# Talk:Drake (musician)

https://www.complex.com/music/a/complex/drake-talks-young-money-kanye-comparisons-ghostwriting
This former Canadian TV star has become one of hip-hop's most anticipated rookies. Get familiar with this exclusive Q&A.
BYCOMPLEX
May 29, 2009
Drake: "How I got into rapping was, my dad was in jail for two years and he shared a cell wit this dude who didn't really have anyone to speak to. So, he used to share his phone time with this dude and at the time I was probably 16 or 17, this dude was like 20-22, and he would always rap to me over the phone'it was Poverty, that was his rap name. After while I started to get into it and I started to write my own shit down. And after a while, he would call me and we would just rap to each other. And after my dad got out I kept in touch with dude and kept writing my shit down and eventually I learned from meeting people who were into music, too, the art of making a song and I accepted the fact that I wanted to be in music."

By Chris Lee
June 24, 2010 8:10 AM PT
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. 
https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2010-06-24/drakes-prison-correspondence-school-of-rap
“My dad went to jail for, like, a year on – I don’t even know what he was in jail for – an assault charge or a drug charge or something,” Drake recalled in an interview with The Times last month. “When he was in there, he had a cellmate who used to rap, but he had nobody to talk to. 
I was probably 14; the guy was probably 21. My dad was like, ‘My son likes to rap so I’ma let you rap for him. I’ma share my phone time with you. I’m going to pass you the phone and here’s my cellmate. Say what’s up to him.”  He continued: “The guy’s name was Poverty. He’d be like, ‘Let me spit something at you. I was like, ‘Whoah!’ And he’d spit something. ‘Alright, talk to you tomorrow.’”
Poverty coaxed Drake out of his shell and provided a de facto school of rap – even if the young MC eventually lost track of his hip-hop Yoda.
“Next day, my dad would call me. So I’d pick up and he’d pass the phone and the guy rapped again,” said Drake. “I had been writing raps but never rapped for anybody. I was like, ‘I’ma get my little rhyme book together tomorrow.’ And we’d go back and forth.

He should be listed as Canadian American not just Canadian Gopackgo009 (talk) 03:25, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

Reliable sources almost always refer to him as Canadian, not as Canadian American. Recent example from the New York Times Paul Erik (talk)(contribs) 03:30, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
True but he is still Canadian American Gopackgo009 (talk) 03:10, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
It is true he is a dual citizen. The article documents that. Paul Erik (talk)(contribs) 03:21, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that he's also American and has had significant activity in the United States as an American. So, following the Biography Manual of Style (see MOS:CONTEXTBIO), it's reasonable that he be described as Canadian and American in the lead. Even if reliable sources often refer to him simply as Canadian, he is also American, and that's what should be reflected in the lead per the style guidelines. RixToken2007 (talk) 09:15, 28 July 2025 (UTC)
He is a Canadian citizen due to being born in Canada but he also has American birthright citizenship from his father's being an American citizen. From the article he doesn't use his American citizenship and is based in Canada. Most sources describe him as Canadian. His activities in the US are transient performances much like any Canadian performer would do, he isn't based in the US. From the CONTEXTBIO perspective he should remains described in the lead as solely Canadian. It is also possible that he has renounced his American citizenship as there are significant financial advantages for him to do so, but nothing is in the article about that. The category list needs to be cleaned up to remove all American references. Geraldo Perez (talk) 07:18, 29 July 2025 (UTC)

Add "record producer" to the "Occupations" list. He has produced many songs in the past including "Back to Back" 66.188.206.52 (talk) 23:30, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Day Creature (talk) 00:40, 9 September 2025 (UTC)

I’m personally of the belief that we should say Canadian American instead of just Canadian but even if we don’t do that we should still not hide that fact
put him in the appropriate American categories not just the Canadian ones, add that in the personal life section, that shit Gopackgo009 (talk) 01:22, 13 September 2025 (UTC)

