Drake Biography

The rocket-fueled rise of the successful rapper Drake biography reads like a movie script. It isn't every day that a middle class, biracial, African Jew from Canada becomes one of the biggest names in hip hop. But thankfully, real life is stranger than fiction. Drake's biography and undaunted ambition proves that a captivating autobiographic movie awaits.

Act One: Toronto, Ontario Unique in every sense of the word, Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Canada to an African-American Catholic father and a Caucasian-Canadian Jewish mother. Drake's parents unfortunately called it quits with a divorce when he was only five. His mother raised him in the upscale Forest Hills section of Toronto. Drake spent summers in Memphis, Tennessee with his father, who was an accomplished drummer for the rock legend Jerry Lee Lewis. During his high school years attending Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, a classmate provided Drake with his initial "red carpet" entrance into the entertainment industry. Once Drake auditioned for this classmate's father, who was a talent agent, Drake's acting career began.

Act Two: "Degrassi: The Next Generation" In 2001, Aubrey Drake Graham landed a role on a popular Canadian television teen drama titled "Degrassi: The Next Generation." He played Jimmy Brooks, a wheelchair-bound basketball player for Degrassi High School, the fictional school that the television series revolved around. Drake was able to enjoy his first taste of celebrity status during his seven-year tenure on the show. In 2002, Drake won a Young Artist Award for Best Ensemble in a TV Series. But even in the midst of a luminous, bright future as an actor, music was still calling him.

Act: Three: Making Mixtapes During his television success with "Degrassi: The Next Generation," Drake still managed to record and release two musical mixtapes, displaying his rap abilities. The first was "Room for Improvement" in 2006, which sold a respectable 6,000 copies. But his followup mixtape, "Comeback Season" in 2007, helped propel Drake into the United States market with the hit single and music video "Replacement Girl" that made it onto the BET cable network's music video show "106 & Park." But in 2008, the Degrassi producers pushed the show in a new direction, which included the removal of Drake's character Jimmy Brooks. But by great fortune, a call from rap superstar Lil Wayne that same year turned Drake's post-Degrassi retirement situation into a new career - on the microphone.

Act: Four: "Thank Me Later" In February 2009, after getting to experience the music industry from Lil Wayne's vantage point on tour, Drake released his third, and most noteworthy mixtape, "So Far Gone." It included Drake's monster single, "Best I Ever Had," which forced its way onto the Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart without a record deal. But this success didn't go unnoticed, and by the middle of 2009, Drake had secured a lucrative record deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, and on June 15, 2010, "Thank Me Later," Drake's platinum-certified debut studio album was born. His catchy singing and rapping hybrid hit the jackpot grabbing the Number 1 slot on American and Canadian album charts. With much anticipation aimed at Drake's sophomore album, and his voicing the animated character Ethan in the 2012 movie "Ice Age: Continental Drift," Drake's reemergence into acting may make his life story even more cinematic.