Since his breakout album Thank Me Later was released in 2010, Drake has become one of the hottest music artists. With over 170 million records sold, as well as many other accolades, including four Grammy wins and the current record for the most top 10 singles. But, his career began a decade earlier, and it has been a long road for Drake as he continues to dominate the music industry. Here are ten things you didn’t know about Drake.
10. Drake Got His Start As An Actor
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Drake wasn’t always the iconic superstar in the hip-hop world. Before he became the hip hop sensation, he was known by his real name of Aubrey Graham, which saw the future rapper play a basketball player who was left crippled after a school shooting in seasons 1 through 7, totaling 145 episodes, of the Canadian television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, which ran from 2001 to 2015.
9. He Still Receives Royalties To This Day
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Drake has advanced since his Degrassi days, transitioning from television to music and becoming a multi-millionaire icon. However, Drake still receives royalties from his time on TV. When Drake received a royalty cheque in the mail for his stint on Degrassi in 2017, he discovered it was for just $8.25; it is unknown whether he ended up cashing it.
8. Drake Is The First Black-Jewish Rapper In History
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Aubrey Drake Graham has a more unusual history than most performers. He was born and reared in Toronto as a dual Canadian-American citizen, the son of Jewish Canadian Sandi Sher and African-American Dennis Graham. Drake is not only a rarity but a pioneer in the hip-hop community. Drake is likely the most well-known black-Jewish rapper in history. He was raised primarily by his Ashkenazi Jewish mother and attended Jewish school as a young child.
7. Drake Celebrated His Second Bar Mitzvah At Age 31
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In November 2017, Drake turned 31 and decided to go all out with a second Bar Mitzvah, inviting the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx and having an actual marching band in attendance. In addition, Drake’s 31st birthday-Bar Mitzvah’ was held at a Hollywood nightclub instead of the “basement of an Italian restaurant,” where he celebrated his original Bar Mitzvah when he was 13.
6. He Was Bullied At School
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Even though Drake is proud of his mixed background now, growing up as a mixed-race Jewish child with acting and hip-hop dreams wasn’t always simple for him. He endured ruthless bullying at school because of who he was. Drake’s classmates at his Jewish school referred to him as a “schvartze” (a pejorative Yiddish slang term for black). The same kids who made fun of him are now incredibly proud of him, acting as if nothing ever occurred. He subsequently voiced sadness about how everything turned out.
5. He Wrote Songs For Dr. Dre When He Was A Teenager
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Drake, who is currently the biggest name in hip-hop, happened to find himself working as a writer for one of the top artists in the genre when he was still a teenager. Drake, who had gone to Los Angeles at 19 to pursue a career in songwriting, ended up as one of several writers for Dr. Dre‘s Aftermath Records. Drake received $10,000 for his work and claims, “No useable music came out of it.”
4. He Is Bigger Than The Beatles…
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Drake has officially surpassed The Beatles regarding single sales, setting a new record by having seven tracks simultaneously on the Billboard Top 10 chart, breaking the Fab Four’s previous record of five. He also broke the record for having the most singles charts simultaneously in the Hot 100, a record he had previously held. Drake claimed 27 of the Hot 100’s 100 songs in July 2018.
3. He Is One Of The Most Decorated Artists In History
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In 2017, Drake took home 13 Billboard Music Awards, a record for a single artist. He also took the spot for 51 consecutive weeks in the top 10 songs, more than any other artist, and, until August 2017, he had spent eight years straight on the Hot 100. The shortest interval between single entries in the music charts was another Beatles record he broke in the UK in 2018.
2. Drake Has Beefed With Everyone
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Drake seems to be no newbie to a conflict, as seen by the sheer volume of verbal and occasionally physical fights he’s engaged in throughout a brief career with innumerable hip-hop contemporaries. Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z, Common, Kid Cudi, and Meek Mill are some of the people at whom Drake has hurled insults. The Canadian rapper has also been involved in numerous physical altercations with Diddy and Chris Brown.
1. Drake’s $100 Million Estate
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When Drake is at home, he wants to live in comfort and style. He currently lives in a 35,000-square-foot mansion nicknamed “The Embassy,” custom-built in 2017 for the rapper. In addition to The Embassy, Drake owns a $70 million mansion in the Santa Monica mountains that he purchased from Robbie Williams. However, it’s not just his home that he wants to be comfortable in; Drake also owns his own Boeing 767 place so he can travel in style.