Drake is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor who was born in Toronto in 1986. He gained recognition in the early 2000s for his role in the teen drama TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation, but left in 2007 to pursue a career in music. Drake's early mixtapes like 2006's Room for Improvement and 2009's So Far Gone were influential and helped grow his fanbase, featuring his inspirations like Jay-Z and Clipse. He has since released many successful studio albums between 2010-2016 and become one of the best-selling music artists of all time.