Born and raised in ..Richmond, Virginia, DJ Drake started his career in 1987 on WKIE (1540 AM) by entering and winning a contest sponsored by the station. He was introduced to Elbravador, one of the top djs during that time, who took Drake (15) under his wing. In late ‘87, early ‘88, when WKIE folded, Drake began appearing as a guest dj on Elbravador’s daily radio show on station WANT (990 AM). Once WANT folded in late ‘88, Drake appeared with Elbravador at a variety of private parties and club nights.
One late evening in 1989, when FM was on the come up, Drake was going through radio stations on his father’s receiver and came across a station playing Hip Hop and mixing the music. He called Elbravador and encouraged him to listen as well. After finally hearing the call letters, he and Elbravador decided to go to the station where they met Mike Street, a freshman at the University of Richmond working at the small college radio station.
In early 1990, while working at the university’s radio station, Drake met Terry Lewis who was working for MAGIC 99 (WPLZ 99.3), one of the hottest Hip Hop and R&B radio stations in Richmond. Terry had come to the University looking to form a posse of djs to be on his show. Drake, not feeling that it was time to leave, declined. A year later in 1991, Terry, having created the well-known Richmond posse of djs, The Funk Brothers, again called upon Drake who left the comforts of the small college radio station and never looked back. It was then, at the tender age of 19, that Drake began spinning records with the Funk Brothers, often heading the show.
DJ Drake’s musical insight was acquired from his home where he was brought up in a household that loved music. Some of his greatest influences are the infamous DJ Red Alert, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl, Disco TEE, Reggie Mac and, of course, Elbravador.
Over the past 15 years, Drake has worked on a variety of Richmond radio stations, including WCDX (R&B & Hip Hop), WKJS (Urban AC), and WPZZ (Gospel), where he obtained his honor as the ONLY dj to concurrently mix on 3 radio stations. Drake has opened for many nationally known djs such as Kid Capri, DJ Kool, and Ron G. He has headlined many of Richmond’s Friday and Saturday club nights, building his fan base of upscale Richmonders with his unique style of Ol’ School mixing.
