In June 2009 Graham signed a recording contract with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment. In November 2009, Lil Wayne released a statement announcing that Drake's first studio album, Thank Me Later, had been completed. The album was released on June 15, 2010, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album has since gone platinum. He will release his second studio album in March or April 2011 titled Take Care. Drake will release an R&B mixtape sometime in the future and will release a collaboration album with Lil Wayne.
Graham has worked with several other hip-hop artists such as Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Kanye West, Eminem, and Jay-Z. With the success of his mixtape turned EP So Far Gone, Graham has been nominated for several awards including Grammys, even being selected to perform at the 2010 Grammy award ceremony. Graham has also won several awards, including two Juno Awards in 2010 for Best New Artist, and Rap Recording of the Year.
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Early life
Music career
Early beginnings (2006–08)
In February 2006, Graham released his first mixtape Room for Improvement. It was made available via his website and official MySpace page. In 2007, he released another mixtape, Comeback Season, spawning a single and a music video for "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz. Also in 2007, Graham 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. 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 Graham to invite him to fly to Houston and tour with him. Graham 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.So Far Gone (2009)
He achieved success before signing to a major record label, according to his management Hip Hop Since 1978. In June 2009, it was revealed that an unauthorized album entitled The Girls Love Drake and credited to Graham was up for sale on iTunes. A lawsuit was planned against the label.
On the Billboard Hot 100 chart of July 4, 2009, both "Best I Ever Had"
by Young Money Entertainment entered the top ten at positions 3 and 10 respectively. Graham 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 Graham signed a record deal with Young Money Entertainment. This followed what Billboard purported to be "one of the biggest bidding wars ever". Graham toured with Wayne and other rap artists on the America's Most Wanted Tour.
Did you know that on July 31, 2009, Graham, who was performing on an already injured knee, fell on stage while performing "Best I Ever Had", with Lil Wayne in Camden, New Jersey. Graham underwent surgery on September 8, 2009 for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee? He was currently undergoing rehabilitation and was able to walk.
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.
Thank Me Later (2010)
"Wavin' Flag"
"Find Your Love"
"Find Your Love" was released as the second single on May 5, 2010, and has become the most successful single from the album, as it has peaked at number 5 on the Hot 100.
The third single from the album, "Miss Me", featuring Lil Wayne, was released on June 1, 2010. It has reached No. 15 on the Hot 100.
The record sold 447,000 records in its first week, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200, his first release to do so. Due to his first week sales, Graham had sold the most records for any hip hop artist in one week in 2010, until Eminem easily passed that mark a week later.
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. Drake kicked off his "Lights Dreams and Nightmares Tour" on September 20, 2010 in Miami, Florida. The tour traveled to major cities in the United States, winding down on November 6 in Las Vegas.
Take Care, It's Never Enough, & Lil Wayne Collaboration (2010–2011)
Lil Wayne and Drake will release a collaboration album in the future. On November 17, 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album to be Take Care . Birdman stated that Drake's second studio album will be released around March–April 2011. Drake is working with underground producer 9th Wonder and now seeking beats from DJ Premier for his sophomore album. In a recent interview, Rapper/Producer Q-Tip said that he's "cheffing up some stuff for him right now". It is unclear whether the tracks Q-Tip have produced will be on Take Care.Acting career
In June 2010 it was announced that Aubrey would have a prominent role in the video game Gears of War 3. He will play the part of Jace Stratton.
Image and personal life
In May 2009, Graham finally spoke with MuchMusic about his song "Deceiving" and addressed speculation of his past relationship with Chanté, "Would I call Keshia Chante an ex? I'd be proud to say she is an ex. I'm proud to say we had our time, when we were, like 16 years old. She's great. She's one of the first people in the industry that I met, we just connected."
In June 2009, Graham did two remixes to Chante's song "Fallen" where he addresses his love for her; on Version 1 he raps "Keshia, Keshia, do you remember the old us? They said we'd never be together that's what they told us. Immature kids, to entrepreneur kids." On Version 2, he raps "you just hold it down for your boy until the plaques arrive, that's why I love you."
MuchMusic later asked Chanté on how she felt about Graham. She kept mum, later saying, "I will love that man unconditionally for the rest of my life. He knows what it is. We have history. I've known him since I was a little girl. We just have a love/hate relationship, so I prefer to love him from afar."
In 2009, online rumors swirled stating that Graham was in a relationship with Rihanna. Both parties denied that claim, with Graham stating "we're just good friends." Rihanna later revealed in 2010 that in 2009 they were in fact in a relationship but it was short and they now remain "really awesome friends."
Graham is a fan of the Kentucky Wildcats and a friend to head coach John Calipari. On October 16, 2009, Graham made an appearance at the University of Kentucky men's basketball event, "Big Blue Madness" at Rupp Arena. On January 2, 2009, Graham also attended Kentucky's game against the University of Louisville and accompanied Calipari to his post game radio show. Graham returned to the University of Kentucky on April 27, 2010, to perform a concert.He is featured on Complex Magazine first issue of 2010. In the February–March issue he discusses his relationship with Lil Wayne, competition with new coming artist, getting inspired by ex-girlfriends, and the details on his debut studio album, Thank Me Later.
In July 2010, Drake postponed his entire European tour due to his mother's illness.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Charlie Bartlett | A/V Jones | |
| Mookie's Law | Chet Walters | Short film | |
| 2011 | Breakaway | Unannounced | Filming |
| 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 |
Discography
Main article: Drake discography
- 2010: Thank Me Later
- 2011: Take Care