Aubrey Drake Graham is a Canadian rapper, singer, and businessman who built one of the most commercially dominant music careers of the streaming era, holding the record as the most-streamed artist in Spotify history and the first artist to surpass 500 million RIAA-certified units. Before turning to music, he spent nearly a decade as a child and teen actor, playing Jimmy Brooks on the Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, before releasing a series of independent mixtapes that led to a deal with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment.
Beyond his catalog, Drake has built a business portfolio spanning the OVO record label and apparel brand, and has been at the center of one of hip-hop’s most publicized recent feuds, a rap battle with Kendrick Lamar that led to an ongoing defamation lawsuit against his own record label, Universal Music Group.
Quick Facts
| Quick Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Aubrey Drake Graham |
| Date of Birth | October 24, 1986 |
| Age | 40 years, 1 day |
| Place of Birth | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Profession | Rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, businessman |
| Known For | Degrassi: The Next Generation; most-streamed artist in Spotify history; OVO brand |
| Years Active | 2001 to present |
| Education | Forest Hill Collegiate Institute; Vaughan Road Academy; did not graduate high school on schedule, later earned diploma in 2012 |
| Spouse/Partner | Not married; has had several publicly reported relationships |
| Children | One son, Adonis, born 2017, with Sophie Brussaux |
| Net Worth | Estimated between $250 million and $400 million as of 2026 (see Net Worth section) |
Who Is Drake?
Drake is a Canadian rapper and singer who has become one of the most commercially dominant recording artists of the streaming era, holding numerous Billboard chart and streaming records over more than fifteen years as a solo artist. Before his music career, he spent his teenage years acting, playing wheelchair-bound basketball star Jimmy Brooks on the long-running Canadian series Degrassi: The Next Generation, work he used in part to help support his mother while pursuing music on the side.
Drake’s blend of singing and rapping, a style he helped popularize within mainstream hip-hop, has produced a catalog of commercially dominant albums and singles since his 2010 debut, Thank Me Later. Beyond music, he has built the OVO record label and lifestyle brand and holds a reported partnership stake in the online betting platform Stake. His career has also been shaped by a series of high-profile public feuds, most recently and consequentially a 2024 rap battle with Kendrick Lamar that led Drake to file a defamation lawsuit against his own label, Universal Music Group, a case dismissed by a federal judge in October 2025 and currently under appeal.
Early Life and Childhood
Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Dennis Graham, an African American drummer from Memphis, Tennessee, who performed with musicians including Jerry Lee Lewis, and Sandi Graham, a white Jewish Canadian who worked as an English teacher. His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised primarily by his mother in Toronto’s Forest Hill neighborhood, though he spent many childhood summers with his father in Memphis.
Drake has described feeling somewhat out of place growing up as one of relatively few Black and Jewish students in Forest Hill’s largely white, upper-middle-class community, an experience that later informed some of his songwriting themes around identity and belonging. He began writing songs at around age ten, well before his acting career began, showing an early interest in music that would eventually become his primary creative outlet.
Education
Drake attended Forest Hill Public School before continuing to Forest Hill Collegiate Institute for high school, where he first became involved in acting. He later transferred to Vaughan Road Academy’s Interact program, a track designed for students with significant outside commitments in the arts and athletics, alongside classmates including future actor Elliot Page. As his acting and, later, music commitments intensified, Drake did not graduate from high school on the standard schedule, later completing his diploma retroactively in 2012, well after he had already become an established recording artist.
How Drake Started His Career
Drake’s entertainment career began not in music but in acting. At around age fourteen, a school friend’s father, who worked as an acting agent, recognized his potential and helped him secure an audition, leading to his casting as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation in 2001. The role, a basketball star who becomes paralyzed after being shot by a classmate, made Drake a recognizable young actor across Canada and, through the show’s broader syndication, internationally, and he has said the roughly $40,000 per season he earned from the role helped support his mother during a period when she was managing significant health and financial difficulties.
While still appearing on Degrassi, Drake began writing and recording music independently, building a home studio and increasingly splitting his time between acting commitments and late-night recording sessions. He released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement, in February 2006, followed by Comeback Season in 2007, independent releases that built his reputation within Toronto’s hip-hop scene even as his acting career continued.
Breakthrough and Rise to Fame
Drake’s definitive breakthrough came with his third mixtape, So Far Gone, released in February 2009, which included the single “Best I Ever Had” and drew significant mainstream attention, catching the interest of rapper Lil Wayne. Drake’s connection to Wayne came through Jas Prince, son of Rap-A-Lot Records founder J. Prince, who helped get Drake’s music directly to Wayne; Wayne was impressed enough to invite Drake to join his I Am Music tour and subsequently signed him to his Young Money Entertainment label.
Drake left Degrassi in 2008 after appearing in the show for seven years and 100 episodes, later revealing in a 2010 interview that he was effectively “kicked off” the show for juggling both careers, unable to consistently balance long days on set with late nights recording music. His debut studio album, Thank Me Later, followed in 2010, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and marking his full transition from teen actor to major recording artist.
