Aubrey Drake Graham, known mononymously as Drake, is a Canadian rapper and singer. An influential figure in contemporary popular music, he has been credited with popularizing R&B sensibilities in hip hop artists. Gaining recognition by starring as Jimmy Brooks in the CTV teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–08), Drake pursued a recording career in 2006, releasing his debut mixtape Room for Improvement in February of that year. He followed up with the mixtapes Comeback Season (2007) and So Far Gone (2009) before signing with Young Money Entertainment.
Each of Drake's albums have topped the US Billboard 200 and Canadian Albums Chart; his first three, Thank Me Later (2010), Take Care (2011) and Nothing Was the Same (2013) were met with critical and commercial success, propelling him to the forefront of hip hop. His fourth album, Views (2016), saw exploration of dancehall and stood atop the Billboard 200 for 13 non-consecutive weeks—making it the first album by a male artist to do so in over a decade—and featured the international hit singles "Hotline Bling" and "One Dance" (featuring WizKid and Kyla); the latter has been credited with helping the popularization of the dancehall and Afrobeats genres in contemporary pop music. In 2018, he released the double album Scorpion, which contained the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings". Drake's sixth album, Certified Lover Boy (2021), achieved nine top 10 hits on the Hot 100, briefly setting the record for most US top-ten hits from one album, with its lead single "Way 2 Sexy" (featuring Future and Young Thug) reaching number one. In 2022, he released the house-inspired album Honestly, Nevermind and the collaborative album, Her Loss, with 21 Savage. Drake's eighth album, For All the Dogs (2023) yielded the number-one singles "Slime You Out" (featuring SZA) and "First Person Shooter" (featuring J. Cole), with which he tied Michael Jackson for the most number-one singles by a male solo artist. Known for frequent accompanying releases to his albums, he achieved critical and commercial success with the mixtapes If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015) and More Life (2017).
As an entrepreneur, Drake founded the OVO Sound record label with longtime collaborator 40 in 2012. In 2013, he became the "global ambassador" of the Toronto Raptors, joining their executive committee and later obtaining naming rights to their practice facility OVO Athletic Centre. In 2016, he began collaborating with Brent Hocking on the bourbon whiskey Virginia Black. Drake heads the OVO fashion label and the Nocta collaboration with Nike, and founded the production company DreamCrew and the fragrance house Better World. In 2018, he was reportedly responsible for 5 percent (CAD$440 million) of Toronto's CAD$8.8 billion annual tourism income. In 2022, he obtained partial ownership of Italian soccer club A.C. Milan.
Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 170 million records sold, Drake is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won five Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, 39 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards. He has achieved 13 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (14 counting "Sicko Mode") and holds further Hot 100 records, including the most top 10 singles (76), and the most charted songs (321). From 2018 to 2023, Drake held the record for the most simultaneously charted songs in one week (27), the most Hot 100 debuts in one week (22); and held the most continuous time on the Hot 100 (431 weeks). He additionally has the most number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Songs, and Rhythmic Airplay charts.
