Drake has been working hard to put the major L he took in his beef with K. Dot behind him (that lawsuit is still happening, though). He dropped $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U with fellow Canadian PARYTNEXTDOOR just in time for Valentine’s Day. He broke the record in May for the most RIAA-Diamond certified singles with 10 total. He also recently confirmed ICEMAN as his next album era.
However, starting on July 11, Drizzy brought out the classics along with some new teasers and guests galore to celebrate Wireless Festival’s 20th anniversary. In true Champagne Papi fashion, though, you know he couldn’t leave the stage without calling out his biggest opps (currently).
Day 1: R&B Drake is back in his bag
Night one was R&B Drake in full bloom. PARTYNEXTDOOR and Summer Walker were the big guest reveals, but they weren’t alone. Leon Thomas warmed up the stage with “MUTT” and “YES IT IS” before being joined by his label boss Ty Dolla $ign, who declared himself the “King of R&B.” UK newcomer kwn brought smooth vibes, and Kehlani popped out to deliver the “Worst Behaviour (Remix).”
Summer Walker even got to relive her emotional “Session 32” moment from three years ago — the one where she cried mid-performance because fans were showing her love. Growth! Once PND started singing “Come and See Me,” it was the Bat-Signal for Drake to hit the stage.
“This is the first time in my life that I’ve done three different shows on three different days…You came to a very special night. It’s night one. It’s a celebration of all things R&B. All things melodies. All classics,” Drake told the crowd.
Drizzy then went deep into the catalog — “Jungle,” “Marvin’s Room,” and more sadboi staples — before reuniting with Giveon and Bryson Tiller for some live heartbreak karaoke. However, the true shocker came when Lauryn Hill emerged (on time!) to perform “Nice For What” with Drake for the first time ever.
After a set like this, who wouldn’t be feeling the love? However, “The Mandem” brought petty Drake back out in full force the next day.
Day 2: It’s too late for all that lovey-dovey shit
“London, tonight is different…All that sweetheart, singing s—? That s— is over tonight. This is for my motherf—ing dogs. I see my dogs came out tonight,” Drake declared as he kicked off Day 2.
Enter: Rage Drake. He started the night off with “IDGAF” (ft. Yeat), then debuted “What Did I Miss?” from his upcoming ICEMAN project, before diving headfirst into bangers like “Headlines,” “Energy,” and “Nonstop” — where he casually rewrote the lyrics just to clown LeBron James.
Changing the original lyrics, Drake rapped to the crowd, “How I go from 6 to 23 but not LeBron.”
Another sign that he’s done playing games with the Lakers superstar? Eagle-eyed fans spotted that Drizzy’s James tattoo has been replaced by another basketball hero — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Wonder who the rapper will choose to replace Gilgeous-Alexander if the basketball player ever “betrays” him.
The shade then moved towards K. Dot once the crows began a chorus of “Fuck Kendrick” for Drake to hear. Instead of telling them to calm down, he decided to take a shot during it instead.
Despite all the pettiness, Drake had some love left in him after all and shouted out UK rappers like Skepta, Dave, and Central Cee (who performed “Sprinter” together).
“Nobody can out-rap London — nobody…No disrespect to America. No disrespect to my country. But, nobody can out-rap London rappers. This is the best, this is the highest level. This is what I aspire to be,” Drake proclaimed.
He ended the night with a wild range of guests: PARTY came back for “SOMEBODY LOVES ME,” Latto and Sexyy Red (as K. Dot smiles in the distance) lit it up with “Big Mama” and “Rich Baby Daddy,” and of course, Drake couldn’t leave without summoning 21 Savage for “Knife Talk” and “Rich Flex.”
And then, Drake closed out this hard-hitting set by serenading the crowd with “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton. Don’t ask why. Just accept it.
Day 3: Drake’s global set is short but sweet
For his final (and short) set, Drizzy got into his culture vulture bag as special guests like Burna Boy and Ms. Lauryn Hill (again) warmed up the crowd before his arrival. He started off with a bang after finally performing the previously teased new track with Central Cee (that apparently will drop on July 18th).
He also brought back his verse on Rihanna’s “Work” (hello, nostalgia), and dusted off crowd favorites like “Passionfruit” and “One Dance.” Rema came through for a mini-set, and then things went full karaoke party as Drake invited everyone onstage for “Hotline Bling.” He saved his most dramatic move for last, though: flying above the crowd to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”
While Drake saw the Wireless run as the “best three nights of my performance career,” other reviews are a mixed bag to say the least, especially with his final performance time only being 40 minutes. Regardless, Drizzy showed once again that he can deliver plenty of surprises (and drama) wherever he chooses to perform.
