Drake's Early Singing Lessons and Rise to Fame
Aubrey "Drake" Graham has become a dominant force in the music industry. With numerous accolades, including 4 Grammy Awards from 44 nominations, and a record-breaking number of charted songs on the Billboard Hot 100, Drake has solidified his position as a musical mastermind. He is also credited with bringing Toronto to the forefront of the music scene and pioneering the "Toronto sound," drawing inspiration from artists like Kanye West and Jay-Z. Drake, along with contemporaries such as Wiz Khalifa and Kid Cudi, represents a generation that rose to prominence through internet mixtapes.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Born in Toronto on October 24, 1986, Aubrey Graham experienced a challenging upbringing. He spent his early years on Weston Road in Toronto's working-class West End before moving to the more affluent Forest Hills neighborhood in 2000. His father, Dennis Graham, a Black Catholic from Memphis, Tennessee, was a drummer for Jerry Lee Lewis.Even after moving to a more stable environment, Aubrey faced difficulties. He was bullied in school for being biracial and Jewish. Despite attending a largely Jewish high school, he felt like an outsider. In 2010, he expressed to Heeb Magazine, "Nobody understood what it was like to be black and Jewish." However, Graham proudly embraces his Jewish heritage.
His life took a turn at 15 when he ventured into acting. A friend's father, an acting agent, recognized Graham's charismatic personality and persuasive skills, leading to a role on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Graham portrayed Jimmy Brooks, a basketball player who becomes paraplegic, earning a $40,000 salary. He appeared in 100 episodes between 2001 and 2008, using his acting career to support his ailing and impoverished mother. Drake dropped out of high school to pursue acting but later earned his degree in 2012.
While acting, Graham began writing rap music, inspired by his father's cellmate who would rap to him over the phone. On February 14, 2006, he released his first mixtape, Room for Improvement, adopting the stage name Drake. Self-released under All Things Fresh, which later became his label October's Very Own (OVO), the mixtape sold 6,000 copies in 2006. Featuring 23 tracks, many produced by Boi-1da, a long-time collaborator, Room for Improvement generated early hype for Drake. Even while still acting on Degrassi, Drake used this tape to showcase his bigger ambitions as a rising MC. He was arrogant and flashy, and possessed confidence as if he was already at the top when this debut project was released.
Tracks like "Make Things Right" showcased Drake's lyrical talent over soulful beats by Boi-1da. The production was cohesive, featuring Trey Songz. However, the mixtape's title, Room for Improvement, reflected Drake's vocal inconsistency, with his voice sounding labored on some tracks, revealing his inexperience. The mixtape served as a platform for developing his style, foreshadowing the bars and melodies of his later work.
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On October 24, 2007, Drake released Comeback Season, the second mixtape that defined his early career, under OVO. The tape features 24 tracks, most of which were produced by the same makers of tracks on Room for Improvement such as the likes of Boi-1da, 9th Wonder, and Noah “40” Shebib, an individual who would become Drake’s main producer for his entire career. This tape presented a more polished and confident Drake compared to Room for Improvement, sounding comfortable in his quest for stardom. The single "Replacement Girl" featuring Trey Songz, became one of his first hits, gaining popularity on BET's "New Joint of the Day." This achievement solidified Drake's presence in Toronto's rap scene, as he was the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have a music video featured on BET.
Comeback Season showed improvement in Drake's vocal consistency. On tracks like "Going in for Life," he paid homage to his heroes like Jay Z, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West by modeling his flows similarly to them, and it works. While lacking the R&B pop elements of his later hits, the mixtape helped establish an outline that Drake would fill in the following years.
In 2008, Drake faced a crossroads, juggling his role on Degrassi with his growing music career. Eventually, he was told to choose between the two.
The Breakthrough: So Far Gone
2009 marked a pivotal year for Drake with the release of his third mixtape, So Far Gone, on February 13th, once again under OVO. Prior to its release, the money from Drake’s time at Degrassi was dwindling and he was on the verge of pursuing a “regular” job. However, So Far Gone was received to critical acclaim as a masterpiece, and Drake became an overnight sensation. The mixtape was critically acclaimed and transformed Drake into an overnight sensation. So Far Gone also helped jumpstart the careers of Boi-1da and 40, both of which heavily contributed to the musical direction and engineering of the tape.
Drake effortlessly switches personalities in a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde style: on “Houstatlantavegas,” Drake complains about a stripper who is stuck in her job, unable to receive the love that he has for her. This tone of dismissiveness can be seen in Drake’s later projects, such as in “Star67” off of his surprise 2015 mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. It’s interesting to see him evolve the double personality early on in his career, balancing lines about lost love with the unforgiving tracks of fast-rap that cemented Drizzy as an emerging superstar. The mixtape was critically and culturally acclaimed. In this tape, Drake continues to evolve that confidence that he’s possessed since his first, amateur mixtape. However, now he has the experience and refined voice to back that confidence up in a very powerful way. Basically, So Far Gone just works, and it doesn’t have that awkward and almost forced inexperienced voice of Drake’s first two mixtapes.
