual OVO Fest. However, "Enough Said" by Aaliyah featuring him was released instead on the day of the concert.[82] While touring the UK in support of his latest album Take Care, Drake announced in an interview that he has just started work on his third studio album. He has recently worked with 40. While in the UK, Drake is hoping to work more with Jamie xx who produced the title track on Drake's second album, Take Care. He also stated he wants Jamie xx to "have a bigger presence on my third record".[83] Drake said his upcoming third album will sound differently compared to Take Care.[84]

Artistry

Influences

Drake stated that Kanye West, Jay-Z, Aaliyah and his mentor Lil Wayne are his biggest influences.[85][86][87] Drake refers to Kanye West as one of his idols and favorite rappers in hip hop. He expanded on this by commenting in an interview with MTV "I can never sit here and tell you that's not one of my idols, that's not one of my favorite rappers. Whatever energy I've ever felt is irrelevant. When you ask me, 'What do I think of Kanye West,' I'mma always have something positive to say."[88] Drake's musical abilities have often been compared to West. He commented on this by saying “It’s an honor, when I was a kid trying to figure out what I liked, it was ‘Ye who I related to the most. He was an artist, in every sense, from his cover art to his music. Now, I would say, he is really great, competitor…and friend, at the same time. My goal is to surpass everything he’s accomplished. I don’t want to be as good as Kanye, I want to be better.”[89]

In an interview with SoulCulture TV Drake stated that R&B singer Aaliyah has had the biggest influence on his career, “Aaliyah has had probably the most impact on my career,” he states, “because when I made a choice to start singing it was because of something that my father had told me which was, ‘There’s no rapper out there that sings and raps and does both things well… and in order to be successful you’re gonna need something other than just what everyone else is doing. I was rapping already at the time so I had an identity in rap, but when I started singing I needed something to reference. I needed someone to be like, ‘I wanna be like that’. I didn’t want it ever to be a male because then I would sound like that person, so I just found comfort in all of Aaliyah’s music and her melody choices and the things that she talks about – and how she always conveyed these amazing emotions but never got too sappy, she always kept it G. That had the biggest influence on my music because – as much as my music may be geared towards women – I try not to make it so that only women can sing it."[90]

Musical style

File:Drake OVO Owl.png
The OVO owl is the official mascot of OVOXO.

Most of Drake's lyricism are in regard to his riches, fame and past relationships. Allmusic describes Drake's moods as searching, thoughtful, introspective, brooding, confident, dramatic, earnest, energetic, humorous, intense, laid-back/mellow, literate, melancholy, nostalgic, playful, reflective, smooth, tender, warm and yearning.[91] Drake's sound is labeled as "soft" for his genuine, merciful lyrics and soulful melody to most hip hop listeners. He denied this by saying "I'm not soft. I'm just not one of those people who's closed off emotionally.[92] A large portion of Drake's work incorporates elements of both rapping and singing, which has led to him being unique as a recording artist. Drake has even described himself as "the first person to successfully rap and sing." He went on further about his statement by saying "I'm one of the few artists who gets to be himself every day. It doesn't take me six hours to get ready and I don't have to wake up in the morning and remember to act like this or talk like this. I just have to be me. That's one of the favourite parts of my life - I've done this purely by being myself."[93]

Drake has a unique musical Gayystyle that has set him apart from his (Young Money) counterparts, especially on his latest effort Take Care. Lil Wayne even commented on the project prior to its release saying "I can tell, you know, I don't know nothing else out there that can touch it, including my stuff. That kid is on another planet."[94] Recently, Drake has been making a notable shift away from Young Money/Cash Money collaborations and towards a new project, OVOXO. The OVO owl symbolizes OVOXO, which is a separate entity from Young Money/Cash Money and represents a collaboration group between Drake and R&B singer The Weeknd. Its eyes and beak form the acronym for October's Very Own. Drake has been moving in this new direction after the release of Take Care, which featured writing collaborations with The Weeknd on 5 tracks ranging from "Crew Love" to "Shot for Me" and 2 production collaborations on "Crew Love" and "The Ride", more than any Young Money/Cash Money collaborate.[95][96][97]

Feuds

Pusha T

Artists who have been involved in a feud with Drake
Pusha T dissed Drake and Young Money on his song "Exodus 23:1".
Chris Brown was allegedly involved in a bar fight with Drake at a WIP nightclub.
Common subliminally dissed Drake on his track "Sweet".

The first artist to knowingly attack Drake was Pusha T.[98] He remixed Drake's "Dream Money Can Buy" and released a single called “Exodus 23:1” on Kanye West’s GOOD Music label. The new song stirred controversy by tacitly calling out Lil Wayne, Drake, and the whole Young Money/Cash Money crew. Pusha starts the song by declaring, “Beef best served like steak, well done get a gun to your face.” And though his subject isn't explicitly mentioned, Pusha seems to jab at Drake, Wayne and associates, claiming: "Contract all fucked up, I guess that means you all fucked up."[99] Lil Wayne first responded to the Pusha T in a diss track titled "Ghoulish" where he raps "Fuck Pusha T and anybody that love him/ His head up his ass/ I’ma have to head-butt him, gut him and tweeting."[100] Drake then responded to the attack by Pusha T live at his Club Paradise show in Washington D.C. by saying "If you was doing 16s when I was 16 and your shit still flopped and you switched teams, don't talk to me my nigga."[101] Pusha T has stated that he has failed to respond to Lil Wayne's diss because he felt it wasn't good enough to respond to.[102] The beef between Drake and Pusha T hasn't been squashed.