I disagree. See #Nationality above for why. Geraldo Perez (talk) 01:36, 13 September 2025 (UTC)
Sure but even for like the catagories at the bottom
legally he’s American  Gopackgo009 (talk) 01:57, 14 September 2025 (UTC)
Don't add categories that are not supported by what is in the article. See WP:CATVER and WP:NOTDEFINING. Geraldo Perez (talk) 02:40, 14 September 2025 (UTC)
Right but why not add the American equivalents to the Canadian categories we already have Gopackgo009 (talk) 02:52, 14 September 2025 (UTC)
Because he is a "Canadian rapper, singer, and actor". He is not an "American rapper, singer, and actor" so no "American" categories related to his notable occupations are supported by what is in the article. Geraldo Perez (talk) 03:06, 14 September 2025 (UTC)
No, Drake is not Canadian American, he is Canadian 2600:8802:3712:5100:C8E4:83AD:CADC:A738 (talk) 01:48, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

to make it better TheOhioRizzler24 (talk) 20:34, 20 September 2025 (UTC)

Please state exactly what changes you would like to see. Binksternet (talk) 20:52, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Charliehdb (talk) 14:39, 21 September 2025 (UTC)

I'd like to add information about the controversy regarding the old video of Drake kissing and fondling an underage fan on stage.
See citations from CBC & The Guardian, two extremely reputable sources
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/drake-video-controversy-17-girl-1.4967654
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/07/drake-kisses-fan-17-ogden-theater-denver-colorado-2010 BromoPhenethylamine (talk) 19:54, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

Drake's defamation case against record label UMG was dismissed in October 2025. 
https://abcnews.go.com/US/drake-defamation-case-dismissed-umg-kendrick-lamar/story?id=126379329 Xkeylimepie (talk) 01:50, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

 Done Day Creature (talk) 03:08, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

I'd like to add information about the controversy regarding the old video of Drake kissing and fondling an underage fan on stage.
This has been covered repeatedly be reputable news outlets over multiple decades, and was likely a factor in Kendrick Lamar accusing Drake of pedophilia in the infamous 'Not Like Us' diss track.
See citations from CBC & The Guardian, two extremely reputable sources
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/drake-video-controversy-17-girl-1.4967654
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/07/drake-kisses-fan-17-ogden-theater-denver-colorado-2010
BromoPhenethylamine (talk) 04:43, 13 October 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. If you would like content to be added to the article, please provide the exact text of your proposed addition. Day Creature (talk) 16:03, 13 October 2025 (UTC)

I'm requesting that this text be added to the end of the Legal issues section 2A00:23C8:F11A:7801:2044:86F4:DB05:A2FF (talk) 16:12, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

 Done with minor changes. Day Creature (talk) 18:40, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

 2A00:23C8:F11A:7801:684A:D356:201:BED2 (talk) 03:49, 31 October 2025 (UTC)
 Partly done: I added the archive URL and the portion about the New Mexico lawsuit. The additional details about Stake's alleged misconduct are not sufficiently relevant to an article about Drake. Day Creature (talk) 06:37, 31 October 2025 (UTC)

I am reviewing good articles to ensure that they meet the good article criteria. Upon reading this article, I noticed the following:

This article has lots of text about his legal troubles, perhaps disproportionate to other aspects of his biography. I recommend that this be summarised more effectively.
There is an orange "Controversies" banner, which should be resolved. This can potentially be done by reformatting the headings of this section.
At over 12,000 words, this article is considered WP:TOOBIG and has too much detail. Information that is too detailed for this aricle should be spun out or removed.
Should this article go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 18:57, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

These seem relatively simple as presented. Pruning is easier than growing a problem article. I haven't looked over the article in detail recently; as you said, it is very very big. I was slightly involved in the GAN that passed to list this at GA, but I was not the nominator either. I am not confident the GA review was as thorough as it should have been, but we might be able to avoid GAR. Should it have been listed? As it was, maybe not, but I don't think it's far. mftp dan  oops  20:21, 4 November 2025 (UTC)
@MFTP Dan: I won't list an article at GAR while improvements are ongoing. Are you interested in addressing these concerns? Of course, there's no obligation to do so. Z1720 (talk) 20:32, 4 November 2025 (UTC)
Interested, yes. Whether I can and/or will or not remains to be seen, I'll have to put this under the microscope. mftp dan  oops  20:40, 4 November 2025 (UTC)
reformatted the headings of the "Controversies" section, as suggested!  Rap no Davinci (talk) 11:01, 5 November 2025 (UTC)