Drake is a global superstar.

He’s entered the category of people who you know by one name. You know, Oprah, Kobe, Lebron, Elon, etc. If you go anywhere around the world, people will probably know who you’re talking about.

But it took time to get there. How did he do it and what can it teach us about success?

Learn from the Best:

When Drake was starting out as a young rapper, he put out a mixtape called So Far Gone. This mixtape had music executives and rap’s biggest stars, including Lil Wayne, salivating at the thought of signing him to their label. At the time, Lil Wayne’s records had been charting at the top the entire decade and as a result of his success, he founded Young Money Entertainment. After a fierce battle with other labels, Wayne signed Drake to a multi-album contract.

Drake was able to spend time listening and learning from one of the best rappers in the industry. Getting a feature with Lil Wayne would be a big deal to any rapper and Wayne introduced him to new artists and producers. Drake never had access to this type of network before as Young Money had some of the best up-and-coming talent.

However, the mentorship phase Drake had watching Lil Wayne and being around one of the best rappers in the business definitely left a mark on him. He saw every day what it was like to work. On your writing, your rhymes and your music. When you sit, observe and see the best people in action every day, it makes you better.

Know the game you’re playing:

What’s a performance artist’s goal? It’s to get people to listen to their music. How do they do that? They need to become more well known. How do they do that? They make good music but also appear everywhere. Drake and his team knew he wanted to be a global phenomenon. To do that, he would have to get people’s attention. How did he do it?

He leveraged the power of social media.

He leaned into becoming a meme. If you have any social media accounts, you’ve definitely seen Drake’s face. Instagram hashtags, Twitter accounts and subreddits; he’s everywhere.

He created music with a catchy beat and used social media to get people to dance to it. Look at Hotline Bling, In My Feelings, and Toosie Slide. Everyone on social media, including celebrities and athletes were doing the dance.

It also created careers for people. Ask Shiggy. He pioneered the ‘In My Feelings’ challenge when the song came out, and it blew up.

He’s now got 2.1M Instagram followers and is a full-time social media influencer.

Drake also went outside his comfort zone. Look at his albums, Views and More Life. ‘Views’ was heavily inspired by Jamaican dancehall music, which is very popular in the Caribbean. It introduced a new audience to this style of music and Drake was able to reach a new part of the world.

Then he did it again with ‘More Life’. Drake’s mentioned several times his love for UK rap culture. He featured UK artists, like Giggs and Jorja Smith, and introduced British music to an American and international audience. Again, he explored a new style and therefore opened his music to more fans.

Drake’s not afraid to take risks in different genres. He started off as a rapper but now makes music that touches hip hop, R&B, pop, dancehall, grime, etc. He’s not afraid to work with different producers across the world to change his style.

His game is to capture attention and he’s done it by working with people all over the world, making music across several genres, and leveraging the power of social media.

Diversify your interests

Drake’s known as an artist but he’s in many other businesses as well. The Raptors signed him as their global ambassador and he was an integral part of them becoming a championship team. He created a record company called OVO sound. His label signed artists like Majid Jordan, PartyNextDoor, and others who have enjoyed some commercial success. He’s invested in his own branded whisky, Virginia Black, and created October’s Very Own, a clothing line that has collaborations with Canada Goose, Roots, Jordan Brand and Louis Vuitton just to name a few. People want to associate themselves with the Drake brand and they’re willing to pay top dollar for his merchandise.

Nothing beats hard work:

No matter all of the above, none of this is possible if Drake is not making music. If he’s not in the studio, writing new raps and coming up with new ideas. Getting to his level of dominance in the music industry takes work. He’s produced and made 14 albums/mixtapes in the last decade, each with an average of 15 songs, on top of features and singles. That’s a lot of music.

Drake did the work. He put in the time to make and release new music. Other artists take years off between releasing new sound (Justin Bieber, Adele, Rihanna, Frank Ocean, etc.). He doesn’t become one of the best selling artists without putting out music constantly. Quality is subjective but quantity is not. He works on his craft constantly and isn’t afraid to show it to the world.

It’s paid off as he is the only person with 50 BILLION streams, and that’s just on Spotify.

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Drake’s methodical approach has made him into one of the most successful recording artists of all time. He started his career by learning from one of the best, leveraged the power of social media, experimented with genres of music from all over the world, and diversified his business interests.

But none of it happens without putting in the time. He understands the grind of being the best in your game. Nothing trumps hard work.

The question now is how long can he maintain his dominance?

To me, he’s still got a lot left in the tank.

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Keep going, you’re doing great

-AK

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