Drake Reportedly Brings In $440M Annually To Toronto's $8.8B Ecomony

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Drake performs on the Coachella stage during day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival (Weekend 1) at the Empire Polo Club on April 15, 2017 in Indio, California.
He isn't the 6ix God for nothing.

We know of Drake's impact in the rap game. His co-sign can help break an artist into the mainstream. However, his impact on the city of the Toronto is the same. According to a new report, Drake's co-sign is worth 5% of the city's $8.8B economy.

Vice News recently explored Drake's impact to Toronto's $8.8B tourism economy. Gordon Hendren, a marketing and branding consultant for Toronto brands, says that Drake is worth $440M of the city's economy.

"We did some calculations that suggest that he's worth $440 million to the Toronto economy." He said, "There are a number of factors that play into that calculation but we gave Drake 5% of that $8.8 billion. Why? Because he's helped rebrand the city. He's kind of made himself the same as Toronto.

Michael Thompson, a Toronto councillor who's responsible for bringing in foreign investors into the city, explained that the "Drake effect" impacts fields outside of the entertainment business.

"I was just in New Orleans over the weekend and the reason why I was there, we were there to secure a technology conference to come to Toronto for the next three years. And I talked a little about Toronto, who we are, the number of people living here and so on. And when I mentioned this was the home of Drake, the people just kind of went crazy. The mere mention of his name," he said. "The tech conference will bring in to the city of Toronto $147M."

Peep the full documentary below. 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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