Aubrey Drake Graham born October 24, 1986 is a Canadian actor, rapper and singer. He is best known for playing Jimmy Brooks, the physically disabled character on Degrassi: The Next Generation.



As a rapper, he performs under the mononym Drake, and is often billed as the new version of The Fresh Prince.



Graham was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Dennis Graham, a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis; his uncle is a musician Teenie Hodges.



His father is African American (a native of Memphis, Tennessee) and his mother is a white Jewish Canadian.



His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised by his mother in Toronto's wealthy Forest Hill neighbourhood, attending elementary school at Forest Hill Public School, and high school at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he began acting.He also spent many summers with his father in Memphis.



In 2001, Graham began his acting career, playing the role of Jimmy Brooks, the physically disabled character on Degrassi: The Next Generation.



In February 2006, Drake released his first mixtape:Room For Improvement. It was made available via his website and official MySpace page. From the success of his first mixtape, he later began releasing more, capitalizing from the buzz. In 2007, he released Comeback Season and in 2008, he released Heartbreak Drake. None of which were as successful as his mixtape, So Far Gone, which included Drake's mentor Lil Wayne, and members of Young Money.While working on his mixtapes, Drake worked with Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Robin Thicke and Little Brother. Drake has also written for Jazz Cartier, Bishop Brigante and Dr. Dre.



His current album,Thank Me Later is out in stores now.