Drake

The road from small screen to global pop stage has been travelled in spectacular fashion before — by the likes of Justin Timberlake and Kylie Minogue — but rarely has it been carried off with such unstoppable self-assurance as that displayed by former Degrassi: The Next Generation star, Drake, a.k.a. Aubrey Graham. An expertly manipulated mixtape and remix strategy attracted a slew of high-profile endorsements and culminated in a bidding war that took the budding superstar to Universal Motown in 2009: find out what all the hype's about with heavy-hittin' all-star collab "Forever," the poignant "Fireworks," and the slow-jammin' "Find Your Love." Drake hooks up with Mary J. Blige, and joins Birdman's support squad, in Next Steps.

If we should judge a potential R&B superstar by the strength and depth of his guest slots, then Drake is set for truly massive things — here, he joins an Auto-Tuned Mary J. Blige on "The One," a joint-poppin' standout on her 2009 album Stronger withEach Tear, and makes a big impression on a couple of lively cuts from Birdman's Pricele$$, including "4 My Town (Play Ball)" which traces a line of hip-hop mentorship linking Drake with Lil Wayne. For good measure, we've added a live Juno Awards performance of "Over," the first single from official major-label debut Thank Me Later. The adulation, we sense, has only just begun.

Toronto's Drake has come a long way fast since the days he played Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Mentored by Lil Wayne, who picked up on his talent in 2008, he scored his first two Top Ten hits in the same week (a feat matched only by Nelly Furtado), and generated such a maelstrom of buzz that he's surely going to require big shoulders if he is going to carry the weight of expectation through the years ahead. All the signs are hugely promising — his mixtape-turned-EP So Far Gone pulled in a 2010 Juno for Rap Recording of the Year, and given the company he keeps (Jay-Z, Eminem, Alicia Keys, Rick Ross, Mary J. Blige) Drake has all the support he requires to take his talents to the next level.