Happiest of birthdays goes out to the Canadian-native actor, rapper, and cultural shifter Aubrey Drake Graham, aka Drake, aka Drizzy, aka Champagne Papi. Born to Dennis and Sandi Graham on October 24, 1986, Drake turns 40 on this historic day, and he certainly has a lot to celebrate. Since his big TV role in 2001, he’s spent nearly 25 years of his life entertaining the masses. And while he clearly pivoted from acting to a globally successful music career, there’s no doubting that at his young age, his legacy is firmly cemented in the history books.
That being said, in honor of his birthday, why not take a look back at the ten moments in his career that helped define his meteoric rise to fame. From his participation in a historic rap anthem to his numerous rivalries, he’s gone through a few transformative times in his life that have made him who he is today. And the events listed are in no particular order.
Stint as Jimmy Brooks on ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’
Getty Images/ Scott Gries
From 2001 to 2009, Drake starred as Jimmy Brooks on the coming-of-age series, Degrassi: The Next Generation. For those not as familiar, the series is like the Canadian answer to Saved by the Bell, but it’s definitely heavier on the drama. In fact, Drake’s Jimmy has a particularly harrowing ordeal in the series when he becomes the victim of a school shooting and has to adapt to a new life after being left paralyzed. While he sparingly rapped on the show, the series was pivotal in building some name recognition for him in the entertainment business. So, by the time it came to launching his music career, he had some ground under his feet.
Reaches Commercial Success with Classic Mixtape ‘So Far Gone’
Although Room for Improvement (2006) and Comeback Season (2007) were his two previous mixtapes, Drake really reached new heights with his third mixtape, So Far Gone (2009). It was widely applauded by hip-hop critics and fans, reaching #1 on the Hip-Hop Billboard chart in the US and being dubbed MTV’s Hottest Mixtape of the Year. If you need a reminder of what made the project so great, it had tracks like “Successful,” “Unstoppable,” and of course, “Best I Ever Had.”
“Forever” Proves Drake Has What It Takes to Hang with GOATs of the Genre
Before Drake released “Forever” in 2009, hip-hop fans knew he could rap. However, it was this track that showed listeners he could rap and hang with heavy hitters. The song has features from Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem, three of the best artists of the genre, and he managed to hang with them all. It’s still a good listen to this day. And in a moment of irony, it was released as a single on the soundtrack to LeBron James‘ More than a Game documentary. The irony being the two appear to no longer be friends.
“Hotline Bling” Becomes Cultural Phenomenon
Even if you hated rap music, you likely heard or saw a reference made to Hotline Bling. It was played nonstop in 2015, and even now, “You used to call me on my cell phone” sparks instant memories for countless people. It was another #1 on the hip-hop chart and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
What really propelled the song in popularity and made a massive splash in pop culture was the video. It’s not an elaborate video by any means. It’s just him on a white set with colored lights and a handful of dancers (although the dancers are never in the same scene together). Drake’s dancing, though, makes it a must-watch. He’s no Michael Jackson, but his minimal one-two step oddly works.
“Work” Arguably Becomes His Greatest Commercial Collab
Drake may not have an entire album with Rihanna as he does with Future, and Rihanna may not be his labelmate like Nikki Minaj, but many would argue that the “Umbrella” singer is Drake’s best collaborator. Together, they’ve cranked out Billboard hits like “Take Care” and “What’s My Name,” but 2016’s “Work” proved to be their biggest smash and solidified them as one of the most important music collaborations of this century so far (from the standpoint of two artists only). While teaming up on future projects seems unlikely, they had a really good run.
Drake Topples Meek Mill in Rap Beef
When Meek Mill fired off a then tweet in 2015 claiming Drake doesn’t “write his own raps,” it ignited a beef between the two rappers that ended with Drake firing off a few insults of his own in the form of two diss tracks. Drake released “Charged Up” and “Back to Back” within days of each other, proving he had the pen game and delivery to battle against rivals and come out victorious (well, at that time). Thankfully, Meek and Drake have since squashed their beef.
Drake Manages to Survive Kendrick’s Onslaught
As the saying goes, “You can’t win them all.” And to be completely fair, Drake and Kendrick’s on-wax (on-record) feud didn’t leave Drake the victor on that front. Once 2024’s “Not Like Us” was dropped, it was game over. However, outside of their rap track battle, Kendrick’s success didn’t seem to stop Drake’s popularity, a credit to his talent and strong fandom. He finished the year as the fourth most-streamed artist on Spotify globally, was named Billboard’s top R&B/hip-hop artist, and when he releases music, he still drives up the numbers.
“Marvin’s Room” Proves He’s the King of Emo Rap & It Has an Audience
Where LL Cool J opened the door for romantic/emotional hip-hop, Drake made it a whole art form of his own, and made millions fall in love with it. “Marvin’s Room” is the perfect example of him leaning into emo rap and bringing fans along for the ride. Not only was the 2011 track another hit on the Billboard charts, but it also caused other artists to release cover versions, such as singers JoJo and Teyana Taylor.
‘Views’ Makes Strongest Case for Drake’s Place on Rap’s Mount Rushmore
Until proven otherwise by chart dominance, Drake’s equivalent to Michael Jackson’s Thriller is Views. The 2016 album is his biggest album to date, moving over a million units in week one. In the US, to date, it is Diamond Certified and has sold 10 million copies. While many Drake fans will argue Thank Me Later and Take Care are better complete projects track for track, Views has several hits propelling its success, like “Controlla,” “One Dance,” and “Fire & Desire.”
Drake and Chris Brown Go from Longtime Rivals to Billboard-Topping Collaborators
As evidenced above, Drake has had his fair share of rivalries over the years. However, his one with Chris Brown was his first big feud in pop culture, and it seemed like the two would never call a truce. However, the grown men let cooler heads prevail and actually made good music together. Their 2019 collab “No Guidance” has been widely celebrated among the masses, even topping the R&B/Hip-Hop chart on Billboard. It will be interesting to see how many more collabs the two come up with in the future.
Once again, happy birthday, Drake.
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