This is More Than a Drake Podcast

Remember Kardinall Offishall? He made top 5 with ‘Dangerous,’ the first Canadian to do so in rap until Drake.

Toronto’s early 90’s hip-hop scene had always been vibrant yet overlooked. In the early 2000s, FLO 93.5 was the first Black-run radio station to amplify the voices of Toronto’s underground hip-hop artists. When Drake was just starting out, his earliest songs were featured on it.

Moody and atmospheric, Drake’s music has always been defined by the streets of Toronto.

Drake raps about the streets he grew up in on ‘Weston Road Flows’ and ‘Know Yourself.’ Rap has always been a vehicle for knowledge that inspired marginalized Black youth to follow their dreams and begin dreaming, to speak their truth, and represent the streets they’re from.

Drake has never shied away from his love for Reggaeton and all things Dominican, which has roots deep in Toronto’s music scene.

Ever since the immigration of Jamaican people to Canada in the 50s and 60s, Toronto's Black community has spread their music to a multicultural fan base. Reggae and dancehall music influences can be heard all over Drake’s smooth melodies, including the song, ‘Work’ with Rihanna.

The island’s influence has undoubtedly become part of the DNA of ‘the Toronto sound.’

Listen to a guided tour of the life and career of the influential Jamaican Canadian musician, Jay Douglas:

With a fierce love for his hometown, Drake makes his Canadian identity part of his fame and success. By championing the 6ix, he put Toronto on the pop culture map, crystallizing the city’s sound.

Hip-hop is like a competitive sport, meaning that rappers had to rep their cities in the game. Drake has undoubtedly lifted Toronto as a hip-hop and R&B central, amplifying the voices of countless artists including The Weeknd, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Baka Not Nice, and Roy Woods.