(Courtesy of the Hip Hop Chronicle UK)
I'm proud to say I was one of the first people in this country to see him perform at Hammersmith Apollo and even from the very back row it was still one of the best nights out I've had.
Though doors opened at seven, fans were kept waiting for Drake's appearance until nine forty. To make that wait a little bearable, J Cole-the support act, presented himself for the second time to the London crowd. Only thing I got to hear from him was a ridiculous bassline from the queue, but good things were said about him. Some claiming he was better than the headliner. (See for yourself at 8.49 in the clip.) And don't let anyone tell you they grew tired of waiting. They had Westwood of Radio 1/1 Xtra playing the mothers of all tunes, (dutty wine, don't let me go) and there were plenty of opportunities to star spot as the Sound of 2011 winner Jessie J, Florence, Yasmin, Ricky and Melvin and Mr Hudson also came out to support.
When those lights went down, (obviously not where I was sitting in row Z)the stage lit up and that silhouette appeared the crowd went Bonkers (in the words of Dizzee). He started with Forever, and quickly ran through a list of smashes including Uptown, Houstalantavegas, Fireworks featuring the beautiful vocals of Denosh, A Night Off, Best I Ever Had, and ended with the biggest crowd karaoke rendition of Over I have ever heard.
His delivery was on point. Sounding the same, or even better than the album. The set list was solid, and even though I didn't know all the songs, he would always come back with a crowd-pleaser that everybody could enjoy. Plus, he took his time to shout out about 50 people in the crowd (including my cousin). And when he felt like getting something off his chest? He free styled. No biggie.
While critics come at Drake with talks of 'over-emotional' rapping, it's cool to hear someone rap-and let's not forget sing-about what their life is like and their relationships rather than how much 'dough' they stack. And for the people calling him a woman's rapper? Please come up with a new insult. There may have been a lot of women there, but for every woman there was a man doing his swagger dance and putting his deuces up.
It was such an enjoyable experience that I may just have to take note of what he said and find him in London tomorrow (at a 'mall' near you) to tell him.
EDIT.
This definitely didn't happen when I went, but on 08/1/11 on the second night Florence Welch stole the show with her Fireworks/Cosmic Love mash-up. Jealous isn't even the word.
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