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Standout tracks included "Successful" featuring Trey Songz and Lil Wayne, and "Best I Ever Had," which became Drake's first top-ten single, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. "Best I Ever Had" spent 24 weeks on the Hot 100, and was also the song that launched Drake’s campaign to eventually become the first-ever artist to log eight straight years on Billboard Hot 100. This run ended in 2017 with 431 consecutive weeks. The success of So Far Gone led to a bidding war among major record labels, with Lil Wayne's Young Money, distributed through Universal Music Group (UMG), ultimately signing Drake in June 2009 with a $2 million advance.
In August, Drizzy teamed up with Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem to produce “Forever” for Lebron James’ “More Than a Game” documentary. This track rapidly became Drake’s highest debut on the chart and is still one of his most recognizable songs to date. The hit single became Drake’s second number one on the Billboard Rap Chart, and was certified 6x Platinum by RIAA. By 2010, Drake was a more than rising star in the rap game, and there was much anticipation for his debut studio album, Thank Me Later, which he had first announced while touring with Lil Wayne and Young Money.
Thank Me Later: Debut Album and Continued Success
The breakout success of “Best I Ever Had” paired with the massive record deal with Young Money made Thank Me Later one of the most anticipated albums of 2010, and it lived up to the hype. Thank Me Later was released on June 15th, 2010, and was certified platinum in Canada in less than a week. In the introductory track “Fireworks,” Drake raps about his rapid success-a string of successful mixtapes, his hit singles, the Lil Wayne co-sign-being symbolized by fireworks popping all around him. Alicia Keys sings the chorus on the song over a smooth R&B style beat produced by 40. The introduction sets the precursor for the debut album: Drake is coming to terms with the overnight sensation that he has become, but is also being cautiously optimistic. In the track he raps about the consequences of fame, such as the fear that his sudden success would drive a wedge between him and his mentor, as well as the sudden, uninviting welcome into the world of Hollywood gossip and paparazzi.
Over is also the lead single for the album, and the lyrics also convey the theme of newfound stardom over a mid tempo orchestral beat engineered by Boi-1da. In the accompanying music video, Drake is reflecting on his rise to fame, struggling with the adjustment from his old life to the new one. This battle within the artist’s mind is something that I think is what makes Drake’s sound real.
Dionne Osborne: Drake's Vocal Coach
Drake's vocal development has been significantly shaped by his vocal coach, Dionne Osborne. In an interview with Jezebel, Osborne discussed her work with Drake and what makes him unique as a singer.
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Osborne, based in Atlanta, is a colleague of veteran vocal coach Jan Smith, who has worked with Usher, Keri Hilson, Justin Bieber, TLC, Whitney Houston and many more. Drizzy’s management reached out to work with Smith, who was on tour with Bieber at the time, and Osborne went in her place.
Osborne's primary goal was to transform Drake into "a singer who raps, not a rapper who sings." She recognized his natural vocal talent, describing his voice as "comfortable" and "conversational." She noted that "He wasn't singing at you, but singing to you. A lot of singers overdo it, try to bombast you, but Drake doesn't. And the average person can sing Drake's songs, and that's part of what they love.”
Osborne focused on refining Drake's live sound and encouraged him to support more from the diaphragm and the lower abs. She also emphasized the importance of diet and overall health, addressing his asthma and allergies.Osborne recalls one night in the VIP area of a club, Osbourne basically treated Drake like a parent would by making him drop the champagne bottle for some H20. “I’m like, ‘You don't think you're gonna drink this whole thing, do you honey? You can have a glass,” she recalled. "He looks at me like I'm crazy! So I call over the management and tell them Drake needs water, and they bring me a whole case! There are more and more people crowding in here, I'm getting crowded to the back, so I start passing a bottle of water through the crowd. His bodyguards are all looking back at each other, like, ‘What is this?’ And I'm just mouthing, ‘Give it to Drake.’" "Finally it gets to Drake, and the bodyguard just points right at me. Literally, Drake's shoulders go down six inches. Totally resigned. But, he drank the water."
Osborne emphasizes the importance of vocal training for hip-hop artists, noting that they are often underserved in the industry. She educated Drake's tour group on how to support him on the road, including the use of humidifiers to combat dryness.
Osborne also worked with Drake on his ability to infuse his rap with discernible pitch. She explained to him that because he was rapping over music, the music has a key. There are eight pitches he can choose from. Once he heard how much better the whole song sounded, he took off with it. As a musician, it makes it so much more listenable to me. Osborne also encouraged Drake to flow directly from his raps into melodies and back, connecting his flow.
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