Drake's "Degrassi" Co-Stars Praise Him For Artist Of The Decade Award

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Drake will be honored with Billboard's Artist Of The Decade Award at the BBMAs on Sunday night.

Drake's time on Degrassi feels like another lifetime ago. Between having crushed practically every record on the Billboard charts to his widespread influence on music, Drake managed to shake off the stigma of being a child star to being the biggest artist in the world. On Sunday night, the rapper will be honored with Billboard's Artist Of The Decade award at the BBMAs and ahead of its ceremony, the cast of Degrassi came together to take a trip down memory lane.

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Shane Kippel, Stacey Farber, Jake Epstein, Andrea Lewis, Christina Schmidt, and Paula Brancati spoke to E! News to send their congrats to Drake for his upcoming honor. Along with their congratulations, each one of them shared some fond memories of Drake's rise in the industry. "Seems like just yesterday that you would come back to set after a weekend or the off season and tell us about all of these incredible stories of the artists who you worked with, like Pharrell and Dr. Dre and Beyonce and Lil Wayne," Kippel recalled. "And we would all say, ‘Amazing.' But no one believed you, because it seemed too good to be true. Well, you have laughed last, my friend."

Kippel also recounted a moment when Drake was in a bathroom writing, 'Buy Drake's CDs' on a chalkboard while next to Travis Barker. "Travis Barker, who happened to be urinating next to you, said, 'Who's Drake?' And you turned to him and you said, 'I'm Drake,'" Kippel added.

Peep the video below.  


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.