Drake performs live at Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion, as part of his 'Club Paradise Tour' in Phoenix, Arizona, May 10, 2012. (Nector Marmolejos/WENN.COM)

Rapper Drake dedicated his high school diploma to his mother as he spoke at his graduation ceremony in Toronto on Friday.

The hip-hop star hired a private tutor over the summer to help him finally complete his studies, and he announced to fans earlier this month that he had passed his exams with flying colours.

Drake marked the occasion by returning to Toronto's Jarvis Collegiate Institute to deliver the commencement address, sharing the lessons he has learned about perseverance with his fellow graduates.

Explaining his reasons for resuming his studies, he said, "I reached a point in my life where I realised that there aren't material things that can give me the excitement that I'm looking for. There's a void, there's a gap in my life that I need to fill and I needed to sit and think long and hard what that was.

"And it was the fact that I had left a gaping hole in my story of following through. So for five months, we talked back and forth on emails, we worked, we wrote papers, I studied for an exam, we figured out how I didn't close my chapter of following through."

Drake, who dropped out as a teenager when his acting career took off, admitted his latest achievement meant a lot to his mother Sandi, and dedicated his big night to her.

He added, "She's a retired teacher and always wanted me to graduate. I think I'll sleep a little better tonight knowing that I found a way to follow through."