Drake Concert Review: A Ridiculous Lineup

On paper, Drake is not a platinum selling rapper. He’s from Canada, he did a stint on the television drama Degrassi, and he grew up wealthy. He’s also extremely talented. Drake has slowly taken over radio airwaves and began selling out arenas shortly thereafter. With the help of his Young Money boss and friend Lil Wayne, he has transformed himself into a mainstream star.

Drake can switch things up from nice-guy-hook-singing-lady-killer to hardcore rapper quicker than Wayne rolls a blunt. That’s part of the reason why this year’s installment of Bay Area hit music station’s Wild Jam was a sell out. The other reason was the ridiculous lineup. Drake was the head liner but fellow artists J. Cole, Tyga, Taio Cruz, B.o.B and The New Boyz helped move tickets as well.

B.o.B isn’t considered an unknown in the music industry. He’s hit the main stream, has songs climbing the charts and is even featured in Adidas commercials. All that being said he is still one of the most underrated in the game today. His talent is never spoken about as much as it should be. He emerged on the massive Hp Pavilion stage donning a pair of Adidas shoes in a striking shade of red, and quickly went into an acapella prose that lasted nearly a minute. The audience went from complete silence to a raucous cheer when the beat came back.

Right after the audience had calmed down from B.o.B’s performance, J. Cole hit the stage and put them right back into a frenzy. This up and coming artist who has struck huge fame with the catchy “Workout,” spent 30 minutes with the sold out arena. Believe it or not all the artists on the bill were unique. One thing the hip hop industry isn’t doing these days is creating carbon copies of artists that sell records.

Drake strolled onto stage donning a San Francisco 49ers starter jacket and holding a can of spray paint. The hometown nod was met with thunderous cheers and the jacket quickly became a souvenir as the rapper tossed into the front row. During the fight that ensued for the jacket Drake dramatically painted YMCMB on the dj booth behind him. That served as a backdrop for the rest of the set.

There’s “Marvin’s Room,” ‘I’m on One,” “HYFR,” and countless other songs that have lifted Drake to arena status. The reason he may be so popular is his blatant sometimes painful honesty. His fans go through relationships and do and think things they would never speak of. Drake goes through those same things and says them with no shame to millions of his adoring fans. He’s the first sensitive rapper that can sing his own hook. Sometimes his songs go on and on. Filled with synth driven beats that sound as if a light show should be accompanying them. He’s really the first of his kind.

While the paint dried Drake passionately cruised through his greatest hits catalog. The crowd ate it up. A body guard watched the first few rows intently as Drizzy did his thing. The show reached it’s loudest point as E-40 emerged and surprised the Bay Area audience. Although the man has his fair share of haters he’s a captivating and unique artist that deserves the fame and status he has reached.

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