Drake is living the high life. Claire Hoffman gets up close and personal with the rising hip-hop sensation
April 2012The backyard of Drake's mansion is indistinguishable from the set of one of those late-night Lifetime soft-core romance flicks. Waterfalls gush all around, surging over enormous boulders. Bronze animals—lions, elephants, giraffes!—checker the lawn, glimmering in the last light of the San Fernando Valley sun. A giant fire, fit for a king from Middle-earth, burns in an outdoor fireplace, and a flat-screen TV plays Sixteen Candles.
In the foreground of this lady-fantasy tableau sits Drake, who has the six-one body of a well-built man but the dodgy eye contact of a teenager. (At first, anyway.) He awaits me on a couch with more chintz pillows than I can count, wearing baggy jeans and Jordans, his simple gray T-shirt accentuated by two long diamond-rope necklaces, lest I forget that he is 25 sittin' on 25 mil. At the ready are a bottle of chilled white wine and a pitcher of ice, for tonight we shall drink wine spritzers, his favorite beverage and also mine.
Dreams have come true for Drake, and tonight he looks to be in a sharing mood. He's going to ignore my pen and my tape recorder and my list of questions and open up his soft, emotive heart as if we were on the most amazing first date ever.
Less than four years ago, he was just Aubrey Drake Graham, a high school dropout and former child actor writing rhymes in the basement of his mom's house in Toronto, stopping only to trip out on text messages from girls or find out where that night's party might be. Drake's parents split up when he was 5, and he lived in a bifurcated world, between everyday life with his mom—affluent, white, and Jewish Canadian—and the special visits and occasional summers with his father, who's black, from Memphis, and a bit of a ne'er-do-well. When I ask him about his dad, his voice tightens, and he looks away. "Me and my dad are friends. We're cool. I'll never be disappointed again, because I don't expect anything anymore from him. I just let him exist, and that's how we get along. We laugh. We have drinks together. But I spent too many nights looking by the window, seeing if the car was going to pull up. And the car never came."
Still, he identifies with his father and his ability to hustle, to get what he wants while having a good time. "I've never been reckless—it's always calculated," Drake says. "I'm mischievous, but I'm calculated." So as a 15-year-old, with a successful acting career in motion, he quietly plotted his second act: hip-hop superstar.
GQ: What's the first rap album you listened to?
Drake: When my dad drove me to Memphis one time from Toronto, it was a 20-something hour drive. I brought my Doggystyle cassette. I asked him, "Dad, can I please play this? Mom won't let me play it in the house." He was like, "Yeah. You can play it for 20 minutes. And then we listen to an hour of my music."
Drake: When my dad drove me to Memphis one time from Toronto, it was a 20-something hour drive. I brought my Doggystyle cassette. I asked him, "Dad, can I please play this? Mom won't let me play it in the house." He was like, "Yeah. You can play it for 20 minutes. And then we listen to an hour of my music."
GQ: And what was that?
Drake: That was Al Green, that was the Spinners, that was Sade. That was Marvin Gaye. At the time, I was like, "Aw, man, come on, 20 minutes?" But it really was pivotal for me because I started listening to the melodies and the emotion in this music that he was playing me. It grabbed me maybe even a little more than that Doggystyle cassette did. I would say that I'm more moved by melody, even though I love to rap.
Drake: That was Al Green, that was the Spinners, that was Sade. That was Marvin Gaye. At the time, I was like, "Aw, man, come on, 20 minutes?" But it really was pivotal for me because I started listening to the melodies and the emotion in this music that he was playing me. It grabbed me maybe even a little more than that Doggystyle cassette did. I would say that I'm more moved by melody, even though I love to rap.
GQ: But did you want to be an actor when you were a kid?
Drake: That's all I wanted to do, at first. I loved music. I just didn't necessarily believe in music being the focus right away. But I used to watch, at the time, young kids that were poppin'—it was B2K and Bow Wow. It was that generation of the R&B group, and the sort of every song is a "girl" song—it was all targeted towards screaming girls—the Scream Tour. You remember?
Drake: That's all I wanted to do, at first. I loved music. I just didn't necessarily believe in music being the focus right away. But I used to watch, at the time, young kids that were poppin'—it was B2K and Bow Wow. It was that generation of the R&B group, and the sort of every song is a "girl" song—it was all targeted towards screaming girls—the Scream Tour. You remember?
GQ: Uh, is this like Kriss Kross?
Drake: No. This is after. This is like, when I'm old enough to say, "I want to be these guys" or "I want to be in that position." This is like a very young Chris Brown, a very young Lil Wayne. That was Scream Tour—any act that made the girls scream. There was definitely a point where I would watch that and be like, "Yo." I would watch these young kids and I would say, "Damn. I want to be there. I just want to do it different." Because it's like I didn't want my career to be based off of some of the things that they were known for, like having my shirt off.
Drake: No. This is after. This is like, when I'm old enough to say, "I want to be these guys" or "I want to be in that position." This is like a very young Chris Brown, a very young Lil Wayne. That was Scream Tour—any act that made the girls scream. There was definitely a point where I would watch that and be like, "Yo." I would watch these young kids and I would say, "Damn. I want to be there. I just want to do it different." Because it's like I didn't want my career to be based off of some of the things that they were known for, like having my shirt off.
GQ: Wait, so you were thinking about your career at 15?
Drake: Yeah, 15, 16, I mean, 17, 18, is when I was really getting into that hip hop phase, you know, and really studying the things that I needed to study as far as learning about flows and learning about lyrics.
Drake: Yeah, 15, 16, I mean, 17, 18, is when I was really getting into that hip hop phase, you know, and really studying the things that I needed to study as far as learning about flows and learning about lyrics.
GQ: So how did you end up on a TV show? [Degrassi: The Next Generation, a Canadian show.] You sound like an ambitious kid.
Drake: I was in class, and I used to always crack jokes in class. I was a good liar and a good talker. And this kid in my class was like, "Yo, my dad is an agent. You should go talk to him because you're good and you make people laugh." I was just good. I was my father's son. I was slick, you know? When it comes to knowing what to say, to charm, I always had it.
Drake: I was in class, and I used to always crack jokes in class. I was a good liar and a good talker. And this kid in my class was like, "Yo, my dad is an agent. You should go talk to him because you're good and you make people laugh." I was just good. I was my father's son. I was slick, you know? When it comes to knowing what to say, to charm, I always had it.
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