Research Paper On Drake

1484 Words6 Pages

Drake, formally known as Aubrey Drake Graham, is a hip-hop recording artist who hails from Toronto, Canada. Graham was born to a Jewish- Canadian mother and African American father (McIntosh, Stanley, & Cowie, 2013). Initially starting his entertainment career as a child star on the hit Canadian television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, Drake has blossomed into one of contemporary hip-hop’s best acts and most successful artists (ibid). Drake’s accolades include over 70 Billboard Top 100 hits, 3 Grammys and recently being the first artist to have 20 simultaneous hits on the Hot 100 singles list (Trust, 2016). This has made him one of most outstanding Canadian artists in recent history. Alongside his many achievements, Drake has been …show more content…

Firstly, Drake’s image and background have allowed him to become Canada’s unofficial global ambassador. Graham’s genetic make-up reflects the multi- cultural or “cultural mosaic”, which has often been attributed Canada (Mackey, 2014, p. 2). Drake is of Jewish- Canadian and African American decent; religiously he was raised both Catholic and Jewish. His background, in and of its self, represents Canadian values: “the merging of different cultures and the tolerance for different beliefs (McKercher, 1983, p. 2b,27). Drake’s image is a microcosom of the various cultures that are presented in Canada. This is best expressed in a journal about music artists which states, “[is]Drake black or white? Is he Jewish or Catholic? Is he Canadian or American?” (Pope, 2016). Drake embodies all these different identities simultaneously without directly choosing one. In its own m Drake showcases Canadian culture through his use of different sorts imagery. An example of this is the cover art that he has used on his fourth studio album, Views from the 6. The cover art features a photoshopped Drake sitting atop of the CN Tower overlooking the city (Graham, 2015). “At 553 m, the CN Tower [was the former] the tallest freestanding man-made structure in the world (Lafkovici, Hussein, & Janischewskyj). By using this famous structure, Drake is quietly promoting the captivating sight that …show more content…

This remark may be evident through his co-signing of the annual Caribbean festival, Caribbana; but it is more prevalent in his music. More recently, Drake has been noted for dabbling with the Caribbean genres of Dancehall and Soca (Kenner, 2016). His homage to these genres has resulted in hit records such as “Work” featuring Rihanna and “One Dance”, Drakes only number 1 single to date. Because of the magnitude of the two records, it has further promoted the genres unique to the Caribbean. This observation is false because Drake has shown his affiliation with other cultures thought his career Drake has spoken about his Jewish background and brought his experiences to public attention. While living with his mother in Toronto, he was identified as being “different” in the Jewish community or being “too black”, and was taunted and called a “schwartze” (a derogatory Jewish word for black people) (Pope, A). Despite these early struggles of acceptance in his own community, Drake has grown to embrace his culture and now put it on display for the world to see.Through the medium of music videos, Drake displays his affiliations with the Jewish Culture. In the music video for his song “ Hell Yeah Fucking Right” (HYFR), Drake illustrates Jewish culture by featuring elements of the coming of age Bar Mitzvah ritual. In the videoDrake reads from the