Aubrey Drake Graham was born in Toronto, Canada on October 24, 1986. Drake’s father, Dennis, was a drummer who collaborated with artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis during his career. Sandra, called Sandi, Drake’s mother, was an English teacher and florist. Drake went to a Jewish day school and had a ceremonial Bar Mitzvah.
Aubrey was five years old when Sandi and Dennis split. His father later relocated to Memphis, where he was caught and imprisoned for several years on narcotics charges. Aubrey stayed in Toronto with his mother, while he visited his father in Memphis every summer (when his father was not jailed). Drake would subsequently depict Dennis as being absent during his upbringing, which Dennis has strongly refuted and alleges was inflated to sell songs.
Drake and his mother resided in the lower half of a two-story townhouse in Forest Hill, an upscale neighbourhood, beginning in sixth grade. Drake resided in the basement, while his mother lived on the street-level floor. They were not wealthy; in fact, money was scarce.
Drake discovered an interest in acting and singing while attending Forest Hill Collegiate Institute. He eventually attended Vaughan Road Academy, where he was tormented because he was bi-racial and religious. He skipped out briefly but finally graduated in 2012.
Personal Life
Drake has had a number of high-profile romances over his career. Between 2009 and 2016, he dated Rihanna on and off. He subsequently referred to Rihanna as “the woman I’ve been in love with since I was 22 years old.” Sophie Brussaux, a French model/actress/artist, gave birth to her son Adonis in October 2017. Drake didn’t admit to becoming a parent until 2018.
Career
On the company’s first-quarter earnings call in May 2022, Universal Music Group stated that Drake had been re-signed to a “long-term worldwide partnership,” which encompassed everything from “recorded music to music publishing, film, television, and brands.” Drake has mentioned the contract in a handful of his songs. In one song, he rapped about negotiating a contract that included “360 up front.” Given Universal’s admission, some have interpreted the lyric to suggest that the agreement paid him $360 million upfront. According to some estimates, the deal is worth $400 million or more. Prior to joining, Drake’s song catalogue alone was earning $50 million in income for the corporation each year. Assuming the contract was actually worth $400 million, Drake would have received $200 million in cash upfront after taxes.
Drake landed a part in the long-running Canadian adolescent drama television show “Degrassi: The Next Generation” when he was 15 years old, thanks to the father of a boyhood friend who is an acting agency. He portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball player who became paralysed after being shot by a classmate, in the show. He was a regular cast member from Season 1 through Season 7, with guest appearances in 2008. Drake’s mother grew unwell and was unable to work when he was in Degrassi. For some years, his Degrassi wages were their sole source of money. He was making $50,000 per year from the programme at the time. That works out to about $2000 per month after taxes. Later, he would describe this time period as follows:
“My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. The only money I had coming in was off of Canadian TV.”
In 2006, Aubrey, who was now using his middle name “Drake” as his stage name, began releasing mixtapes, inspired by rap legends like Jay-Z who obtained record deals after becoming popular as independent artists. He released his debut mixtape “Room for Improvement” in February 2005 on his website and his MySpace page. He was able to sell almost 6,000 copies directly. The following year, he released his second mixtape, “Comeback Season.”
He distributed the mixtape on his newly formed label, October’s Very Own (aka OVO Records). This mixtape included “Replacement Girl,” which became a successful underground tune. The song’s music video was the first to be shown on BET by an unsigned Canadian rapper. One version of the song used a sample of “Man of the Year” by Brisco, Flo Rida, and Lil Wayne. Jas Prince, the founder of Rap-A-Lot Records and a Houston-based producer, heard the song and recommended it to Lil Wayne. Lil Wayne was pleased and phoned Drake to invite him to join him on his Tha Carter III tour in Houston. Throughout the tour, Drake and Wayne created and recorded many songs, including “Brand New,” “Forever and Ransom”.
Despite popular belief, Drake had not yet signed with Wayne’s record company. In 2009, he released his third mixtape, “So Far Gone”. He made the mixtape available for free download on his OVO website. Lil Wayne, Lloyd, Trey Songz, Omarian, and Bun B all made cameos on the album. The mixtape was certified Gold by the RIAA after being downloaded 2000 times in its first hour and reaching at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The mixtape was subsequently published as an EP, which peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2010.
Drake, who was still an independent musician, was suddenly in high demand in the music industry. A bidding war ensued, with numerous labels vying for his signature. The urgency has been dubbed “the biggest bidding war in music history,” however this has yet to be proven. Drake inked a contract with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment on June 29, 2009. Young Money and its parent firm Cash Money collaborated on the record contract, with Universal Music handling distribution.
On June 15, 2010, Drake’s debut studio album “Thank Me Later” was released. The album debuted at number one in both Canada and the United States. In the United States, it topped the Billboard 100, R&B/Hip Hop, and US Rap charts. The RIAA finally certified it Platinum. His second studio album, “Take Care,” debuted at number one in various countries and charted six times platinum. Since then, every album has gone at least four times platinum.
Drake is one of the most dominant and successful figures in hip-hop and the music business as a whole. He has collaborated with a slew of music’s greatest names, including Kanye West, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Travis Scott. Drake has received several award nominations. As of this writing, he had received over 180 major prizes, including four Grammys, from over 40 nominations. Drake grosses approximately $1 million per concert
Drake has sold the most digital singles in history. He has sold over 163 million digital singles as of this writing. That’s 40 million more than Rihanna, who came in second. With an estimated 26 million records sold, is the 80th best-selling musician of all time in terms of album sales. This places him third all-time in Canadian music sales, after only Shania Twain (48 million) and Celine Dion (50 million).
