Like all of us, Drake has had many seminal moments in his life. As his career continues to flourish, there will be plenty of fodder for arguments about what the most important to date has been -- Was it the day his first album dropped? The day he won a Grammy? The day he dropped "Back to Back"?

Those all have their place, but I might argue that there's been no watershed moment in Aubrey's career as essential as the day he met Lil Wayne.

Tunechi, in turn, signed him to Young Money, became a mentor, publicly co-signed him, elevated the reach of his platform and the volume of his microphone and, frankly, rap hasn't been the same since.

That day, my friends, was today, seven years ago.

The date not only was an early marker of soon-to-be-ascension, but also, as Drake explained to Complex in 2009, it became the inspiration for a song, "November 18th," off his breakout 2009 mixtape, So Far Gone.

The track, which was also inspired by DJ Screw's "June 27th Freestyle," was an early indicator of Drake's multitude of talents: There was rapping, singing, catchy melodies, adept songwriting.

Not surprisingly, it quickly became a fan favorite. Just look at this live performance from May 2009, when Drake hit the stage in Houston and the crowd rapped the words for him.

And then, last year, it was more of the same (this time with a video of the first performance in the back).

Happy November 18th to all.