Drake

Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham on October 24, 1986 in Toronto, is a Canadian rapper and singer who rose from teen television to become one of the most commercially dominant artists in music history^[1]. His father, Dennis Graham, was a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis, while his mother, who is white and Jewish, worked as an educator; his parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised primarily by his mother in Toronto's Forest Hill neighborhood^[1].

Before music, Drake was known to television audiences as an actor, playing Jimmy Brooks, a basketball player whose storyline included being paralyzed after a school shooting, on the teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation from 2001 to 2009, a role that earned him a Young Artist Award in 2002^[1].

He transitioned into music independently, releasing the mixtapes Room for Improvement in 2006 and Comeback Season in 2007 before his breakthrough with 2009's So Far Gone and its single "Best I Ever Had," which led to a deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment. His debut studio album, Thank Me Later, followed in 2010 and established him as an international star^[1].

Much of Drake's output since 2024 has been shaped by a public feud with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar, a conflict that continued to surface across his 2026 releases^[2]. On May 15, 2026, he released three full-length albums simultaneously, Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honour, his first solo albums since 2023^[2]. The Iceman single "Janice STFU" went on to break Michael Jackson's record for career number-one hits by a male solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100^[3].