Aubrey Drake Graham, the actor, singer, and songwriter put a foot on the recording industry by dominating the charts for the past 12 years. In fact, Drake is to receive the “artist of the decade” honor at the 2021 Billboard Awards. However, there may be some things you don’t know about the Toronto native. Here are 5 facts you didn’t know about Drake.
He Rapped on Degrassi: The Next Generation
In a two-part episode, we catch Drake playing the character Jimmy Brooks where he helps out his girlfriend performing her song but to no applause. He rolls in and raps in a wheelchair telling his story. Not only were the people feeling him, but the guy running the talent show was trying to get him a label opportunity. Interestingly enough years later, he did a performance of his breakout mixtape single “Best I Ever Had” and tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and had to undergo surgery. He really did live up to his Degrassi character’s nickname “Wheelchair Jimmy.”
Lil Wayne Initially Didn’t Sign Him
Jas Prince, son of Rap-A-Lot founder James Prince, got hold of Drake’s music. He loved it. He sent some of it to Lil’ Wayne and the Young Money boss just thought it was too real because of the topics he was talking about women, relationships, and other things. That type of honesty and vulnerability wasn’t really heard in rap. However, months later when Jas Prince and Lil Wayne spent time together and started rolling some Drake songs in the mix, Wayne actually had a chance to absorb the records. Wayne asked who was it, and Jas replied it’s the same guy he was trying to tell him about. Shortly, Lil Wayne called Drake while he was getting his haircut. Drake took the phone call while getting a fade and took a flight to Houston shortly after the call from Wayne.
“The Six” Refers to His Hometown Toronto
Modern-day Toronto consists of the six municipalities of East York. So, when you hear him talking about riding through the six with his woes, that’s his shoutout to T-dot.
Drake Is a Huge Fan of Aaliyah and Sade
He’s such a big fan that he has portraits of them tattooed on his body.
He Writes for Others
He’s a great writer on his own records and received backlash for working with songwriters on some of his biggest songs. However, he does actually pen some hits for different artists. He’s written some great hooks for Alicia Keys, Kanye West, and Rita Ora to name a few.