After it was widely reported that some pages of Drake song lyrics written by the rapper himself were up for sale after being found in a dumpster in Memphis at his uncle’s furniture factory, another report is saying not so fast.
Problem is, Drake’s uncle never seems to have had a furniture factory in Memphis, according to iHeart Radio veteran Canadian music journalist John R. Kennedy.
A TMZ post on Dec. 28 reported a rep for Moments In Time auction house in Los Angeles claimed, “Drake was working in his uncle’s Memphis furniture factory as a youth and the lyrics were found in the dumpster when the factory eventually closed down.”
Kennedy, in a rebuttal to the TMZ article, reports there was a furniture factory in Toronto, Canada, that a teenage Drake occasionally worked at and was owned by his maternal grandfather Reuben Sher. The factory has been closed since more than 10 years ago.
So where did Memphis come in?
Canadian-born Drake did spend his early summers in Memphis with his father Dennis Graham and his uncle, professional musician Larry Graham. The Canadian-born rapper’s Memphis connection stems from his father, Dennis Graham, a drummer from Memphis who would drive his son from Toronto to Memphis every summer to expose him to the city’s Southern, musically enriched culture, home to the likes of B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison, XXL reported.
Lyric Sheet Still Up for Sale
Despite these fact, Moments In Time is still selling the lyric sheets for $20,000. Contacted by Finurah, Gary Zimet, the founder of Moments In Time, said by phone that he’s selling the find, “First come, first serve.”
When asked about the authenticity of the Drake’s journal, Zimet ensured that the journal once belonged to Drake based on his source.
“They were found in a dumpster outside of his uncle’s furniture factory, and I got them from the person who found them in the dumpster,” Zimet said.
The auction house is known for selling original pieces of history and is self-proclaimed to be the “leading autograph dealers.”
“We purvey rare original autographs and historical documents; with an inventory including autographs of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, Churchill, FDR, Mao, Melville, Poe, Einstein, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, etc. We are highly interested in acquiring material in the following areas: American Presidents, Scientists, Statesmen, Composers, Authors, etc,” according to MIT.
This isn’t the first time the company sold Drake lyrics sheets. According to iHeart Radio, in 2018, Moments In Time sold a lyric notebook that belonged to Drake. The auction house claimed that it was found at another furniture factory, Sher’s located in Toronto. Moments In Time didn’t explain how or why the book was found there, but the book contained “10 Mack Commandments” – Drake’s version of Biggie Small’s “10 Crack Commandments.” The book also contained several samples of his signature and credit card numbers.
Zimet recalls selling four journals from that Canadian dumpster, but does not remember for how much.
“I believe I sold four of those books,” Zimet said.
Lyrics That Built an Empire
Drake has come a long way since his teen years. The former actor, whose net worth is valued at $250 million, is now considered one of the best rappers of all time.
Before he was Drizzy, he was an actor who played Jimmy Brooks, a wheelchair-bound basketball star in the hit teen drama “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
In 2008, he decided to leave the show to pursue a rap career.
Drake’s music was later discovered by Lil Wayne, at the time was the peak of his solo rap career in the early 2010s, was impressed by the Canadian rapper’s lyrics being nonviolent yet engaging.
Drake grew his $250 million wealth through constant hits over his more than decade music career. His latest and 12th album, “Her Loss,” surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, ChartData reports.
As Finurah previously reported, Drake’s entertainment company, DreamCrew Entertainment, a Canadian production company co-founded by Drake in 2017, produces the hit show “Euphoria,” and other televised programs.
The rapper is also attempting to revise Luna Luna, a carnival-style theme park that centered on artwork from the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dalí, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, and David Hockney.
The rapper is also a heavy investor. In November 2021, for example, he joined NBA star LeBron James to invest in a sports technology company, StatusPRO, projected to be worth $57 billion by 2027.
Drake also bought a Beverly Hills mansion from British singer Robbie Williams for $75 million.
