Times are good for former child star (DeGrassi, anyone?), musical artist, and Grammy contender Drake.
The half black, half white, Jewish Canadian repeatedly breaks down barriers and surprises audiences. His work is up for no less than 8 nominations this year – Views is up for best rap album and album of the year; Work (with Rihanna) is up for best pop duo, group performance and record of the year; Come and See Me (with PartyNextDoor) is up for best R&B song; Pop Style (with The Throne) is up for best rap performance, and Hotling Bling (not surprisingly) is up for both best rap/sung performance and best rap song.
The Toronto born Canadian isn’t planning to attend the event, however – along with Frank Ocean, the celebrity is planning to sit the show out in protest against the low numbers of young, black performers honored at the awards show each year. He’s reportedly due to be joined by Kanye West and Justin Bieber, though it’s debatable if Kanye will follow through and miss the chance to pull another of his infamous “Imma let you finish” scenes.
Let’s take a look at Drake’s real estate:
Kanye and the Bieb are neighbors of Drake, who spends most of his time at what he calls the YOLO Real Estate in Hollywood Hills. (Bieber is accused of having stolen the “YOLO” sign from in front of the mansion no less than 3 times thus far.)
Originally purchased from Saddle Ranch owner Larry Pollock in 2012 for a mere $7.7 million (the original asking price was $20 million more). A main feature of the massive, sprawling estate is the enormous pool (designed to outdo Hugh Hefner’s), which Drake made sure to point out is bigger than Kanye’s in a recent song.
The home also features a huge game room, an impressive library, a stand-alone movie theater that seats over two dozen, a wine cellar, a gym, a tennis court, a recording studio (of course), and a mechanical bull.
Drake reportedly fell for the place over its pool, and had a picture of it as his desktop background since 2009. He says he wants to have the biggest residential pool in the world…. celebrities and their dreams.
His new Bridle Path residence in Toronto is expected to carry on the theme of Drake’s pool obsession. The 2-acre piece of property was purchased for $6.7 million last year, and mansion plans are rumored to include an Olympic sized pool in the basement.
The designer taking the lead on the project is the same one who created Drake’s invitation only party room at the famed Sher Club in the Air Canada Centre. The plans are subject to approval by the North York zoning committee, but if all works out, Drake could be rubbing elbows with Gordon Lightfoot in a rooftop hot tub before the year is out.
The celebrity has come a long way from the little Forest Hills townhouse where he was raised by a single mom. Sandi Sher now resides in a glam downtown apartment, not far from newly planned Drake real estate.