Career
Since his 2010 debut, Drake has released a string of commercially dominant studio albums, including Take Care (2011), Nothing Was the Same (2013), Views (2016), Scorpion (2018), and Certified Lover Boy (2021), several of which produced record-setting streaming and chart numbers upon release; Scorpion generated 745.92 million streams in its opening week in 2018, a record at the time. In 2026, he released three albums in relatively close succession, ICEMAN, Habibti, and Maid of Honour, continuing a prolific release pace more than fifteen years into his recording career.
Drake’s touring has become an increasingly significant part of his career and income, with his most recent tour, Some Sexy Shows, selling more than 6.2 million tickets worldwide. He holds the distinction of being the most-streamed artist in the history of Spotify, and became the first artist to surpass 500 million RIAA-certified units in the United States, a chart and sales milestone that reflects the sustained commercial dominance of his catalog across more than a decade.
Music Career
Drake’s musical style, blending melodic singing with rapping, helped popularize a hybrid approach that has become widely influential across mainstream hip-hop and R&B in the years since his emergence. He has worked extensively with producer Noah “40” Shebib, a close collaborator across much of his catalog, and has recorded frequent high-profile collaborations with artists across genres, from Rihanna to major hip-hop and pop contemporaries.
He won his first Grammy Award in 2013, for Best Rap Album for Take Care, following earlier nominations dating back to 2009 for “Best I Ever Had.” On Certified Lover Boy, Drake stated he had regained ownership of his masters through his OVO Sound label’s arrangement with Republic Records, rapping directly about the achievement on the album’s closing track, though the long-term structure of that ownership arrangement has not been fully detailed publicly.
Business Ventures and Endorsements
Drake founded OVO (October’s Very Own) in 2012, operating both as a record label, OVO Sound, which has signed and developed artists including PartyNextDoor and Majid Jordan, and as a lifestyle and apparel brand that has expanded into an internationally recognized fashion label with its own retail stores. In May 2026, investment firm Applied Real Intelligence provided senior secured loans and convertible note financing to OVO Sound, reinforcing the brand’s standing as a standalone commercial entity beyond Drake’s own recording career.
He signed a reported $400 million long-term partnership deal with Universal Music Group in 2022, and holds an endorsement and creative partnership relationship with Apple Music dating back to the platform’s launch. He has also held long-running partnerships with Nike and Jordan Brand, extending beyond a standard endorsement into product design and marketing collaboration, and holds reported investment and endorsement interests in the online betting platform Stake and the restaurant chain Dave’s Hot Chicken. These relationships vary between direct ownership, such as OVO, and paid endorsement or investment arrangements, such as his Stake partnership, distinctions not always consistently detailed across available reporting.
Awards and Achievements
Drake has won multiple Grammy Awards over the course of his career, including Best Rap Album for Take Care in 2013, from a broader field of Grammy nominations dating back to 2009. His catalog holds numerous Billboard chart records, including his status as the most-streamed artist in Spotify’s history and his position as the first artist to surpass 500 million RIAA-certified units in the United States.
He has also received a Young Artist Award in 2002 for his work on Degrassi: The Next Generation, an early recognition from his acting career prior to his transition into music.
Personal Life
Drake has had several publicly documented relationships over the course of his career without having married. He and Rihanna were connected on and off between roughly 2009 and 2016, a relationship he later described in interviews as one of the most significant of his life. He has also been linked in various periods to other public figures, though the precise nature and confirmation status of several of these connections have varied across media reporting, and this article treats less thoroughly confirmed relationships as reported rather than established fact.
In October 2017, French model and artist Sophie Brussaux gave birth to Drake’s son, Adonis. Drake did not publicly confirm his fatherhood until 2018, following rapper Pusha T’s diss track “The Story of Adidon,” which had revealed the pregnancy publicly before Drake’s own confirmation; Drake subsequently acknowledged Adonis as his son on his 2018 album Scorpion. Adonis frequently accompanies his father to public events, including NBA games and award shows.
Family
Drake remains close with his mother, Sandi Graham, frequently referencing her in his music and dedicating awards and career milestones to her; he has spoken about her health and financial struggles during his teenage years as a formative influence on his early work ethic. His father, Dennis Graham, has also remained a public presence in his life, including collaborating with Drake on various projects over the years. Drake has one son, Adonis, with Sophie Brussaux.
Drake Net Worth
Drake’s net worth is estimated between $250 million and $400 million as of 2026, with a meaningful spread across different financial trackers reflecting genuine uncertainty in valuing his privately held OVO brand and other business interests. Celebrity Net Worth has cited a figure of $400 million, a number echoed by several other entertainment finance outlets, while other analyses, including some citing Forbes-adjacent estimates, place his wealth in a more conservative range of $220 million to $260 million.
