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Drake on a large stage during the Summer Sixteen tour

416 · 647 · Toronto

Drake

Drake on stage with a microphone in 2010
2010

The Summer Sixteen tour, July 2016. The Come Up Show, CC BY 2.0.

He called his city the 6, and in 2016 he said why: the area codes, and six old municipalities merged into one. Make the 6 and find his places in each piece.

Two neighbourhoods · 1986 to 2000s

Minor hockey on Weston Road,
a basement in Forest Hill.

Aubrey Drake Graham is born in Toronto on 24 October 1986. The homes are not named or shown here. These are the streets.

Storefronts along Weston Road in Toronto
Shops on Weston Road, 2015. The street, not a house. Dnllnd · CC BY-SA 4.0

Until grade six

Weston Road

Drake lived on Weston Road, in Toronto’s working-class west end, until grade six.

He went to Weston Memorial Junior Public School until grade four and played minor hockey for the Weston Red Wings, as a promising right winger. He gave hockey up at his mother’s wish after a hard cross-check to the neck in a game.

The road is named after the former Town of Weston, near Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue West.

A long west-end road of shops and houses. Drake’s childhood home is not named or shown; the card shows shops on Weston Road.

Sources
A street in Forest Hill, Toronto, looking west along Eglinton Avenue
Eglinton Avenue West in the old village of Forest Hill, 2008. The street, not a house. GTD Aquitaine · Public domain

From 2000

Forest Hill

In 2000 Drake and his mother moved to Forest Hill, one of the city’s wealthy neighbourhoods.

They had half a house: another family had the top half, Drake lived in the basement and his mother on the first floor. He went to Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, and later to Vaughan Road Academy.

A leafy midtown neighbourhood around Eglinton Avenue West. The family’s home is not named or shown; the card shows Eglinton Avenue.

Sources
Drake in 2011
Drake in August 2011, the year of Take Care. thecomeupshow, CC BY 2.0.

North York and the waterfront · 2001 to 2006

Jimmy Brooks on Bartley Drive,
$100 at Kool Haus.

A street in Victoria Village, North York
Victoria Village in North York, 2011: the neighbourhood around Bartley Drive, not the studio. JasonParis · CC BY 2.0

Call time: after a night in the studio

Epitome Pictures studios

At 15, through a school friend’s father who was an acting agent, Drake was cast as Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star, in Degrassi: The Next Generation.

The Next Generation was filmed on four soundstages and a backlot at Epitome Pictures’ 100,000-square-foot studios in Toronto. The school’s front was the outside of Studio C.

The showrunners say he often arrived late after recording music all night, and made a deal with the security guards to let him in to sleep in a dressing room.

Epitome’s headquarters were on Bartley Drive. DHX Media bought the company in 2014 and in 2019 said it planned to sell the studios.

A studio lot on an industrial street, with no visits. Look from Bartley Drive. The card shows Victoria Village nearby.

Sources
The Guvernment nightclub building on the Toronto waterfront
The Guvernment complex on Queens Quay East, home of Kool Haus, in 2007. SimonP · CC BY-SA 3.0

19 August 2006

Kool Haus (site)

Drake played his first concert at Kool Haus on 19 August 2006, opening for Ice Cube for half an hour, and was paid $100.

Kool Haus was part of The Guvernment, a nightclub complex on the Queens Quay East waterfront that opened in 1996 and closed early in 2015. The venue became known for Drake’s first concert. The site was sold to the Daniels Corporation for a condominium project called City of the Arts.

The club has gone and the site was sold for condominiums. Walk Queens Quay East by the lake; no number is recorded, so it is named, not mapped.

Sources

416 · 647 · six municipalities

Make the 6,
one piece at a time.

Drake says the 6 comes from the 416 and 647 area codes and the six municipalities merged in 1998.

From 1967 to 1997 Toronto was six cities and boroughs in a federation: Etobicoke, York, North York, East York, Old Toronto and Scarborough. Join them, and see which held Drake’s places.

Sources
Six pieces, scattered. Toronto before 1998.

1998

Join all six to make the city.

Outside the six, to the west, is Mississauga, where Headlines was mixed.

