Drake’s “Summer Sixteen” tour is on its second night in New York City live from Madison Square Garden. The first night had Drizzy and Future bringing out A$AP Ferg and Young Thug, and tonight had another big surprise: the Bronx’s own A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.
A Boogie’s buzz has grown this year exponentially after the release of Artist: The Mixtape featuring songs like “My Shit,” “The Jungle," and “Friend Zone.” As of this writing, A Boogie’s video for “My Shit” has well over four million views. With no major label backing (though industry rumors say he has an affiliation with Atlantic Records), A Boogie’s growth with his Highbridge label has been organic, getting the support of the city similar to when Bobby Shmurda and Desiigner were coming up.
According to concertgoers, Drake opened his show with Roy Wood$ and dvsn. Then A Boogie came out to do a set of his own. Here’s him performing “Friend Zone.”
During last night’s show, Drizzy also shouted out A Boogie. Maybe he was getting us ready for tonight?
As you can probably imagine, some fans aren’t too enthused that Drake is co-signing yet another young rapper with a huge following early on. It’s been a hot topic of debate that Drake rides waves, giving his Midas Touch to artists like Future, The Weeknd, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Makonnen, Roy Wood$, Fetty Wap, and Wizkid with a verse or a shout-out on social media. One could argue those artists are the reason why many of his recent hits—like “Controlla” or “Summer Sixteen”—have been so huge because he’s pulled from them for his sound.
But on the flip side, any new artist getting attention from one of the biggest names in hip-hop is never a bad thing. It’s how A Boogie chooses to use this bigger spotlight to his advantage. He once rapped how people changed like a Drake song on "Temporary": “I just feel like nothing was the same.” From this point forward, things are about to be different for him.
