There is not a finer, more fun, exercise in pop-hop than Drake's Club Paradise tour. The level of crowd interaction and adoration, the precision of lighting and staging, the catchment of all that is "rap" (the gamut of Nicki to Rozay), reaches an apex under the well-orchestrated grin of the game's most earnest ambassador.
But before hitting some heights, suffer with me this cast of opening characters:
French Montana
- My hope is that at least one kid, somewhere, now knows that Morocco is a North African country and that Bad Boy Records still exists.
Tity Boi 2 Chainz
- As he explains in an interview with VIBE magazine, "2 Chainz made it lady- and kid-friendly. In my 8th grade yearbook picture I had on 2 chains."
Meek Mill
- a strong reprise of that Ruff Ryder, dirt bike ethos, and with extra-strong Philadelphia swagger.
Waka Flocka Flame
- Have you watched the video where he drunkenly dreams up a large rooster who rides in a Ferrari that unloads a full clip at some haters at the end?
For the younger set, dropped off at the Comcast Center on a lazy Sunday afternoon, these warm-upers gave space to take in some overpriced refreshments or tour merch. For me, it was a pause to conjure a meta-narrative on what made Drake assemble this line-up. Here it goes. On the opening leg of the tour, he played underground hero by inviting Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky to share the large stage. This spring, the excess drippings of Rick Ross rounded out the contemplative Drake that took Take Care to the top of pop charts. Rather than constructing some alter-ego, a Canadian version of Shady or Roman, Drake can expand his melancholic persona through association with members of Maybach Music Group.
What does this looks like in the midst of a hit-after-hit set list? Drake offered a hypothetical situation about "being at the club and someone starts looking hard at you," and that makes him think of...2 Chainz! Sure, we all knew that there would be a nice duet on "No Lie." Unexpected was Drake acting as hype-man, bounding from hook to hook, bouncing from left to right. Here's a guy who is staring on the largest hop-hop tour of the year, and he loves playing back-up to Tity Boi.
Same thing with Waka Flocka Flame (WTF). Drake offers a "Round Of Applause" for all the ladies who 'bus it in one of Atlanta's finer establishments, but somehow doesn't end up with stripper dust on his sweater after his foray with WTF.
Drake pulls together all these elements--the crass, the existential, the bo$$, loneliness at the bottom of a glass of champagne--and spins them together with an infectious energy to make believers out of some 20,000 people. Not convinced? Well, Drake takes a good ten minutes each night to pan the camera over the crowd, large screens showing a behind the shoulder perspective, as a game of "hey there" unfolds. To wit:
- "My eyesight is good, and you're looking even better"
- "Those are some cute jean shorts, really more like jean underwear"
- "Guy in sunglasses? Don't know if you can see me, but you can hear me, and that's all that counts."
- "Looking like you're waiting in line at the grocery store, hands in your pockets."
- "Thanks for the Drake bracelet; I already own one, but I appreciate that."
Ten minutes worth, cue a drum fill, then back on with the show. It's been his tour de force moment in recent shows, and it captures the immensity of his charm. These slightly ad libbed lines work, even when surrounded by what the Teflon Don himself calls "Flipping bricks, counting money -- so repetitious."
I regrettably have little to say about J. Cole, the opener right before Drake took the mic. He's polished, has solid chemistry with his backing band, and all the ladies love him. For someone who lives with the moniker of "found by Jay Z," he sure didn't swerve from the charge: covering "No Church in the Wild" before starting "Work Out." If Cole and The Weeknd could just spend a month together in the studio, there would be some solid music for the later hours of the evening.
"No Lie" recorded by Maxima617
Play video