Sources
The Molson Amphitheatre stage roof at Ontario Place
The Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place, 2006. Mikerussell at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Molson Amphitheatre · Ontario Place · 2010

2010his own festival, and Jay-Z came.

OVO Fest was founded in 2010 by Drake, Noah “40” Shebib and Oliver El-Khatib. The first one had Jay-Z and Eminem as guests.

The amphitheatre hosted OVO Fest from 2010 to 2015, in 2017 and 2019, and in 2022 as October World Weekend. It holds about 16,000: 5,500 under the roof, 3,500 in the open and 7,000 on the grass.

It opened as the Molson Amphitheatre in May 1995 with two Bryan Adams shows, became Budweiser Stage in 2017 and the RBC Amphitheatre in October 2025. The sound supplier’s report names Drake among the performers at OVO Fest 2015.

An open-air venue, open May to October. Go to a show; it is due to close for rebuilding in autumn 2027.

Sources
Drake on stage with a microphone in 2010
Drake in September 2010, the summer of Thank Me Later and the first OVO Fest. musicisentropy, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Toronto Raptors · 2013 to 2019

Global ambassador,
a practice court named OVO.

The Air Canada Centre arena in Toronto
The Air Canada Centre in July 2005, before it became Scotiabank Arena. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

Scotiabank Arena (the Air Canada Centre)

On 30 September 2013 Drake was named the Raptors’ global ambassador and joined the team’s executive committee. At the same press conference he was given the key to the city.

He began hosting a yearly Drake Night with the team in 2013, and worked on practice jerseys and clothing for the franchise’s 20th anniversary. During Raptors playoff runs, Maple Leaf Square outside is nicknamed Jurassic Park.

The arena opened on 19 February 1999 as the Air Canada Centre. It took the name Scotiabank Arena in 2018. When the Raptors won the 2019 NBA championship, Drake released two songs to celebrate.

Home of the Raptors and the Maple Leafs. Go to a game or a concert; Maple Leaf Square is outside.

Sources
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The OVO Athletic Centre practice facility building
The OVO Athletic Centre at Exhibition Place, March 2019. Alex Laney · CC BY-SA 4.0

OVO Athletic Centre

It is named after OVO, October’s Very Own, the brand and label founded by Drake, Oliver El-Khatib and Noah “40” Shebib.

The Raptors’ practice centre opened on 10 February 2016 at Exhibition Place, west of downtown. It has two full-size courts. The Raptors, Canada Basketball and Raptors 905 all train there. Before it opened, the team practised on a court inside the Air Canada Centre.

The Raptors’ practice building, not open to drop-in visitors. See it from the Exhibition Place grounds.

Sources
The names when Drake was there.
  1. Air Canada Centre2013, the ambassador press conference
  2. Molson Amphitheatre2010, the first OVO Fest
  3. Raptors practice centre at Exhibition Place2016, its opening
  4. Kool Haus, in The Guvernment2006, the first concert
Sources
The CN Tower against the sky
The CN Tower in July 2016, the summer of Views. Scott Webb scottwebb, CC0.

Views · April 2016

A giant on the tower,
and the tower said so.

The cover, released on 24 April 2016, shows Drake sitting on top of the CN Tower, far bigger than life. The tower’s Twitter account confirmed it was photoshopped.

Views was first announced as Views from the 6; Drake said the 6 meant Toronto. The title was cut to Views on 29 April 2016. Toronto photographer Caitlin Cronenberg shot the cover and booklet.

The tower is 553.3 metres high and was completed in 1976. The EdgeWalk, round the roof of the main pod at 356 metres, opened in 2011. Views led the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks, and One Dance became the first song to pass a billion streams on Spotify.

Ride up to the observation levels, or book the EdgeWalk round the roof of the main pod. Tickets on the tower’s own site.

Sources
Drake performing on the Summer Sixteen tour in 2016
Drake on the Summer Sixteen tour, July 2016, three months after Views. The Come Up Show, CC BY 2.0.
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Mississauga and Tennessee

Outside the 6:
a mix in Mississauga, a video in Memphis.

