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Drake earned just $100 for early gig and only $300 for his first mixtape

Home> Music

Published 20:07 24 Oct 2022 GMT+1

Drake earned just $100 for early gig and only $300 for his first mixtape

The rapper is now a millionaire thanks to his music

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

Drake's name is now known across the globe thanks to his success in the music industry, but everyone has to start somewhere, and for the Canadian rapper that was with a $100 paycheque.

I can't say I'm clued up on exactly how much tickets cost to see Drake nowadays, but considering he's one of the most popular artists on the planet, it's probably safe to assume that they're usually getting up towards the £100 ($112) mark.

With venues capable of holding thousands of fans, the artist could therefore rake in thousands of pounds from his gigs alone, with his popularity leading him to become one of the top 50 highest paid celebrities in 2020, with a fortune of $49 million (£43.4m)

However, like most artists, Drake didn't suddenly appear on the scene earning millions.

In a recent post on his Instagram Story, the 'Hotline Bling' artist shared a picture of a document which appeared to show the money he earned for one of his early gigs, when he appeared as a support act for Ice Cube.

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The gig took place in Drake's home country of Canada on 19 August, 2006, and saw him guaranteed a payment of 100 Canadian dollars - that's less than £65, with today's exchange rate.

The original Instagram post also revealed that Drake performed tracks from his debut mixtape ‘Room For Improvement’, which was released earlier the same year.

Sharing the post, Drake wrote: "This is for anybody getting 100 a show right now. Keep going.”

Drake's payment for the gig was shared on Instagram.
@theflyervault/Instagram

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Though he had the chance to perform tracks from Room For Improvement for Ice Cube's fans, Drake apparently still didn't have much luck in selling the mixtape as it only sold approximately 6,000 copies following its release. In exchange, Drake received $304.04 (£269) in royalties.

The rapper previously revealed that his uncle 'found and gifted him' the document revealing how much he earned from his first release, writing: “Came a long way from 3 bills in royalties.”

Fast-forward to his days as a millionaire artist, and Drake has now announced a joint album, titled Her Loss, together with 21 Savage.

It comes just months after the release of Drake's latest album, Honestly, Nevermind, and was announced in the new music video for 'Jimmy Cooks', which is also a collaboration between Drake and Savage.

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In a further surprise for fans, the artist made an unexpected appearance for audience members at a 21 Savage concert in Atlanta last week.

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Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock

Topics: Drake, Music

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

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