Politics of Hip Hop On the Map: Drake

Part one

Aubrey Drake was born on 26th September 1986 in Canada (Ostroff, 2012). He is a son of Sadi Graham, who was an tutor and Dennis Graham, a percussionist. Later on in his life, his parents separated, and he was raised by his mother. Despite this, it is important to state that his father played a significant role in shaping his music career. Drake has various occupations as he is a rapper, singer, song composer, record producer as well as an actor. Drake rose to popularity after taking part in the Degrassi: The Next Generation television show where he played the role of Jimmy Brooks 9 Graham, 2013). Drake's music is characterized by soft melodies and emotional words. Also, a major factor about his songs is the R&B and Canadian hip-hop features. Significantly, Drake integrates his singing with rapping which gives his music a unique character. 

Drake has been involved in progressive music since the year 2011 to date and since his entry into the music industry he has produced four studio albums. The first atelier album ‘Thank me later' was unconfined in 2010 which was supported by singles such as find your love, over, miss me and fancy. This first studio album managed to score the first position in the highest ranking of music albums and EPs on the US Billboard 200(Graham, 2013). On the following year, he produced the second album take care which increased his popularity as it topped in most of the record charts in both the US and Canada. The second album as significantly reinforced by three singles which are, take care, headline and lastly the motto. To increase and promote his second album, Drake took an international Club Paradise Tour in 2012 which saw him increase the sales of his album (Ostroff, 2012). The nothing was the same album the third one which was released in 2013 which was emphasized by two single of which one focused on his journey from the bottom and the second one was on going home. This year, he released his fourth album, a view which is the latest album and most successful as it sold more than one million units in the first week of its sale. It is also important to indicate that in 2015, Drake released two mixtapes ‘' if you are reading this it's too late and what a time to be alive''.

Additionally, Drake has other productions as he has five mixtapes, thirty-six music videos, at least seventy-seven singles and finally eight promotional singles (Graham, 2013). His music is recorded in various production records to include the Universal Motown Records, Universal Republic Records, young money entertainment, as well as cash records. His music has earned him various awards such as the Grammy Award, Juno, which he has worn for three times know and also Bet award which he has worn for six times. Additionally, in 2012 Drake achieved to establish OVO sound record together with his manager and producer. In his social life aspect, Drake is a member of the Forbes Five which is a form a club that classifies hip- hop musicians based on their wealth, and Drank is ranked as the fifth one (Ostroff, 2012). Lastly on his profile, Drake is a global ambassador representing his hometown basketball professional team.

Part two

Drake music and performance is still relevant to the hip hop due to his success in the music industry. First, he has worked with another artist to produce successful commercial collaboration, some of these collaborations include money to bow which he did with Birdman, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross (Ostroff, 2012). These collaborations among others have made him remain relevant in the music industry which has helped him to grow his music career as well as outdo his competitors. It is also significant to observe that his collaborations are made with artists who are already developed, hence, earning commercial gains from their popularity.

Secondly, Drake persistence excellent performance as indicated in his songs and albums topping in both Canadian and the US Billboard chart records has made him famous as well as his song. When he released his first studio album, it made it through up to position one in Canada and the US Billboard 200. Further, he is one of the artists that have most leading single songs on the billboards, for example, on the hot rap song chart and Hot R&B/ hip hop song Billboard charts, he has twelve and fourteen single songs respectively (Ostroff, 2012). This performance has given him the second position out of three artists with the majority of the songs on both charts. Also, the sales of his albums have high levels of certification as evidenced by his first studio album which received certified platinum from Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and also his albums and mixtapes are certified diamond awarded by Canada (Graham, 2013). This excellent performance in his music has made Drake an international artist who is relevant as his music still take the first position on the record chart.

As already mentioned, Drake is a member of Forbes Five, which classify hip hop artist on the ground of their wealth. Drake takes position five of all hip hop artists in the group (Graham, 2013). Clearly from the classification, Drake is among the richest hip hop artist, and this makes him significant and relevant in hip hop music. His financial position gives him a priority in his music area over another artist who are not financial stable as he is. Additionally, due to his financial capability, he can produce quality music and video which in turn yield more sales resulting from high demand and popularity of the album.

He is also significant because he create words and phrases that are warmly accepted by musicians of different genre and also the general public. For example, he popularizes with the term ‘YOLO' in his song ‘The Motto" which was widely accepted by the US population and the name is now used in naming restaurants, cultural institution and albums among other things. He called his hometown as ‘the six' and people have started using it to refer to Toronto (Ostroff, 2012). This is an indication of his ability to influence a population which is important as it enables him to remain relevant to his fans.

Part three

Due to its large population, Ontario is a home to many Canadian musicians. The city is well known as a home for the English Canadian music industry as well as individual musicians; also it is a destination for another Canadian musician from different cities who settle in the province to advance their knowledge in music (Morey, 2013). Hamilton, a port town in Ontario, is one of the attractive centers that have played a significant role in Canadian music as it provides a friendly environment for video production. Also, the presences of art galleries where the artist can borrow some artistic ideas, recording studios and independent film production have attracted many artists to Ontario.

Toronto city is also famous due to the existence of two renowned orchestras Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, which plays a significant role in promoting a singing culture due to the availability of singing instrumentalists (Morey, 2013). The province is also reaching regarding institutions that provide learning and exposure opportunity to young and growing artist, and such institutions include; the Royal Conservatory of Music, Nationwide Art Center, and also venues to conduct concerts such as Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall (Morey, 2013). Further music talent is reinforced by the availability of numerous recording labels which make it easy for the musician to record their music due to a variety to choose from and also their availability. Lastly, Ontario province is among those areas with the largest music schools in Toronto hence attracting more musicians into the province.

Conclusion

Drake is one of the youngest Hip hop musicians when it comes to experience in music, but he has done great and is far much ahead of most of the old musician. His father and his hometown city played a significant role in shaping Drake to who he is today in the music industry. He combines both singing and rapping which gave his songs a unique feature. Also, his music is characterized by emotion and soft tone which make it acceptable for many people. It is evidence from the high literature that Drake is among the top ten hip hop musicians regarding leading music and wealth, hence, a significant figure in hip hop music.

References

Graham, A. D. (2013). Drake (entertainer ). The Jamie Foxx Handbook-Everything you need to know about Jamie Foxx, 162.

Morey, C. (2013 ). Music in Canada: research and information guide . New York: Garland Pub.

Ostroff, J. (2012). Aubrey Graham: from Degrassi to Drake . The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March, 24.