22 km from the CN Tower

A recording studio control room with a large mixing console
A Metalworks control room in Mississauga, 2013. Metalworks Studios · CC BY-SA 3.0

Metalworks Studios

Noah “40” Shebib took Headlines to Metalworks for its final mix.

Shebib describes a makeshift studio in an apartment across from his home, where he and Drake wrote and recorded most of the Take Care period. Gil Moore of the rock band Triumph founded Metalworks in 1978. It has grown to six studios.

A working studio and music school in Mississauga, west of Toronto. Sessions by booking only.

Sources

Memphis, Tennessee

The front of Royal Studios in Memphis
Royal Studios in Memphis, July 2012. Thomas R Machnitzki (thomas@machnitzki.com) · CC BY 3.0

Royal Studios

Drake’s father, the drummer Dennis Graham, is from Memphis and took Drake there every summer when he was a boy.

Mix’s Memphis session report records the Worst Behavior video being shot at Royal Studios, directed by Drake and Director X. Royal was founded in 1956 as the studio of Hi Records, in a building that opened as the Shamrock Theatre in 1915. It is known for the producer Willie Mitchell and his records with Al Green; Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell runs it today.

A working studio run by the Mitchell family. OpenStreetMap has no building for it, so it is named here and not mapped.

Sources
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Where it is now

One city,
6 places to stand.

Downtown, the CN Tower and Scotiabank Arena are a short walk apart; Ontario Place and Exhibition Place are west along the lake. Bartley Drive is up in North York, and Metalworks is a drive west into Mississauga.

Destination Toronto

Places to stay in Toronto

Toronto · Book direct

The tourism board’s list of hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts across the city, downtown by the tower and arena or out by the lake.

Find a room

Where it is now

6 places you can visit, from Bartley Drive to Bay Street, Ontario Place and Mississauga. Weston Road and Forest Hill are named, not mapped, because they were homes; Kool Haus has gone and Royal Studios has no mapped building.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A studio lot on an industrial street, with no visits. Look from Bartley Drive. The card shows Victoria Village nearby.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An open-air venue, open May to October. Go to a show; it is due to close for rebuilding in autumn 2027.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Home of the Raptors and the Maple Leafs. Go to a game or a concert; Maple Leaf Square is outside.

  • General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The Raptors’ practice building, not open to drop-in visitors. See it from the Exhibition Place grounds.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Ride up to the observation levels, or book the EdgeWalk round the roof of the main pod. Tickets on the tower’s own site.

  1. A street in Victoria Village, North York
    Victoria Village in North York, 2011: the neighbourhood around Bartley Drive, not the studio. JasonParis · CC BY 2.0

    Bartley Drive, Victoria Village, North York

    Epitome Pictures studios

    At 15, through a school friend’s father who was an acting agent, Drake was cast as Jimmy Brooks, a basketball star, in Degrassi: The Next Generation.

    A studio lot on an industrial street, with no visits. Look from Bartley Drive. The card shows Victoria Village nearby.

    Sources
  2. The Molson Amphitheatre stage roof at Ontario Place
    The Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place, 2006. Mikerussell at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

    909 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Ontario Place

    RBC Amphitheatre (the Molson Amphitheatre)

    OVO Fest was founded in 2010 by Drake, Noah “40” Shebib and Oliver El-Khatib. The first one had Jay-Z and Eminem as guests.

    An open-air venue, open May to October. Go to a show; it is due to close for rebuilding in autumn 2027.

    Sources
  3. The Air Canada Centre arena in Toronto
    The Air Canada Centre in July 2005, before it became Scotiabank Arena. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

    40 Bay Street, Toronto

    Scotiabank Arena (the Air Canada Centre)

    On 30 September 2013 Drake was named the Raptors’ global ambassador and joined the team’s executive committee. At the same press conference he was given the key to the city.

    Home of the Raptors and the Maple Leafs. Go to a game or a concert; Maple Leaf Square is outside.

    Sources
  4. The OVO Athletic Centre practice facility building
    The OVO Athletic Centre at Exhibition Place, March 2019. Alex Laney · CC BY-SA 4.0

    30 British Columbia Road, Exhibition Place

    OVO Athletic Centre

    The Raptors’ practice centre opened on 10 February 2016 at Exhibition Place, west of downtown.