Common

During the Take Care era, Drake had numerous attacks from other rappers. Common was the second to attack Drake in public. Common made a subliminal diss record entitled "Sweet" (See The Dreamer/The Believer) and later confirmed it was aimed at him and his labelmate Nicki Minaj.[103] He also made a controversial remix to Rick Ross's song "Stay Schemin'" featuring French Montana and Drake from the mixtape rich Forever.[104] Drake responded to Common's attack in Stay Schemin', a song with Rick Ross and French Montana, with subliminal attacks such as "Back when if a nigga reached it was for the weapon/ Nowadays niggas reach just to sell they record.", which refers to Drake essentially saying that Common only dissed him to try and sell his album, which was to be released a month after the track.[105] Later, Common's album debuted at number 18 on the Bilboard 200 and sold 69,000 copies in its first week, his lowest first week sales since his 2002 album Electric Circus.[106] On February 13, 2012, Common commented on the feud by saying "It's over. But it was all in the art of Hip Hop. He said some things to me so I had to say some things back...I wouldn't say [he started it] but I know I heard something that I felt was directed to me so I addressed it. That's all. But you know, thank God we were able to move forward from it and all is good.".[107]

Chris Brown

Drake and Chris Brown were allegedly involved in a physical altercation on June 14, 2012, when Drake and his entourage allegedly threw glass bottles towards Chris Brown at a nightclub called WIP in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, New York.[108] About eight people were injured during the brawl,[109] including San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, who later said he nearly lost his left eye,[110] and a tourist from Australia who suffered injuries to her face and head and received sixteen stitches for her head as a result.[111] Drake wasn't arrested.[112] Chris Brown tweeted personal information involving the situation but afterwards deleted the tweets and made a seemingly direct diss record to Drake a few weeks later.[109][113] He also posted a picture of himself with a gashed chin on Instagram.[114] Brown's attorney claimed Drake was the instigator.[115] It is unclear why they altercated. Drake dated Rihanna (not long after the domestic violence case caused by her ex) in 2009.[116] They still have remained as romantic friends since then.[117] Although Drake's alliances Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne collaborated with Brown numerous times, Drake never did after he dated her. An unreleased collaboration entitled "Yamaha Mama" was leaked online weeks earlier before the alleged altercation.[118] The original version is from Soulja Boy's second studio album iSouljaBoyTellem (2008). Chris Brown remixed Drake's "Marvins Room".[119] It's believed that he may have been offended by the line "Fuck that nigga that you love so bad.". However, Drake did not respond throughout the making of Take Care. Drake seemed to have instigated a fight with Chris Brown on Twitter. Brown subliminally replied back angrily. Meek Mill also has been allegedly involved in the feud.[120]

Ludacris

Ludacris dissed Drake and Big Sean on his song "Bada Boom". Sean invented the "supa dupa flow".[121] Ludacris mimicked the flow in his song "My Chick Bad". Drake also mimicked the flow on his song "Forever".[122] Ludacris and Big Sean have put this behind them.[123]

Charlamagne Tha God

Power 105's radio host Charlamagne Tha God harshly criticized Drake's sound and image.[124] Charlamagne was bothered by Drake dressed in all black pulling off a thug persona in his "Headlines" music video and Drake arrogantly crooning in his song "Marvins Room".[125] He also harshly interpreted comments made by Drake, referring to his friendship with Trey Songz and comments regarding his appreciation for Lil' Wayne as a music artist. This prompted a response of defense from other Power 105 DJ's of Drake.

Discography

Concert Tours

Headlining

Joint Tours

  • America's Most Wanted Tour (with Young Money) (2009)

Filmography

[126]

Film
Year Film Role Notes
2008 Charlie Bartlett A/V Jones
Mookie's Law Chet Walters Short film
2011 Breakaway[127][128] Unannounced Cameo
2012 Ice Age 4: Continental Drift Ethan Voice
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2001 Blue Murder Joey Tamarin 1 episode
Degrassi: The Next Generation Jimmy Brooks 139 episodes
2002 Soul Food Fredrick 1 episode
Conviction Teen Fish Television movie
2005 Best Friend's Date Dater 1 episode
Instant Star Himself 1 episode
2008 The Border PFC Gordon Harvey 1 episode
2009 Being Erica Ken 1 episode
Sophie Ken 1 episode
Beyond the Break Himself 1 episode
2012 Punk'd Himself 1 episode

See also

References

  1. ^ CARAMANICA, JON (November 16, 2011). "New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  2. ^ Brown, Charley (June 29, 2009). "Drake Signs To Young Money / Universal Motown". WeLiveThis.com.
  3. ^ Jason (November 9, 2009). "Lil Wayne Say's Drake's New Album Is Done". Rap Basement. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
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