About
Drake is the stage name used by Canadian actor and recording artist Aubrey Drake Graham, best known for his role as Jimmy Brooks on the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation and post-acting career as a recording artist.
Online History
On March 14th, 2007, the official @Drake[2] Twitter feed was launched for the then-cast member of Degrassi: The Next Generation. On May 23rd, 2009, the official Drake Facebook page[4] was created. On June 6th, the official Drake website[1] was launched, featuring biographical information, tour dates, music and videos of the artist. As of October 2013, Drake’s social media presence on Twitter and Facebook command more than 12.7 million followers and 31 million likes, respectively.
Music Videos
On November 25th, the music video for the song “Forever” was released on the DrakeVEVO YouTube channel (shown below, left), raking in over 53 million views and 170,000 comments in the next four years. On April 7th, 2010, the music video for the track “Over” was uploaded to YouTube (shown below, right). In the first three years, the video brought inmore than 64 million views and 100,000 comments.
On October 21st, 2011, Drake released the music video for the song “Headlines” on YouTube (shown below, left), receiving upwards of 49.8 million views and 79,000 comments in the following two years. On April 23rd, 2012, the music video for the song “Take Care” was uploaded to the DrakeVEVO channel (shown below, right). In the next 18 months, the video gathered over 91 million views and 76,000 comments.
On February 13th, 2013, Drake released the music video for “Started From the Bottom” on YouTube (shown below, left), which accumulated more than 84 million views and 173,000 comments within eight months. On September 25th, the music video for “Hold On, We’re Going Home” was published on the DrakeVEVO YouTube channel (shown below, right). In the first month, the video gained upwards of 11 million views and 24,000 comments.
On July 10th, 2015, Drake released his music video for the song “Energy”. Despite being only released on Apple Music, the video did well, getting over 14,000 likes, 2300 comments, and 3500 shares.
Related Memes
Wheelchair Drake
Wheelchair Drake is an advice animal image macro series that combines wheelchair-related puns with lyrics of music created by Drake, which first appeared on FunnyJunk in August 2010. The image template is based on a photograph of Drake’s wheelchair-bound teen character Jimmy Brooks in the teen drama TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Drake the Type Of
Drake The Type Of is a series of fan-written factoids that are presented as the personality traits of Drake, which typically take the form of tweets, comments and image macros. The earliest known tweet using the phrase “Drake the type of” was posted on Twitter in April of 2011.
YOLO
YOLO is an acronym for the phrase “you only live once”, which is often used as a hashtag to bring attention to exciting events or excuse irresponsible behaviors. On October 23rd, 2011, Drake posted a tweet using the phrase accompanied by a photo of himself standing on a balcony.
Drake’s song “The Motto” was officially released on November 29th and was followed by the official music video on February 10th, 2012. In just 21 days, the video accumulated over 450,000 views.
“Now she want a photo, you already know, though
You only live once: that’s the motto nigga, YOLO”
Drake Wearing Dada
Drake Wearing Dada is a photoshop meme based on a photograph of Drake taken during the shoot of his music video “No New Friends” in May 2013. The photograph quickly drew attention from his fans and hip hop music communities alike, mainly for the rapper’s wardrobe choice of Damani Dada, an athletic apparel and shoes company that was once popular among hip hop musicians in the 1990s, as well as his leaning posture.
Starbucks Drake Hands
#StarbucksDrakeHands is an Instagram hashtag associated with a series of videos in which people silently gaze at the camera while listening to Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home” playing in the background. The hashtag was inspired by a video by Californian barista Brody Ryan Curtis.
Drake’s “All These” Parody Lyrics
On November 6th, 2013, an anonymous Drake fan created @AllThese[5], a novelty Twitter account which features a series of tweets poking fun at the rapper’s pun-driven, melancholic style of lyrics, particularly his frequent use of the phrase “all these…” In the following week, the Twitter account garnered nearly 50,000 followers after a compilation of notable tweets were featured in a BuzzFeed[6] post titled “These Made Up Lyrics Might Be The Funniest Drake Meme Yet.”
If You’re Reading This Cover Parodies
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late Album Cover Parodies is a photoshop meme parodying the cover of Drake’s 2015 mixtape. The images consist of text written in crude block handwriting with the letter “E” tilted at a 45 degree angle, a style created by the street artist Jim Joe, nicknamed “Drakefont”. The parodies are mainly spread around Tumblr.
Meek Mill Drake Beef
The Meek Mill Drake Beef is an ongoing feud between Drake and rapper Meek Mill. On July 21st, rapper Meek Mill tweeted that he was tired of comparisons to Drake, saying that he doesn’t write his own lyrics.
Stop comparing drake to me too…. He don't write his own raps! That's why he ain't tweet my album because we found out!
— Meek Mill (@MeekMill) July 22, 2015
The tweet quickly hit over 100,000 retweets. The Twitter storm received coverage around the internet including Time[7], Perez Hilton[8], Billboard[9], and TMZ[10]. The next day former Nickelodeon actor Drake Bell responded to the tweet jokingly apologizing for not writing his own raps in years, receiving over 80,000 retweets and 77,000 favorites in a day.
Guys…@MeekMill is right…I haven't written my own rap in years…I'm sorry
— Drake Bell (@DrakeBell) July 22, 2015
Later that day, radio host of New York’s Hot 97, Funkmaster Flex leaked a reference track for Drake by his ghost writer, Quentin Miller. He later leaked more tracks of Drake’s, including R.I.C.O, Know Yourself, and Used To.
Drake released two songs in response to the accusations, Charged Up and Back to Back. Both songs were received highly, with Meek Mill’s comeback being panned and being labeled as both “Weak” and “Trash” by users of the sites Instagram and Twitter.
Search Interest
External References
[3]Drizzy Drake – Drizzy Drake
[5]Twitter – @AllThese’s Tweets
[6]BuzzFeed – These Made Up Lyrics Might Be The Funniest Drake Meme Yet
[7]Time – Meek Mill Claims Drake Doesn’t Write His Own Raps
[8]Perez Hilton – Nicki Minaj’s Boyfriend Meek Mill Is Getting In On A Twitter Feud Too -- One He’s Starting Up With Drake!
[9]Billboard – Meek Mill Calls Out Drake: ‘He Don’t Write His Own Raps’