By now we're sure you've heard about Young Money's golden child, Drake, falling and re-injuring himself during his set at the Susquehana Bank Center this past Friday, July 31, in front of a sold out crowd. You probably even saw fan-filmed footage of the unfortunate tumble on YouTube, and read Drake's blog about it, so you probably think you know everything that went down that night. Well, you don't. But Complex does. We were there!
Last week, we sent a writer and a photographer to follow the most buzzed-about rapper in the game on the northeast leg of the America's Most Wanted Music Festival. We were supposed to follow Drizzy from Camden, NJ to Jones Beach, NY, but our (and his) plans were cut short due to a very unfortunate accident. It goes without saying that we wish Drake a quick and full recovery—if the thunderous roar of the 25,000 people in attendance this past Friday is any indication, he'll be dearly missed on this tour. Even though our story was cut short, we were still able to spend some time with Drake and the rest of the Young Money crew leading up to the incident. Check out all the candid photos and quotes below to see the night through Complex's eyes...
Photography by Matt Doyle
Interview by Damien Scott
Complex: How do you choose your outfit for the show?
Drake: "Me and Oliver will sit down together and figure out what's a good look for tonight. But I like this outfit, I like this sweater, it's Robert Geller, I wear a lot of Robert Geller."
Complex: I'm guessing you're outfit is influenced by the venue and the part of the country you're in?
Drake: "The other night it was raining in Saratoga and the crowd was screaming and I could hear them from the bus, screaming. So I just threw on some black jeans, a black raincoat, a bunch of black diamonds—that's just how I felt, wanted to come out super evil. Tonight is just... it'll be fresh."
Complex: So everyone on tour has a pellet gun? How'd this all start?
Drake: "Apparently, the pellet gun war started in Miami. Wayne was shooting up the artists, and then the artists went and bought pellet guns. Then Wayne bought out a whole store, literally. He went to a sporting goods store and told them make sure no one else can buy any guns or ammo and bought everything. So we had to go a different city just to get some. It's one of those things that will go on until someone gets really hurt."
Drake: "The tour is very family oriented. Everybody's getting to know everybody else, for the people that haven't been here. And for the people that have been on tour with us, it's just another one. It's very jovial."
Drake: "One thing I look forward to is seeing everyone, slapping hands with the security guards and all the other workers."
Complex: Are people hitting you up about sending you free clothes and shades and stuff yet?
Drake: "At a lot of the shit I'll actually wear, it's from brands that are not necessarily going to send a rapper a whole bunch of shit. Brands that really don't care if a rapper wears their stuff. Brands like Helmut Lang and YSL and Robert Geller."
Complex: As a musician, this is all fairly new to you. How do you feel when people come up to you with music to listen to?
Drake: "It takes a lot for a person to come up to me and give me his MP3 Player. I know that man did not want to give me his MP3 player. I just try to treat everybody with respect and try to give them a little bit of my time, I can't give them all of it. I've been there."
Drake: "It being the Young Money tour there's a lot of young individuals. It's cool being around like minded people that are your age."
CLICK NEXT TO SEE THE REST OF DRAKE'S NIGHT!
Drake: "I don't ever miss my peers sets. I'm never off by myself in my room until it's my time to go. When I hear that boom and Wayne goes on stage, I'll stand out there, even on my bad leg, 'cause there's always something to learn."
Complex: How do you prepare yourself before you go on stage?
Drake: "Just kick it, man. Be calm. The best preparation I have is being out there from point A, watching Wayne so I get amped up. Feel out the crowd. Get my hugs from certain key females. That's my preparation for the show."
Drake: "Many people don't know this, but the night I recorded the freestyle that caught Waynes attention I was in the studio with Wayne but I didn't know him at all. I was recording to the song at the time, this song someone sent me a beat and said it's going to be the biggest song in the world, the song was called 'A Milli.' I just had the beat, I was like, 'This song is gonna be huge? OK.' So I just started rapping to it. I remember taking a break and coming out into the hallway and bumping right into Wayne."
Complex: How's the knee holding up?
Drake: "The knee's alright. Last night I had a bit of a scary moment. I saw somebody that had my mic and I walked backwards and I fell. But I got up and I had to go onstage right after."
Complex: You tune down your stage show at all?
Drake: "No [Laughs]. That's the scariest part."
Drake:"The cool thing about Young Money is that we stand by the stage and watch everybody perform, it's like a team. It's like playing on a hockey team. Everybody comes off stage and we slap hands and then the next person goes out and you get hyped and you rhyme their lyrics, it's like, I'm here for you. Everybody has good nights, everybody has bad nights, you gotta be there for both."