His wealth is drawn from several major sources: his 2022 Universal Music Group partnership, reported at $400 million; touring revenue, with his most recent tour selling more than 6.2 million tickets; streaming royalties from a catalog that has produced more than 500 million RIAA-certified units; his OVO record label and apparel brand; and endorsement and partnership income from relationships including Apple Music, Nike, and Stake. His real estate holdings include “The Embassy,” a roughly 50,000-square-foot Toronto mansion he built after purchasing the lot in 2015, and a Beverly Hills estate purchased for $75 million in 2022. Because Drake’s complete financial records are private and his major business interests are not publicly traded, published net worth estimates should be understood as informed approximations rather than a precisely audited figure.
Philanthropy and Social Impact
Drake has made a range of individual charitable and community gestures over the course of his career, including widely publicized instances of gifting cash and other items to fans and members of the public during promotional events and music videos. Detailed, itemized figures for his broader philanthropic giving are not consistently published across the sources reviewed for this article, so this section reflects his general pattern of public generosity rather than a formal, named charitable foundation.
Controversies and Public Debates
Drake’s most significant recent controversy stems from his 2024 rap battle with Kendrick Lamar, one of the most widely covered feuds in contemporary hip-hop history. After a series of escalating diss tracks, including Drake’s “Family Matters,” which made allegations regarding Lamar’s personal life, Lamar released “Not Like Us,” whose lyrics included the line “Certified Lover Boy, certified pedophile,” which Drake has characterized as a false and defamatory allegation of criminal conduct.
In January 2025, Drake filed a federal lawsuit against Universal Music Group, his own record label, rather than against Lamar directly, alleging UMG knowingly published and promoted “Not Like Us” despite understanding its central allegation to be false, and that the label’s promotion of the song directly endangered his safety; the lawsuit detailed three attempted home invasions at his Toronto residence, including one in which his security guard was shot, which Drake’s complaint connected to the song’s release. UMG defended its position in court filings, arguing “Not Like Us” falls within a genre “typified by inflammatory putdowns, epithets, fiery rhetoric, vulgarity and hyperbole,” and noted Lamar’s lyric came in response to Drake’s own allegations in “Family Matters.” In October 2025, a federal judge dismissed Drake’s defamation claim against UMG, ruling the lyrics constituted “nonactionable opinion” rather than a factual statement; Drake’s team has stated its intention to appeal, and litigation over related claims, including breach of contract, remained ongoing as of early 2026. This article presents the allegations, denials, and court’s ruling as documented in the case’s public record rather than as a settled matter beyond what the court has actually decided.
Cultural Impact and Legacy
Drake’s blend of singing and rapping has had a widely recognized influence on the broader direction of mainstream hip-hop and R&B since his emergence in the late 2000s, with numerous younger artists citing his melodic, genre-blending approach as a direct influence on their own work. His sustained chart dominance across more than fifteen years, culminating in his status as Spotify’s most-streamed artist in history, has made him a frequently cited reference point in discussions of how streaming-era metrics have reshaped what defines mainstream musical success.
His extended public feuds, including his high-profile battle with Kendrick Lamar, have also become a significant part of his broader cultural narrative, illustrating both the continued centrality of competitive rap battles within hip-hop culture and the unusual, largely unprecedented step of an artist pursuing formal legal action against his own record label over a rival’s song.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Drake? Drake is a Canadian rapper and singer, and the most-streamed artist in Spotify history, who began his entertainment career as a teen actor on Degrassi: The Next Generation.
How old is Drake? He was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
What is Drake famous for? He is famous for his commercially dominant music career, holding numerous Billboard and streaming records, and for his earlier acting role as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation.
What is Drake’s net worth? Estimates for 2026 range from approximately $250 million to $400 million, drawn from his music catalog, touring, his 2022 Universal Music Group deal, and the OVO brand.
Does Drake have children? Yes, one son, Adonis, born in October 2017, with French model and artist Sophie Brussaux.
Is Drake married? No. He has never been married and has had several publicly reported relationships, including with Rihanna.
What awards has Drake won? He has won multiple Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album for Take Care in 2013, and holds numerous streaming and chart records, including the most-streamed artist in Spotify history.
What is Drake’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group about? He sued UMG for defamation over its release and promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” alleging the song falsely accused him of pedophilia; a federal judge dismissed the defamation claim in October 2025, and Drake’s team has stated its intention to appeal.
Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Drake”
- Biography.com, “Drake: Biography, Grammy-Winning Rapper, Actor”
- ABC News, “Drake’s defamation case against record label UMG dismissed by federal judge” (October 2025)
- NPR, “New Drake lawsuit claims his label pushed ‘Not Like Us’ diss to defame him” (January 2025)
- Rolling Stone Australia, “Drake Sues UMG for Defamation, Harassment Over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us'”
- Celebrity Net Worth, Drake net worth profile (2026)
- Parade, “Inside Drake’s Net Worth in 2026 and How He Earned It”
- CBC News, “Drake talks Degrassi departure, movie dreams and Toronto romances”