Drake honoured with Allan Slaight Award from Canada’s Walk of Fame – Award recognizes young, inspirational Canadians.
(Toronto, Ontario) August 16, 2011 – Canada’s Walk of Fame announced today that internationally renowned, Canadian-born superstar Drake will be the recipient of this year’s Allan Slaight Award. In its second year, the Allan Slaight Award is presented to a young Canadian making a positive impact in the fields of music, film, literature, visual or performing arts, sports, innovation or philanthropy.
The award, which is accompanied by a $10,000 honourarium, will be presented to Drake during the Canada’s Walk of Fame Awards on Global and SliceTM (date/time TBA). The megastar has selected to donate the honourarium to Dixon Hall – a community-based service that aims to create opportunities for people of all ages to dream, to achieve and to live full and rewarding lives in low-income neighbourhoods of Toronto.
“I am a proud Canadian, and I am grateful to Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Slaight Foundation for this award,” said Drake.
“At 24 years of age, Drake has already achieved what has taken others a lifetime to do. He is kind, smart, talented, philanthropic and driven. He is an inspiring example to all, and we are proud to recognize him this year as our young Canadian making a positive impact,” said Peter Soumalias, Founding Director, Canada’s Walk of Fame.
“Drake is a true Canadian ambassador who continues to prove that with hard work, dreams can become reality,” said Gary Slaight, President and CEO, Slaight Communications.
Since launching his acting career in 2001, Drake (birth name Aubrey Graham) has gone on to take the music world by storm over the past few years, becoming one of the fastest rising newcomers ever in hip-hop. His very first single, “Best I Ever Had,” reached #1 on the Billboard Rap Chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 — accomplishments made without being signed to a label. After an intense bidding war, Drake signed to Aspire / Young Money / Cash Money / Universal Music Canada and released his platinum-selling debut album Thank Me Later in 2010.
With just one full-length album under his belt, the Universal Music Canada recording artist has amassed two JUNO Awards, six Grammy Award nominations and various MTV, VMA, MTVU, AMA and BET Award nominations and wins.
His sophomore album, Take Care, is slated for release on October 24, 2011.
Drake has worked with, and earned the respect of, the most innovative artists in the hip-hop world, including Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Eminem, plus other musicians including Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Mary J. Blige. He has also become a staple at awards shows across the planet, performing alongside other internationally acclaimed artists such as Lil Wayne, Eminem, Rihanna and fellow Canadian pop phenom, Justin Bieber. Earlier this year, Drake earned critical acclaim as one of the youngest-ever hosts of the Juno Awards.
Since April 2010, Drake has headlined the Away From Home Tour, dubbed the Campus Consciousness Tour, as well as his best-selling Light Dreams and Nightmares Tour, which included two sold-out nights at Radio City Music Hall.
As an actor, Drake has gained worldwide attention for playing Jimmy Brooks on the cult hit, award-winning drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation.
As a philanthropist, the young star just recently headlined his second annual OVO Festival in his hometown of Toronto (July 31) along with Rick Ross and The Weeknd. A portion of the proceeds from this Festival benefited Jake’s House for Autism and the MS Society. In 2010, Drake lent his vocals to Young Artists for Haiti and the re-recording of K’NAAN’s “Wavin’ Flag.” The single, which featured contributions from more than 50 young Canadian artists, has raised over $2 million to date. In addition, Drake has also supported the following organizations through donations and/or special appearances: the Dixon Hall Music School, Friends of Music Therapy at SickKids and someonelikeme.ca.