Five Facts About Rihanna’s New “Friend” Aubrey Graham

While he has publicly claimed to be just friends with Barbadian beauty Rihanna, 24-year old rapper Aubrey Graham was once again seen by her side Wednesday night in New York. RadarOnline.com brings you new information on Rihanna’s new man including exclusive insight from his uncle and an early clip from his acting days.

1. Born and raised in Canada, Graham first brush with fame came in 2001 when he played Jimmy Brooks- a basketball star who becomes paralyzed after a shooting accident- on the cult favorite teen show Degrassi: The Next Generation (90210’s Shenae Grimes was also a series regular!). In this featured clip, his character Jimmy has a day dream about saving his crush from a silly cafeteria accident involving a banana.

Click on the video to see the funny clip!

2. He comes from a musical family. Graham’s father Dennis is a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis and his uncle is well-known Memphis musician Mabon “Teenie” Hodges. “He’s a real-headed kid,” Hodges told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview. ““I think it would be wonderful if he and Rihanna were dating. He would never treat her the way Chris Brown did. His mommy and daddy would kill him. He’s a good kid.”

3. In 2007, he became the first unsigned Canadian rapper to have his music video featured on BET.

4. He comes from a mixed background- his father is African American from Tennessee and his mother is a white Jewish Canadian.

5. Graham has worked with the music industry’s top players including Lil Wayne, Robin Thicke, Kanye West, and Rihanna’s own mentor Jay-Z. Matchmaker anyone?