Drake: You Owe Me The YOLO™!

YOLO is the name of my motto! - Drake

Canadian entertainer Aubrey Graham who goes by the name of Drake wants a piece of the YOLO! The Cash Money Records singer brought to fame by his crafty wordplay secured the third hottest selling album this year according to Billboard.

Drake signed to Cash Money Records through Lil' Wayne's Young Money Records. Cash Money Records is a label that falls under Universal Republic Records. His own label October's Very Own is credited to the two albums Thank Me Later and Take Care. They went on to sell over four million copies.

Drake, Lil' Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Future, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Rihanna and Jay-Z are the most sought after entertainers in rap music.

Off the Take Care album the single "The Motto" became the latter of for popularizing the widely used acronym YOLO. The word meaning "you only live once" and that's Drake's motto!

Tupac Shakur inspired wordplay by the song N.I.G.G.A. (Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished)!

Many rappers have crafted catchphrases to the American pop culture.

• Eminem brought out the ego Slim Shady! 
• Snoop Dogg brought out the "Dizzle". 
• Jay-Z throws up two hands and forms a "diamond". 
• Lil' Wayne throws up the red banter for the gang sign of Blood. 
• T-Pain made autotune catchy for rapper Future. 
• Rihanna talked that talk.
• Notorious B.I.G. crafted the Frank White and Biggie Smalls ego.
• Rick Ross made everyone a "bawes!"
• 50 Cent gave the stutttering GGGG-Unit!
• Run DMC made Adidas look cool.
• Game throw on them Chuck Taylor All Star Converse shoes!
• Tupac Shakur said it was Westsyde and morphed himself into the rebellious Makaveli.

Wikipedia explains that the word was popularized by rappers Drake and Rick Ross, who planned to name a joint mixtape YOLO. To promote this mixtape, "Yolo" was mentioned prominently on several of their tracks such as "The Motto", with the aim of promoting the tape. This use has elevated the word into prominence and common colloquial use. Hip-hop magazine Da South reported that the rapper Lecrae has deconstructed YOLO in his song "No Regrets".

The phrase has achieved currency in youth culture. For example, a high school prank in Chicago, Illinois involved high school students chanting "YOLO". Some people have grafittied YOLO on walls. It has become a popular Twitter hashtag. Some youth have said that it is their motto, and actor Zac Efron has a tattoo with the acronym.

Online media including the Washington Post and the Huffington Post describe YOLO as the "newest acronym you'll love to hate" and "dumb". The word has been criticized for its use in conjunction with reckless behavior, most notably in a Twitter post by aspiring rapper Ervin McKinness just prior to his death that described driving drunk at 120 mph (190 kph): "Drunk af going 120 drifting corners #F***It YOLO."

Catchphrase YOLO spreads into retail.

The phrase "you only live once" is commonly attributed to Mae West, but variations of the phrase have been in use for over 100 years,  including as far back as (the German equivalent of) "one lives but once in the world" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his 1774 play Clavigo and as the title of a waltz, "Man lebt nur einmal!" ("You Only Live Once!") by Johann Strauss II in 1855.

The 26-year-old recording artist, who reportedly has a net worth of $25 million, posted two images on the photo-sharing website Instagram depicting clothing emblazoned with the acronym YOLO, which stands for ‘you only live once.’

The first picture uploaded on Christmas Eve shows baseball caps in a variety of colors being sold for $12 for a pair at Walgreen's,  accompanied by the comment: 'Walgreens…you gotta either chill or cut the cheque,' Gawker reported.

The second photo shows a powder-blue T-shirt featuring the children's characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy which reads 'YOLO is my motto,’ along with a post: 'Macy's...same goes for you.'

YOLO, which has been around since 2004, turned into a viral sensation this year thanks to Drake's hit song The Motto, which includes the lyrics: 'Now she want a photo, you already know, though/ You only live once: that's the motto n***a, YOLO.'

It remains unknown whether Drake has trademarked the slogan. However, his legal claim appears weak considering the fact that according to the site KnowYourMeme.com, the acronym allegedly was first uttered by Adam Mesh on the third season of NBC's reality show Average Joe.

In July 2006, the band The Strokes came out with a single called You Only Live Once, and launched Operation YOLO asking fans to request the song on the radio.

Drake jumped on the YOLO bandwagon in October 2011, when he tweeted 'You only live once...YOLO' along with a picture of him standing on a balcony overlooking a city.

The now-ubiquitous abbreviation has since appeared in the form of a tattoo on Zac Efron's hand and was even shortlisted for the 2012 English Word of the Year by the Oxford American Dictionary.