Assets
Despite being born in Canada, Drake has lived in Hidden Hills, California since 2012, when he paid $7.7 million in cash for a huge property from the previous owner of Los Angeles’ Saddle Ranch Bar. The property dubbed the YOLO Estate, includes many houses, including a 12,000-square-foot main house and a 2,000-square-foot party house. The estate includes horse stables, a 25-person movie theatre, a full-sized basketball court, a sand volleyball court, and one of Southern California’s largest privately-owned pools. His lagoon-style pool, which wraps around the outside of the home, includes numerous waterfalls, a swim-up bar, an 80-foot water slide, and a Playboy-style grotto.
Drake confessed to Rolling Stone that he had his eye on this home for years after Googling “craziest residential swimming pools” and finding it as one of the results. For years, he used a snapshot of the pool as the background image on his computer as incentive. The mansion was offered for $27 million by the previous owner in 2009. When the previous owner ran out of funds in 2012, Drake rushed in and purchased it for $7.7 million.
He expanded his property in 2015 by purchasing the neighbouring 1.6-acre estate for $2.8 million. He expanded the home once again in 2018, spending $4.5 million to purchase another neighbouring house. His private home currently includes 6.7 acres of contiguous land at the end of a cul-de-sac worth $15 million in real estate purchase expenditures alone. Drake offered the YOLO Estate for $22.7 million in March 2022. A buyer might potentially purchase the principal residence for $14.8 million.
Drake paid $6.7 million in 2016 to purchase a block of land in suburban Toronto known as The Bridle Path. On the two-acre land, he proceeded to construct a 50,000-square-foot home. The home has a 10-car garage, a regulation-size NBA basketball court, a gym, an awards room, and other amenities. The master bedroom is 3,200 square feet on its own. He also owns a downtown Toronto apartment.
Drake was believed to have struck an agreement to purchase British musician Robbie Williams’ 20-acre Beverly Hills estate on March 8, 2022. Drake spent $75 million in an off-market transaction. Drake offered the Beverly Hills property for sale for $88 million in May 2023, a little over a year after purchasing it for $75 million.
Drake showed his freshly purchased Boeing 767 private plane, christened (and painted) “Air Drake,” in a video posted on Instagram in May 2019. According to the video, Drake is happy to own the plane outright, declaring that there is “no rental, no timeshare, no co-owners.” A comparable model and grade private aeroplane would cost between $75 and $100 million.
Drake was initially listed to Celebrity Net Worth in November 2009, with a net worth estimate of $1 million. He has only recently joined Lil Wayne’s Young Money label. By 2012, his net worth had surpassed $25 million. By 2014, he had earned more than $45 million. By late 2016, he had surpassed the $80 million mark for the first time. He quickly surpassed $100 million by early 2018 because of his astounding near-$100 million earnings in 2017. His net worth surpassed $150 million for the first time in May 2019.
Drake has promoted several big companies throughout the years, most notably Sprite, Burger King, Whataburger, Nike, and Apple. Drake earned a $19 million exclusive agreement with Apple Music when it first launched. This agreement made Apple the exclusive first home for all of Drake’s future solo releases. Drake established his own record label, OVO Sound, in 2012, which is distributed by Warner Bros. Records. In addition to Drake, OVO Sound now represents artists including PartyNextDoor, Majid Jordan, Kash Doll, and producers like Boi-1da, Future the Prince, Mike Zombie, and others. He is the Toronto Raptors’ “global ambassador” and throws an annual Drake Night with the team.
Drake debuted Virginia Black, his own bourbon-based whisky, in 2016. In the first week after its introduction, the firm sold 4,000 bottles. Later that year, the business shipped another 30,000 units.
Drake’s first headline tour was the “Away From Home Tour” in 2010. He will embark on five more headline tours in 2019. He has also co-headlined four tours, including one with the rap trio Migos in 2018. His 2016 “Summer Sixteen Tour” was the highest-earning hip-hop tour of all time, generating $84.3 million from 54 gigs. That works up to a gross of $1.56 million per show. His Migos co-headlining tour eclipsed that record in 2018, grossing $80 million over 43 dates. That works up to an average of $1.86 million per show. Every year, Drake hosts the “OVO Fest” festival in Toronto, which sells out quickly.
Drake has an ongoing residency at Las Vegas’ XS Nightclub, which may easily make him $500,000 for a single performance. For a more formal show, he now makes more than $2 million.
Net Worth
Drake is a $250 million net-worth Canadian-born actor, producer, and rapper. Drake is routinely one of the world’s highest-paid performers. Drake began his acting career on the hit Canadian television series “Degrassi: The Next Generation.” However, it was music that made him a household name throughout the world, and he has been composing or recording successful single after successful track since 2006. His debut studio album, “Thank Me Later,” debuted at the top of the hip-hop charts in 2010, and he hasn’t stopped since. He has relentlessly travelled, featured on several music programmes and award events, and, in general, worked hard to establish as large a fan base as possible.
Drake has made more than $430 million in his career before taxes and living expenditures since first achieving widespread recognition. Drake made $45 million between June 2017 and June 2018. He earned a total of $95 million in 2017. He made $75 million between June 2018 and June 2019. He made $50 million over the next 12 months. Scroll down to get a year-by-year breakdown of Drake’s earnings.
Facts
| Net Worth | $250 Million |
| Date of Birth | Oct 24, 1986 (36 years old) |
| Place of Birth | Toronto |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 6 ft (1.83 m) |
| Profession | Actor, Singer, Songwriter, Rapper, Voice Actor, Composer, Record producer |
| Nationality | Canada |
