*According to a recent Vice News report, Drake is single-handedly responsible for 5 percent of the $8.8 billion total annual tourism income of his hometown Toronto.
Marketing and branding consultant Gordon Hendren says the percentage amounts to about $440 million coming into the Canadian city, due in large part to Drake repping his hometown in songs, via his ambassador role with the Toronto Raptors and through various restaurants and clubs.
“He’s helped to rebrand the city,” Hendren said in the piece. “He’s kind of made himself the same as Toronto.”
As proof, Vice points to Drake’s influence in coining the nickname “The Six” or “The 6ix,” his OVO brand, featuring various landmarks and local establishments in music videos and on album art and more. Speaking with Ward 37 Councillor Michael Thompson, he described using Drake as a selling-point to bring a $147 million tech conference to Toronto for the next three years.
“When I mentioned this was home of Drake, the people just kind of went crazy — just the mere mention of his name,” he said. “The native son is here, he’s got a great brand, we’re gonna kind of hitch ourselves on it a little bit and get pulled up along the way.”
Watch the segment here:
The news comes as Drake’s “Scorpion” becomes the first album to hit 1 billion streams globally in one week, and as the rapper releases his new “Behind Barz” freestyle for YouTube channel Link Up TV. (Watch both below.)
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