    The Raptors’ practice building, not open to drop-in visitors. See it from the Exhibition Place grounds.

    Sources
  5. The CN Tower against the sky
    The CN Tower in July 2016, the summer of Views. Scott Webb scottwebb · CC0

    290 Bremner Boulevard, Toronto

    CN Tower

    Views was first announced as Views from the 6; Drake said the 6 meant Toronto. The title was cut to Views on 29 April 2016.

    Ride up to the observation levels, or book the EdgeWalk round the roof of the main pod. Tickets on the tower’s own site.

    Sources

Stay

A room in the 6.

The tourism board’s list of places to stay across Toronto.

Destination Toronto

Places to stay in Toronto

Toronto · Book direct

The tourism board’s list of hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts across the city, downtown by the tower and arena or out by the lake.

Find a room

Go there

Walk it yourself.

The tower, a Raptors game, Toronto on foot and Memphis music, to fit round the places on this page.

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CN Tower tickets and tours

Toronto

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Toronto Raptors games

Toronto

Live marketplace results for Raptors games and arena experiences in Toronto. Check dates and seats.

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Toronto neighbourhood walks

Toronto

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What’s on

No dates yet.

No Drake or OVO Fest dates were confirmed after October 2026.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Take it home

Three albums.

Thank Me Later, Take Care and Views.

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Thank Me Later

Drake · CD, Young Money, 2010

The debut album, out the summer of the first OVO Fest.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

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Take Care

Drake · CD, US release, 2011

The album with Headlines, mixed at Metalworks in Mississauga.

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Views

Drake · CD, Cash Money, 2016

First announced as Views from the 6; the CN Tower cover.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

Find a copy

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The full record

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

10 of 10 places · 15 of 15 Moments

  • Weston Road

    Weston Road, Toronto’s west end

    • Born in Toronto

      Aubrey Drake Graham is born in Toronto on 24 October 1986.

    • Weston Red Wings

      A west-end boyhood: Weston Memorial school and minor hockey as a right winger.

  • Forest Hill

    Forest Hill, Midtown Toronto

    • Half a house

      Drake and his mother move to Forest Hill, into the bottom half of a house.

  • Epitome Pictures studios

    Bartley Drive, Victoria Village, North York

    • Jimmy Brooks

      Drake is cast as Jimmy Brooks in Degrassi: The Next Generation, filmed at Epitome’s studios.

    • A bed in a dressing room

      Recording all night, Drake arranges with the guards to sleep on set.

  • Kool Haus (site)

    Queens Quay East, Toronto waterfront

    • First concert

      Drake opens for Ice Cube at Kool Haus: half an hour, $100.

  • RBC Amphitheatre (the Molson Amphitheatre)

    909 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Ontario Place

    • The first OVO Fest

      Drake, 40 and Oliver El-Khatib hold the first OVO Fest, with Jay-Z and Eminem as guests.

    • OVO Fest 2015

      Drake performs at OVO Fest at the amphitheatre.

  • Scotiabank Arena (the Air Canada Centre)

    40 Bay Street, Toronto

    • Global ambassador

      Drake is named the Raptors’ global ambassador and given the key to the city.

    • Champions

      The Raptors win the 2019 NBA championship; Drake releases two songs to celebrate.

  • OVO Athletic Centre

    30 British Columbia Road, Exhibition Place

    • OVO Athletic Centre

      The Raptors open a practice centre named after OVO.

  • CN Tower

    290 Bremner Boulevard, Toronto

    • Views from the 6

      The Views cover puts Drake, photoshopped and giant, on top of the CN Tower.

    • The 6

      Drake says the 6 comes from the 416 and 647 area codes and the six municipalities merged in 1998.

  • Metalworks Studios

    3611 Mavis Road, Mississauga

    • Headlines

      40 takes Headlines to Metalworks in Mississauga for its final mix.

  • Royal Studios

    1320 Willie Mitchell Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee

    • Worst Behavior in Memphis

      The Worst Behavior video is shot at Royal Studios, directed by Drake and Director X.

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