Started from the bottom, now we're here. It can only mean one thing: The Certified Lover Boy has become the certified Artist of the Decade.
Drake accepted the trophy for Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday. The Canadian rapper follows in the footsteps of Mariah Carey (1990s) and Eminem (2000s) by taking home the special award for the 2010s decade.
At the show, Drake walked out stage while holding hands his 3-year-old son, Adonis, who was adorably dressed down in a red flannel shirt. The hip hop star, 34, took the statue and handed it to his mini me, keeping his hand on Adonis' shoulder to comfort him throughout the speech.
Following an introductory video, Drake humbly told the crowd, "That video was really full of a lot of confidence and bravado, but you know, the truth is I'm really bad at taking compliments."
He went on, "I'm really self-conscious about my music. Even if I do a good job, I always wonder how I could have done it better. I rarely celebrate anything," noting that he can sometimes feel "so lucky and blessed that the fear of losing it keeps you up at night."
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"I've spent an incalculable amount of hours trying to analyze all the things I did wrong but tonight, for once, I'm sure as hell we did something right," continued the singer, who was dressed in a flawless white suit by Tom Ford, with a heart design shaved on his head.
Drake dedicated the award to his peers, whose music has him "tossing and turning at night trying to figure out what I should do next."
Champagne Papi then started saying, "To my beautiful family," before Adonis began walking off stage. "Hey, wait, wait, wait," Drake said while chasing his little boy. He hoisted Adonis up in the air for an emotional embrace. "To you! I wanna dedicate this award to you," he told his son, whom he shares with artist Sophie Brussaux.
Drake released all five of his studio albums in the 2010s decade, with his next album, "Certified Lover Boy," expected to finally drop this year. The music mogul already has 47 Grammy nominations under his belt, including four wins for songs "God's Plan" and "Hotline Bling," as well as for his sophomore album "Take Care."
Going into the show, Drake had already won 27 BBMAs, the most of any artist.
At this year's Billboard Music Awards, Drake was nominated in the categories of Top Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist and Top Streaming Song for "Life Is Good" with Future. He won for Top Streaming Songs Artist before the broadcast.
Last week, fans got a taste of his new music. Drake seemingly released a preview of a new song, "Fair Trade," on Instagram on Friday, May 21, and dropped "Seeing Green" with Nicki Minaj and Lil' Wayne the week prior.
After he found out he would take home the Artist of the Decade statue, the Toronto native celebrated by joining Ronald Isley for dinner.
"Today was one of those days it doesn't feel real," the "One Dance" artist wrote on his Instagram Story. "Waking up to artist of the decade then having dinner with my idol @ronaldisley and listening to the stories behind every song that shaped my love for emotional music and created my formula for a lot of my writing." He added, "high on life right now my g'z."
Drake got his start in the entertainment industry by acting in the TV revival "Degrassi: The Next Generation" from 2001 to 2009. To celebrate his Artist of the Decade title, E! reunited his co-stars to share old stories of Drake, aka Aubrey Graham, before he made it big.
Earlier at Sunday's ceremony, Pink accepted the Icon Award with help from her daughter, Willow.
