Far from Over: The Music and Life of Drake

Far from Over: The Music and Life of Drake

The first biography of superstar rapper Drake At a time when album sales were plummeting, Drake’s 2010 debut album, Thank Me Later, went platinum, hit number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and spawned numerous Top 10 hits including “Over,” “Best I Ever Had,” and “Find Your Love.” His sophomore release, Take Care, also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, went platinum, and has been downloaded at a record pace. In Far From Over, award-winning writer and hip hop expert Dalton Higgins examines the life of Aubrey Drake Graham, whose path to superstardom has been anything but typical. Raised in Toronto’s upscale Forest Hill neighbourhood by his Jewish mother, the multi-talented entertainer first made a name for himself as an actor on the popular teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation before becoming one of the world’s most successful rappers. Featuring original interviews, Far From Over reveals the life story of a musician and actor whose star will only continue to rise. "Music writer Dalton Higgins combines original interviews and extensive research to tell the story of Aubrey Drake Graham." — The Globe and Mail (October 2012) "Any music library strong in hip hop culture will welcome this survey." —www.MidwestBookReview.com “Toronto music lovers holiday gift guide.” — BLOGTO "it's a good bet that Far From Over will become the definitive book about Drake for years to come." — Exclaim! Dalton Higgins is a "National" magazine award-winning journalist and is renowned as Canada's foremost expert on hip-hop culture. He is the author of "Fatherhood 4.0: iDad Applications Across Cultures," "Hip Hop," "Hip Hop World," and "Much Master T." His interviews, features, and reviews have appeared in several major rap publications in the United States. He lives in Toronto, Ontario. Far from Over The Music and Life of Drake, the Unofficial Story By Dalton Higgins ECW PRESS Copyright © 2012 Dalton Higgins All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-77041-001-5 CHAPTER 1 GROWING UP DRAKE: GRAHAM FAMILY VALUES Aubrey Drake Graham was born on October 24, 1986, the only child to an African-American musician father, Dennis Graham, who lives in Memphis, Tennessee, and a spirited white Jewish educator mother, Sandi Graham, who raised him in Toronto's predominantly Jewish Forest Hill neighborhood. She said that though he "was very fussy," he was a unique toddler who seemed very comfortable in the spotlight and loved to entertain. "We always thought there was something very different about this kid," Sandi admitted to Degrassi Unscripted. "When we had a piano at home and I would come home with my nursery rhymes, Aubrey at three years old swould take the lyrics and he would change them.... I realized then that other kids just didn't do that." The Graham household proudly displays photos of Drake's earliest playful forays into music. Included in this collection were pictures of Drake as a young child holding his first microphone and guitar (of the prescient picture, Sandi noted, "He was probably practicing for me"). There were also pictures from his dad's side of the family lying around, including one great picture of Drake sitting on his dad's lap, and another of his iconic musician uncle Larry Graham Jr. Drake's parents split up when he was only five years old, and because he was raised as an only child by his single mother, Sandi tried to keep him busy to mimic familial support. "Being an only child I always had him in a lot of activities," she said. "Whether it was day camp, group activities, hockey, a lot of things where he'd have to learn to be a team player." Looking back as a young adult, Drake reflected on his mother's successful strategy to keep him feeling engaged, focused and productive as an only child: "My mom signed me up for dance classes, piano lessons. She was trying to do anything to keep me occupied. Her main objective was keeping me from being aimless, just wandering the streets. She signed me up for hockey, basketball, music, dancing. I tried piano, I tried guitar and I couldn't stick with anything — until acting became my main focus." Encouraged by his good looks as a child and preternatural preschool charm, Sandi got a young Aubrey involved in TV and theater early on. "When Aubrey was about five years old I took him to this agent, and she really liked Aubrey, so he did print work, and a catalog, and a couple of commercials." Sandi also enrolled him in programs at Toronto's Young People's Theatre. While Drake downplays the influence of these early experiences on his present-day acting skills, observing, "It was really just a bunch of young kids acting really hyper, and then we'd throw on masks and call it a play," there's reason to believe it played a role in laying out a blueprint for success in the acting world. Drake does remember a shift between costumed playtime and his first really successful play, the theater's production of Les Misérables. He believed the audience enjoyed the pro