Thousands flock to see Drake close out SXSW
Erykah Badu, Kelly Rowland, Lily Rabe, Hannibal Buress and a crowd of thousands turned out to see Drake at South By Southwest on Saturday night.
Fader Fort Presented by Converse closed out it’s fifteenth year with arguably the biggest show of the festival, one starring the “Hotline Bling” emcee — whose first magazine cover was the Sept. 2009 issue of Fader and who also fronted the publication’s 100th issue — and four acts off of his label, OVO Sound.
The label’s mini-showcase took up the final two hours of the day’s festivities, with the rapper’s latest signing, the mysterious R&B act dvsn, first to hit the stage. Next up was teenage crooner Roy Wood$, who was followed by the duo Majid Jordan, whose self-titled debut earned rave reviews when it was released last month. After them was PartyNextDoor, perhaps the most established of OVO’s roster other than the not present iLoveMakonnen.
As excited as the crowd was to see Drake’s label mates, it was clear who everyone was waiting for. And sure enough, the enormous crowd let out a deafening roar when Drake hit the stage.
The rapper tore through a muscular set of recent highlights including the Meek Mill diss track “Back to Back” and “Jumpman,” which Drake played twice in succession after the song’s producer Metro Boomin briefly joined him on stage.
He then asked the crowd to make some noise for the rest of the OVO crowd before finishing up with “Summer Sixteen,” the first single from his upcoming album “Views From the Six.”
“My name is Drake. I’m blessed enough to be from Toronto, Canada. I’m blessed enough to have all these people on my label,” he said before exiting the stage, “Make some noise!”
"Invest in the brand!"
Comments