Drake’s First Hit Album and Important Milestones

Videographer: Aaron McMurtry

Link to Image

Aubrey Drake Graham is the full name of the Canadian artist known as Drake. He was born in Toronto, Canada, on October 24, 1986, and is also an Actor, Business owner, and Artist. Drake started his journey to fame as an actor at the age of 15 on Degrassi, but it wasn’t until he released his third mixtape, So Far Gone, in 2009 that he began his music career.

He released his album called Thank Me Later on June 15, 2010. The album was an instant hit, pushing him to the top, and he has maintained his success since. Drake and his assistants produced the album over the course of about a year, from 2009 to 2010. The primary producers were 40 and Boi-1da, with contributions from many others, including Nicki Minaj, Swizz Beatz, Kanye West, and Alicia Keys. Thank Me Later touches on various topics like unrequited love, confessing feelings, women, and heartbreak. The album has 14 tracks in total. The most popular song on the Album is Fireworks,  featuring Alicia Keys. Keys backed up Drake with vocals in the melody of the song. “The tempos are slow, the beats are awash in gauzy atmospherics,” is how Rolling Stones described the song to sound like with accuracy. The album won awards like the Juno Awards for Rap Recording of the Year and was number 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. 

After his first hit, he then released Take Care in 2011. It has 17 songs and two bonus tracks. He won his first Grammy Award in 2013 because of this album and gained more recognition. In July 2015, he came out with Hotline Bling. Everyone loved his new catchy soundtrack, and due to its outcome, he received two more Grammy awards for Best Rap Song and Performed Song. He also made collaborations with Future and Rihanna, both being very popular artists, which gained him even more fame. After a few more singles and collaborations in between, for example, one with Travis Scott, they put out SICKO MODE together. He went on to release Certified Lover Boy, which came out on September 3, 2021. All 21 tracks made it onto the Billboard Hot 100. He also headlined the Wireless Festival with a surprise set. In November 2022, he released his most recent album, Her Loss, which was well-received by both Drake and 21 Savage fans. It had such a great critique that it won 2 BET awards for Best Artist and sold 404,000 copies.

Drake’s success and growth as an artist have given him new opportunities to connect with fans worldwide through his music, and he continues to climb the ladder of success. Drake’s rise to fame went from his first album’s success to becoming a household name.