Like everyone who seems happy and thriving on the outside, Drake is also battling some tragedies in his life.
It may seem that everything in the life of a Canadian rapper and actor is absolutely perfect, but it’s actually not the truth. Drake has battled bullying, poverty and broken dreams like everyone else.
Drake comes from a biracial household where his father is a Black musician from Memphis, and his mother is a Jewish Canadian teacher. He grew up in a multicultural household with Jewish undertones and had his bar mitzvah, too.
Drake was 5 years old when his parents separated, and he stayed in Ontario with his mother. Though he grew up in an affluent neighbourhood, in reality, his mother rented a portion of a big house to keep Drake away from the shady neighbourhood and its influences.
After the divorce, his father was charged and jailed for drug possession. As a result, Drake spent more time with his mother. Though he has no complaints against his father, he wishes they lived close by and worked better to co-parent him.
Drake had two cakes that said “happy co-parenting” & “happy divorce” in the music video of his disstrack pic.twitter.com/LTrWgb5p1y
— Akademiks TV (@AkademiksTV) May 4, 2024
Being biracial, Drake was often a target of bullying in his school. The verbal bullying followed him from elementary to senior school. However, he was once beaten by a group of boys, too. He says that’s the only time he faced real violence from his peers. After a broken nose and several bruises, his self-confidence was also shattered.
Drake was almost 14 when he was scouted for Degrassi: The Next Generation. It was a reboot of the famous Canadian show, Degrassi. He played the role of Jimmy Brooks, who was later on confined to a wheelchair after a school shooting. During the Degrassi shooting, he was introduced to Rap by a fellow prisoner of his father.
do people really not know that Drake started his career as an actor on Degrassi? do you not know Jimmy? when Rick shot him, one of the genuinely nicest characters on the show, I wanted to scream at the writers for doing that to Jimmy! I used to like Aubrey Graham so much pic.twitter.com/0WHLT0gAEc
— Tea 🇭🇷 (@dreampai1) September 5, 2020
Drake had tasted the rap music, and he wanted more. He used to spend a lot of time in the studio writing music and singing. When the production house for Degrassi caught wind of it, he was asked to choose between music or acting, and Drake chose music.
He spent all his money on buying studio time and on his rap music, but he was far from tasting the success that he wanted. He went back to waiting tables and doing small jobs. He was back where he had started financially, but he still had the motivation to go ahead, and it finally paid off.
Now Drake is one of the richest rappers in the world with 5 Grammys and 55 nominations. His hits like “Hotline Bling,” “God’s Plan,” “Toosie Slide,” and “One Dance” all have ruled the charts, and fans worldwide love his music.
#GRAMMYs: Drake wins Best Rap Song for “God’s Plan” 🏆🎶 pic.twitter.com/PwIpPUfNGe
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) February 11, 2019
But life still had some lessons left for Drake. He was living a high life with money, alcohol and women. He met them, courted them and then left them without any contact, never realising the hurt he was causing to these women. But then he got a taste of his own medicine.
He met Rihanna just as she was coming out of an abusive relationship with Chris Brown. They spent a lot of time together, and people around them found them cute. But just like him, Rihanna wasn’t looking for anything permanent and left him high and dry. Though badly hurt at first, he later on clarified how he understood why she did what she did.
Drake, to calm his hurt, released a song Fireworks inspired by her, which he later apologized for, too.
After all the turbulence and trials in life, Drake is finally at peace and enjoying the success for which he worked so hard.
