Drake brings it home with the OVO Fest

August 3rd, 2010

Little about Drake’s rise to success can be called conventional and dull. With a string of unprecedented events, from gaining respect through his mix tape So Far Gone, to getting the biggest endorsements from rappers like Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, and Jay-Z, to signing a huge contract as a new artist with Young Money, to sold out tours, Grammy noms, and now titled as a platinum recording artist, it’s fair to say he’s doing a prettyyy good job… I mean, he does work hard; so he deserves it.

This past Sunday, Drizzy gave his home crowd the opportunity to celebrate his achievements with him by holding the first annual OVO Festival. The energy and anticipation at the Molson Amphitheater was absolutely insane, and while openers P Reign, Francis and the Lights, Bun B, and Young Jeezy fed the crowd, it was clear that we were hungry to give our Toronto native a proper welcome back in his hometown – and, in case you haven’t heard already, Drizzy too was ready to come home in a HUGE way – unprecedented and surreal, much like his career so far.

For more on what went down and the pics we snagged of the historical show, hit the jump and let’s goooooo!

Drake’s catalogue of music is a mix of sultry, R&B-esque tunes, gritty, raw freestyle and verses, and a few contributions to Top 40 ‘pop’ hits, so it was no surprise to see a great mix of mainstream and underground hits on the set list. Within the first 20 minutes of the show tracks like Show Me a Good Time, 9AM in Dallas Freestyle and Unstoppable were all performed, catering to new and old fans. I was quite surprised that he spit his verse from the Thank Me Later track Up All Night considering Nicki Minaj was unable to cross the Canadian border (and let’s face it – Nicki’s verse on the track is unreal). Sadly, Drizzy did not invite a member of the audience to take Nicki’s place like I dreamed of last week…let’s just say my custom made Barbie necklace is now completely useless.

What I found truly fascinating is the diverse audience that OVO brought in. Granted, I was buggin a little when I saw a family of four with kids no older than 13 being seated at the center of the crowd, but the fact is that Drizzy’s music has this undeniable ability to unite listeners across a market saturated with a lot of commercial, ‘fake’ hip-hop, exposing the more natural, raw aspects to the genre. Sniff…it’s beautiful!

Drake shed his charming, cute exterior and invited the audience to the insecurities and realities of his world many times throughout the show, especially during songs like Lust for Life, Successful, and Fireworks (and yes, they too really went off in a colourful display). Given the nature of his more recent material a lot of Drake’s set was a series of slow jam tunes, including a few verses on top of an instrumental of Alicia Key’s Un-thinkable (which, bee-tee-dubs, Drake worked on). From where I was sitting it kept the audience in awe more than making them bored. However, Drake was able to hype up the audience just as fast through his stand-out performances of Best I Ever Had, Fancy, Say Something, Bedrock, Every Girl and Unforgettable, bringing out Jeezy to support the track and getting the entire crowd to share his swagga as he enjoyed the moment of truly being home.

Speaking of guest performances, Drizzy ensured that the OVO Festival would take care of his city the same way his city took care of him, and boy, did he deliver. Drake had rappers Mack Maine, Fabulous, Kardinal Offishall (Canadian love, wad up!), AND Rick Ross come in to support and perform with him. But wait! Just stay tuned kids, cause there’s definitely more where that came from!

There are three things that Drizzy seems to have an immense amount of respect and love for. These are things that we were constantly reminded of throughout the show:

1) The boy lurves his women! His sensitive, charming attitude shined at various points in the show as his dialogue made every female in the house melt. “Do the boys take you out properly? I mean, not that Jack Astor’s ish but somewhere nice?” he teased.

2) Lil’ Wayne. The phrase ‘Free Weezy’ was repeated to us throughout the night, with several shout outs made towards the Young Money family. Drake definitely paid homage to the dude who gave him the opportunity to put himself and Canada on the map

3) Toronto, Toronto, Toronto. People can talk all they want, rumors can run their course and media outlets can twist Aubrey’s words, but the fact is that Drake has some serious love for his hometown.

…which brings me to the highlight of the night, and that would have to be perhaps the most explosive conclusion to a show that I have ever witnessed. EVER. EVERRRRR.

Forever is undoubtedly one of Drake’s biggest commercially successful tracks, especially given the fact that Weezy, Yeezy, AND Eminem spit some crazy verses on the track. It comes as no surprise that the crowd went absolutely wild, rapping the opening lines “Last name ever, first name greatest!” …but we were definitely a part of it, and then we got to witness something absolutely mind-blowingly surreal. Just as Drake wrapped up the chorus to the track for the second time…EMINEM. EM-I-FREAKING-NEM comes out to perform his verse. It’s been TEN years since Eminem has stepped foot in Canada and his return came in the form of a 120 second appearance at OVO. AMAZING.

So, okay. We’re digging this, we’re screaming. Em says whad up and leaves the stage. No big deal. We did not just see a hip hop heavy weight. Drake then decides to play a few tunes to pay respects to the mentors who were not present at the OVO. First, ‘Power’ by Kanye West. Second, a track by Andre 3000. And third…oh, you gonna need a play by play for this one.

The lights go down as Drizzy announces the third artist he wants to mention, saying “This is a man who has inspired me more than anyone else,” and Public Service Announcement by Jay-Z comes out on the speaker. We’re feeling this one too, til Drizzy cuts the music and says “I want to give my city the anthem they deserve.” The music for Over begins to play and the screams emerge from every direction for the single. Then Drake cuts it again, saying “Nah, I said I want to give my city the anthem they f**king deserve!” and then we hear the infectious chorus to Run This Town being emitted from the speakers.

Who is that song by? Jay-Z. AND WHO COMES OUT FIFTEEN SECONDS LATER? MR. 40/40, SEAN CARTER, HOV, JAY-Z. EXPLOSION. Fans are crying, people are running to get closer…no no no, one of the biggest names in rap history is not at the OVO Festival…it just can’t be true! But it is friends … we felt it, we bounced to it, we rapped to Jay just as he rapped to us…surreal, and unprecedented…that’s all I can say.

Now I’m a tad greedy. Of course I was blown away by Eminem and Jay-Z’s appearances, but couldn’t have Jay-Z stayed to perform Light Up with Drake? And I heard Trey Songz was backstage, but why didn’t he come out for Successful? IDK. I also would’ve loved some OVO-specific merchandise. Like I said, I’m greedy…so what!? Despite these small complaints, the show was incredible. I can’t negate it because I am still stunned.

It’s sometimes difficult to grasp the idea that Drake is so respected and loved in the game today to the point that he was able to get Jay-Z and Eminem to perform at his show, but as the last song of the night Over was performed, it was clear that everyone in the theatre that night witnessed something historical, just as Drake had intended for us. I have to say, many will regret not being there.

And as Drake soaked in his last few moments on stage to a city that loves him, one thing was truly evident: he made a memory to last a lifetime, and his story is definitely far from over.

All photos by Allison Bowsher