He's got just as much street cred as Harry Potter, but that isn't stopping Drake from becoming one of the biggest names in hip hop.
Unlike some of his rap peers, Drake didn't earn his stripes by selling drugs, has never been behind bars and doesn't wear gold teeth.
Instead, he grew up in a wealthy community in Toronto. He had a bar mitzvah as a child. And the closest he's come to being shot was when his character, Jimmy Brooks, was gunned down on the television show "Degrassi: The Next Generation."
Now Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, is about to blow up.
"I can't even believe it's happening," Drake, 23, said of his album release last week. "It's crazy. It's like the beginning of my journey, although I've come so far already."
Billboard.com predicted Drake would sell more than 400,000 copies of "Thank Me Later" in the first week alone, making it one of the top-selling debut albums of the year.
Drake was the top draw on Tuesday when more than 25,000 fans packed Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport for a free concert. The event, sponsored by Paper Magazine, was canceled before Drake even got off his tour bus after some in the crowd tossed chairs, bottles and flower pots. Two people were arrested, and seven were treated for minor injuries.
The young rapper said he was humbled so many people showed up.
Drake, who got the acting bug while in high school, made the transition from acting to hip hop by releasing a series of Internet albums known as mixtapes. It was his third mixtape, "So Far Gone," that created the most buzz with chart-topping hits "Best I Ever Had" and "Successful."
Without having released a conventional album, he garnered a Sprite endorsement, headlined Hot 97's Summer Jam concert and was nominated for two Grammy Awards.
Veteran hip-hop journalist Datwon Thomas isn't surprised by the Drake phenomenon.
"The thing that works for Drake is he has a clean-dude image, and he runs with [Lil] Wayne," said Thomas, editor of GlobalGrind.com. "Whatever street cred he needs, he has it."
Drake is signed to Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, and he has collaborated with megastars Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys and Jay-Z.
"The fact is he is multitalented vocally. He can rap, he can sing, he can write," Thomas said. "I would say that we're going to see him for a long time. I think he's going to have one of those Will Smith careers.
"Drake is way bigger than anyone thinks right now," he said.
But the "Find Your Love" rapper isn't worried about sales.
"I just want [the fans] to want another one," Drake told the Daily News. "I gotta put out a second one to get better, that's all."
Source: NY Daily News
Follow Me @ChasinMoPaper
}
Comments