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| The Certified Loverboy drops January 2021 |
He has one of the
most distinctive and recognizable voices. Who knew that a young actor who was
starring on a teen drama would become of the most successful rappers and
artists of the millennial generations? He is a representation of America at
this time a human snapshot of what African American/Biracial men are in the
country. He grew up with a Jewish mother and an African American father. I am
talking about no one other than Aubrey Drake Graham better known to his fans by
his middle name as Drake. He was born October 24, 1986 in Toronto, Canada. It
was destined for him to work in the creative arts and music field. His father
Dennis Graham was a percussionist for Rock & Roll legend and Hall of Famer,
Jerry Lee Lewis, his paternal uncle was a bassist for Sly and the Family Stone.
Drake’s mother was part of a very musical family. Family fact his grandmother
baby sat the future “Queen of Soul”, Aretha Franklin. So it seems it was
written in the stars for Drake to find himself in the entertainment world.
Drake got a hand when he was in his high school a classmate of his just
happened to have a father who was an entertainment agent. His classmate told
his father and next thing Drake landed a role in 2001 for the Canadian teen
drama series, Degrassi: The Next Generation. He starred as “Jimmy ‘Wheelchair
Jimmy’ Brooks” who becomes permanently wheelchair bound when he is shot by a
classmate.
Drake loved acting
so much his attention was taken away from his academics and he wanted to pursue
acting further and focused on acting career. He starred on Degrassi from eight
years and left the show in 2009. He decided to focus on his music career. In
2006 he released his first mixtape, “Room for Improvement” and sold a modest
6,000 sales. He followed that with a 2007 follow up, “Comeback Season”. Towards
the end of his career with Degrassi he considered a normal nine to five job.
His luck gave him another hand again. He received an unexpected phone call from
Lil’Wayne who asked him to join him on his Carter III tour during that time he
was taken under Lil Wayne’s wing. He became a mentor to him and he was groomed
further for the switch from the acting world to the rap world. He released
“Best I Ever Had” a song dedicated to his former significant others. “Best I
Ever Had” reached number two on the Billboard Charts in 2009 and he followed up
with another smash hit, “Successful”, ft. Trey Songz. It was a smash hit and
went gold and made it to the Rolling Stone magazine’s 25 best songs on 2009. I
remember that the whole Young Money record label, squad and Drake as a solo
artist had hits playing consistently on the radio, the internet, and social
media platforms. My friends and I were dancing partying to these songs at
nightclubs from New York, Jersey, and Las Vegas. So Thank you Drake you gave us the soundtrack
to our lives for many summers and you still are. On June 15, 2010 “Thank Me
Later” Goes Number One and Take Care his sophomore LP wins a Grammy. He earns
the title as a “The Prince of Hip Hop”.
If you listen to
how many hits Drake had during this time on his first album I can say honestly
probably every song was a hit actually. He had A list stars on his album
featured executive produced his album along with him. He had Swizz Beats,
Alicia Keys, Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, and so many other
producers were featured on his debut album. His millions of fans today say
“Where did this Drake go?” what happened to this star. He still has that swag,
star quality, and confidence in his lyrics. As he’s evolved as an artist but he
took a different turn in his career it was more about battling other hip hop
artist throughout his career. He has had some controversy as he has evolved as
an artist. Feuds with other artist in his inner circle, even artist he
collaborated with like Kanye, Jay-Z, and more.
His battles never lasted long though he continued to pursue his career
and evolved as an artist. In 2013, he followed up with “Started from the
Bottom” from his 2013 hit album, “Nothing was the same”. He followed up and
managed to continue slamming the Billboard charts. He released several mixtapes
in between and collaborated with other artist like Alicia Keys, Rihanna, The
Dream, Future, Tyga, The Game, and many more. In 2015, he went back into the
studio and followed up with his fourth studio album, “Views” it debuted in the
spring of 2016 at Number 1 again with the famous and well known hit, everyone
remembers, “Hotline Bling” even AT&T got in on the song and SNL did a
parody as well.
He has done
nothing but continue to make smash hit after hit. 2018 he released one of my
other favorite albums, ”Scorpion” with “Nice for What” a song dedicated to all
of the strong, independent, successful women who really shouldn’t let anyone
ever try to disrespect or take advantage of who they are. I love that song
there’s something about his lyrics is he always adds a few lyrics that stick to
women’s minds. One of my personal favorites is “Fancy” he wrote and recorded
with “Swizz Beats”, “T.I.”. He has an appreciation for women if you pay attention
he’s observant and he knows how to make you feel confident in his bars he spits
over his verses. Pay close attention the next time he is speaking to the women
on a level you never even realize. So I appreciate that in his lyrics. One thing I admire about him as a writer is
you can tell everything comes from an authentic place. There’s no one saying ok
change this, or we can change his image here. His image is more of a rapper who
will make you think critically, he can finesse you in his lyrics, but still
make you want to party, dance, and play his music for other people too. I have
to give it to him he shocked and impressed me when he teamed up with Chris
Brown on “No Guidance” stayed consistently on radio, internet streaming via
social media, and music streaming allowed the song to stay on Billboard charts
for 24 weeks. This was a surprise but it allowed people to see he had grown and
evolved where he can shut down rumors, gossip stories, blog entertainment
stories. He can show that I can collaborate with anyone if I want to continue
transforming and expanding as a recording artist.
So from “Thank Me
Later” to “Certified Lover Boy” he has grown and he’s in a different lane in
his career. After 10 years and more he has proven himself as an all around entertainer
and hip-hop recording artist. I would love to ask why “Certified Lover Boy”? Because
of his ability to sing and rap in his songs, his connection to his female
audience, or because his image has evolved and changed since then he knows how
to connect to a wide range of people and his fans too. He appreciates a range
of music you can hear it in the musical influences he’s had in his songs. He
doesn’t sound like anyone else in his songs. He has an original sound in his
music. Certified Loverboy is going to give his fans a different side to his
music. It’s a celebration of his glory days. You can hear it on “Laugh Now Cry
Later”, “Life’s Good” ft. Future. You
see that he’s now in a place of creating and making great music for his
projects.
From looking at Drake’s interviews,
music videos, and projects this is what sums up his career, his work ethic, and
how he approaches his music.
I would say this is the best way to
define him as a hip-hop artist in this generation. He can battle women and men
in the rap game and still come out on top. He can finesse the ladies and stomp
on the chest of his male rap counterparts through rapping his bars.
“No competition
against anyone he just want to create challenges to become an evolutionary and
a well orchestrated artist”. He’s up to taking himself and his music into
different genres and areas. That’s part of becoming a recording artist you’re
not afraid to work with different people, genres, tempos, musical beats, live
music, and using authentic moments for your songwriting. So get ready to turn
up, get lit, get lifted, party, dance, have fun, and appreciate the artist and
person who creates the music.
Certified Loverboy
comes out January 2021. Stay tuned for more information visit http://www.drakerelated.com and http://www.ovosound.com
Check out the
Certified Loverboy athleisure outfits online. Also follow him on all social
media platforms.
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