After surviving through one of the most humiliating years a rapper has experienced, Drake is back on the road, abiding by the old adage that the show must go on.
His weekend kickoff (7/11) of the Some Special Shows 4 U Tour in London lived up to its promise of new and old tunes, highlighted with seven live debuts when he teamed up with PARTYNEXTDOOR.
Then the following two nights the Canadian TV star-turned-rapper played totally different sets, and included an eighth live debut on Saturday.
It was a genius way straight out of Crisis Management 101 to both establish Drake has a deep catalogue of popular music, a stack of new music to focus on if need be, and the desire to put past beefs behind him.
All while his adversary was selling out stadiums in the UK as well.
Along the way, Drake made history by headlining all three nights of the Wireless Festival in London’s Finsbury Park - which was celebrating it's 20th anniversary. These were his first full UK performances in six years.
Each of the nights had fun themes. Friday was billed as “Drake & PARTYNEXTDOOR” and included guest appearances from Ms. Lauryn Hill, Summer Walker, Giveon, Mario, Bryson Tiller and Bobby Valentino.
Saturday’s “Drake & the Mandem” theme put the spotlight on UK grime acts Skepta, Central Cee, Dave, J Hus, Headie One, and Latto.
Its highlight was a surprise appearance by Vanessa Carlton who sang the throwback banger, “A Thousand Miles.”
On Sunday Drake panned back with a global focus when he brought up the likes of Burna Boy, Popcaan, Rema and a video cameo by Vybz Kartel.
"There's people I wanted to see performing my whole life," Drake told the crowd before bringing up Rema.
It was the perfect way to both show support for other acts, while surrounding himself with so many guests that it gave the impression he had a group of creative supporters who were taking his side in the rap war.
That was the thing about this battle with Kendrick. It was really a personal one between the two superstars. Most of the fans appreciated both artists. Before Drake was foolish enough to step to the Compton rapper, fans may have had a favorite of the two, but few would completely diss one or the other.
So it shouldn't have been hard for Drizzy to find a dozen artists to share the stage with him over a nice summer weekend in London. And it wasn't.
Could Kendrick do the same thing? Well, he practically did that a little over a year ago in his Juneteenth Pop Out at the Forum.
The question is: is it sustainable for Drake and is this how the rest of the tour will be?
It is named the Some Special Shows 4 U. So does that mean the upcoming three-night runs in Birmingham, Manchester, and Amsterdam will also be filled with guest appearances every night? Because that would be amazing.
In London Drake gave a shoutout to his label boss Lil Wayne. Could Tunechi be a surprise guest in the near future? Because that would be epic and precisely how a mentor should support his protege when he's down.
But the star many of us would love to see take the stage with him is Nicki Minaj. If Young Money wanted to circle the wagons around Drake, the best thing it could do is spotlight Wayne + Drake on one night and Minaj and Champagne Papi the next.
On wax Minaj and Drake have collabed on several singles including "Best I Ever Had (Remix)," "BedRock," "Fuck da Bullshit," and "Finale" in 2009; "Up All Night" and "Moment 4 Life" in 2010; "Make Me Proud" in 2011; "Champion" and "We Are" (from Ice Age: Continental Drift) in 2012; "Only" and "Truffle Butter" in 2014; "No Frauds" in 2017; "Seeing Green" and the uncredited "Papi’s Home" in 2021; and "Needle" in 2023.
Perform all of them in a night and destroy the Internet. Will he? Won't he? Will it be even better than this? Best way to find out is to see it yourself Tickets available on Drake's website.
Drake's Some Special Shows 4 U European Tour
July 20 – Birmingham, England, Utilita Arena
July 21 – Birmingham, England, Utilita Arena
July 23 – Birmingham, England, Utilita Arena
July 25 – Manchester, England, Co‑op Live
July 26 – Manchester, England, Co‑op Live
July 28 – Manchester, England, Co‑op Live
July 30 – Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ziggo Dome
July 31 – Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ziggo Dome
August 2 – Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ziggo Dome
August 4 – Manchester, England, Co‑op Live
August 7 – Antwerp, Belgium, Sportpaleis
August 11 – Zurich, Switzerland, Hallenstadion
August 12 – Zurich, Switzerland, Hallenstadion
August 15 – Cologne, Germany, Lanxess Arena
August 16 – Cologne, Germany, Lanxess Arena
August 18 – Cologne, Germany, Lanxess Arena
August 21 – Stockholm, Sweden, Avicii Arena
August 22 – Stockholm, Sweden, Avicii Arena
August 24 – Copenhagen, Denmark, Royal Arena
August 25 – Copenhagen, Denmark, Royal Arena
August 29 – Milan, Italy, Unipol Forum
August 30 – Milan, Italy, Unipol Forum
September 1 – Milan, Italy, Unipol Forum
September 2 – Milan, Italy, Unipol Forum
September 7 – Paris, France, Accor Arena
September 8 – Paris, France, Accor Arena
September 11 – Berlin, Germany, Uber Arena
September 12 – Berlin, Germany, Uber Arena
September 14 – Berlin, Germany, Uber Arena
September 16 – Munich, Germany, Olympiahalle
September 18 – Munich, Germany, Olympiahalle
September 19 – Munich, Germany, Olympiahalle
September 22 – Hamburg, Germany, Barclays Arena
September 23 – Hamburg, Germany, Barclays Arena
