This week we’re talking about the biggest Canadian rap and pop artists of all time! He’s a man who broke through the ceiling of Canadian hip-hop and made it to mainstream success across the globe. For many outside of our country, he put the 6 on the map. This week is all about Drake.
Yeah, I know. I never thought we’d talk about him either… but here we are! And for good reason, too. Drake has been named the artist of the 2010s by publications like The Insider and ruled the charts (as well as hearts and minds) since his come up in the late aughts. We chat about his beginnings on the Canadian TV screen with Degrassi: The Next Generation to his signing with Young Money to his reign as one of the biggest artists in the world (and all that entails including his beefs with Pusha T, Kanye West, and Meek Mill).
Where to start with the 6 God? Well, he’s a worldwide powerhouse and musical icon from Toronto, Ontario (known by many as the 6) who is ranked as the highest-certified digital singles artist in the United States by the RIAA. He has won has won four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, a record 34 Billboard Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and three Juno Awards. Oh, yeah, and he has 10 number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and holds countless other Hot 100 records. He’s had number one records in Canada, Brazil, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, America, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, France, The UK, etc. He’s smashed records on Spotify and Apple Music with over a 100 million plays in a single day. You can go pretty much anywhere in the world and find someone who knows and likes Drake. Not to mention his various business endeavours and branding, including OVO Sound, OVO Clothing, OVO Fest, Stake, Virginia Black bourbon, working with the Toronto Raptors as a brand ambassador and sitting on the team’s board, entertainment production on things like “Top Boy” and “Euphoria”, and owning a fragrance house. The man is a cultural icon and his impact cannot be denied. We’re sticking to the stats.
So, in this episode we basically try to recap as much as we can about his career, talk about some of his beefs and controversies, discuss what we feel are his best and worst albums, share some deep cuts that we really love, and marvel at all this dude has done in his career and for Toronto and all of Canada. We also talk about his waning quality over the course of his career, his ear for up-and-coming trends and artists, (most of) his albums aging well, his latest release “Honestly, Nevermind” being actually pretty dang good, and how he fumbled the ball with 2021’s “Certified Lover Boy”.
We’ll be back next week!
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