Drake gives high school commencement speech

He plays to thousands of fans at stadiums around the globe and sells millions of records, but you can watch Drake giving a performance of a very different kind – a high school commencement speech.

As CBC Music reported last week, the superstar rapper recently completed his high school diploma, which he says was one of the proudest accomplishments of his life.

But he also took time out to give an uplifting commencement speech to his fellow grads, and in it, he has one central message: make sure to follow through.

“It’s not necessarily about the books that you’ll read, or the science or math equations that you’ll do, because you may end up taking a path in life where a lot of the things that you learn, you can’t necessarily fully apply. And that’s ok,” said the Toronto hip-hop artist, speaking from the Jarvis Collegiate auditorium stage. (See video and full transcript below.)

“It’s not about the popular kids, it’s not about the kids that don’t feel as popular, because all that changes later in life – and I promise you, I’m 26 years old, it changes.

“What this is about today for all of you is about the art of following through, and that is one of the most important life lessons that my uncle ever taught me – and he is here tonight, and I want to thank you so much for that.”

Drake went on to say that for him, following through meant doubling back, and returning to finish his diploma even after his career had taken off.

“I reached a point in my life where I realized that there aren’t material things that can give me the excitement that I’m looking for,” he said. “There’s a void, there’s a gap in my life that I need to fill and I needed to sit and think long and hard what that was. And it was the fact that I had left a gaping hole in my story of following through.” 

At the end of the speech, Drake dedicated his diploma to his mother, who is also a schoolteacher. He also reinforced the idea that life isn’t only about where you’re going; it’s about what happens en route.

“And what I want to tell you today is that sometimes it’s about going there are not getting there," he said. "Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. And sometimes when you get there you’ll look back and you’ll realize that you wish you could go there again, because all of the experiences that you went through are the reason that you are who you are today.”

Watch video of the speech here; the full transcript follows below.

Transcript of Drake's Commencement Speech:

I was one of those students that, despite the incredible support, and despite the incredible knowledge and incredible love of my teacher Kim Jansen who assisted me with this graduation [cheers], despite all of those things she would show me every single day, I still somehow managed to fight this education system and tell myself that it wasn’t for me.

And I want to let you know today as I stand in front of you that I get it. I get it. I get why this institution is in place for each and every one of us.

And it’s not necessarily about the books that you’ll read, or the science or math equations that you’ll do, because you may end up taking a path in life where a lot of the things that you learn, you can’t necessarily fully apply. And that’s ok.

It’s not about the popular kids, it’s not about the kids that don’t feel as popular, because all that changes later in life – and I promise you, I’m 26 years old, it changes.

What this is about today for all of you is about the art of following through, and that is one of the most important life lessons that my uncle ever taught me – and he is here tonight, and I want to thank you so much for that.

It’s about teaching the art of following through – and I want to say to you guys tonight, I am so proud of you because there are different ways to follow through, and tonight you followed through with a straight shot and for that you should give yourself a round of applause …

You know, for me, my follow through was different. I had to double back. I reached a point in my life where I realized that there aren’t material things that can give me the excitement that I’m looking for. There’s a void, there’s a gap in my life that I need to fill and I needed to sit and think long and hard what that was. And it was the fact that I had left a gaping hole in my story of following through.

So for five months, we talked back and forth on emails, we worked, we wrote papers. I studied for an exam. We figured out how I didn’t close my chapter of following through.

And what I want to tell you today is that sometimes it’s about going there are not getting there. Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. And sometimes when you get there you’ll look back and you’ll realize that you wish you could go there again, because all of the experiences that you went through are the reason that you are who you are today.

And I want to let you know that today, myself included, and I thank you so much for you letting me be a part of your night, but I want you all to give a round of applause to yourselves for getting there…

There’s a lot more following through to do in life, and whatever you choose, wherever this path takes you, I truly wish you the best, and I can honestly say that this piece of paper, I’d like to dedicate to my mother, because she is a retired teacher…

And I think I’ll sleep a little better tonight knowing that I found a way to follow through.