Drake: It was More Than Just a Show

I purchased a ticket to a performance of, to my great surprise, age 21 and under. “How did I end up here and why am I here?” were my thoughts as I cased the joint. I knew that Drake has become the buzz around parts of the Houston urban scene. Not quite cult status, but definitely more than a passing fad – and he has yet to drop an album. He caught my attention before the show with his remake of a Houston classic, “June 27.”

My beef with his sample of “June 27” is simple; how was he granted permission to cover this song? A brilliant marketing move, albeit questionable. Personally, along with many 30-somethings, I wished “June 27” was untouched or at least remade by a Houston artist. All is fair in love and war in this industry, but there are songs that should be treated with a level of respect, and the fans who support the original song will demand nothing short of it.

So, as I entered the venue with an amount of skepticism, Drake fans happily and patiently waited in the sun six hours before show time. I made my way to check out Drake’s, sound check.

I embarrassingly eyed the surmounting crowd of college kids and high-schoolers before I entered Warehouse Live, where Drake would be performing that evening. Surprisingly, the ratio of the crowd was five to one guys to gals. Little did I know I was watching the emergence of the male bopper 2.0. I realized in five more hours I would be lost in a sea of graphic tees, nut-huggers, and colorful scarves; what I call the “New” age b-boy stance, and the biggest kicker – most of these dudes were back stage. When did boppers switch teams?

As I patiently waited on Jazz Prince, the point of contact for Drake, I was able to listen in on Drake’s sound check. His demeanor was laid back and professional, and he moved comfortably around the stage in his relaxed grey denim and plain, dark t-shirt. As he prepped the sound engineer for his sold out show, I was able to catch a glimpse of this hip-hop phenomena they call Drake.

I listened to the product. Not once did he go into any heavy rap lyrics, I assumed he had that on lock; it was his singing voice that piqued my interest. As he tested his vocals, the pitch was obviously flat. He tried a verse of the mellow R&B tune, “HoustonAtlantaVegas”, and again, to the naked ear, the pitch was off. I wanted so bad to hear something special. I wanted a reason to understand why this guy was so sought after by every record executive in this failing music industry and by the end of the night, I found my answer, this cat is confident and bold.

A little shocked and amazed, I couldn’t believe I was the only person in attendance and paying attention to the sound check.  It was too late for a cover-up, I already heard the real shit. No background music, no voice-overs, just Drake in accapella and for a lack of words, I was not impressed. His voice was kinda weak and needed improvement, but the sex appeal was definitely on point.

The young ladies of Greater Houston packed the entire venue after primping and prepping for the event. Now 80 percent of the women there gushed and rambled on how cute Drake was and how the show Degrassi turned them on to the pop rapper.

Drake Concert, Houston Texas, Warehouse Live from THEBLVDMAG.COM on Vimeo.

After six ridiculous hours, the DJ belts “How many of ya’ll watched Degrassi?” The girls screamed and I stood confused, “What the hell is Degrassi?” Drake smoothly waltzed onto the stage with the swagger of a Jay-Z and the mouth-piece of a Kanye West. The crowd screamed in hysteria. Before he kicks it into full gear, he gives Houston the most well-deserved shout-out in my personal concert history.

“Houston, my favorite place in the entire world. Not one of, but favorite.” The crowd cheers him on.

Another shout out.

“Houston has the best music, the best women, and the realest n-words,” he prattled as he continued to praise H-town.

He started with “Uptown” featuring Bun B, and of course the crowd went nuts. As Houston does best, we showed Bun well respected love as he performed onstage with the newbie.

What I could not understand was why he decided to play Missouri City’s own Z-Ro. Three seconds into the song the crowd rapped with extreme fervor, as most young supporters of local Houston rappers do. All three-plus minutes was entirely too much for a Z-Ro song at a Drake concert. The top performer of the night had no choice, once he opened the gates, Z-Ro’s lyrics flooded the venue. The audience was very loud and clear. As the crowd of youngsters —80 percent of them female — rapped the song word for word, Drake watched the crowd in amazement. Drake interjects as the crowd serenades him with the ghetto country lyrics, “No other city reps their own harder than Houston.” The crowd’s attitude was of “yeah, we know you’re feeling this shit, but we gone show you how we feel this too!” And that was the defining moment of the entire night.

Without radio play and a record deal, how did the new comer get the huge fan base not only in Houston, but across the country? Who put him onto the Houston grind of hustling mix-tapes, that artists like Slim Thug, Lil’ Ke Ke, Mike Jones, and Z-Rro have mastered? He’s a fresh start for the young movement of up and coming rappers/actors, but there is still an air of “where the eff did you come from?” that leaves a lot to the imagination.

© 2009 – 2010, Eddie Nicole. All rights reserved by Sub Urban Media Group.