The protesters came for Drake on the second day of OVO Fest 2014. Standing alongside the road and brandishing long picket signs reading hellfire, the protesters, presumably Christian, spoke to the crowd at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre about religion and our false god Aubrey Graham. Through some kind of sound system, they warned the gathering fans about the dangers of drugs and fornication. “Be a man and put away your tickets,” said the voice of one protester. “Or be a woman,” the voice added, covering its bases. But the best part was when it asked, “You think Drake’s gonna keep doing what he’s doing and get away with it?”
OVO Fest Day Two With Drake
Where: Toronto
When: Aug. 4, 2014
Venue: Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Crowd: Kevin Durant, people following Kevin Durant, Steven Reisman, people who recognize Steven Resiman, hip young Canadian men and women who love Toronto.
Setlist: "“Draft Day,” “We Made It,” “The Language,” “Unstoppable,” “Bria’s Interlude,” “Sooner Than Later,” “Successful,” “Na Na” (Trey Songz), “Karaoke,” “The Resistance,” “Show Me a Good Time,” “Up All Night,” “Over,” “Can’t Get Enough” (J.Cole), “Power Trip” (J.Cole), “Over My Dead Body,” “Crew Love,” “The Motto,” “H.Y.F.R.,” “Marvin’s Room,” “Days in the East,” “West District” (PARTYNEXTDOOR), “Persian Rugs” (PARTYNEXTDOOR), “FWU” (PARTYNEXTDOOR), “Break From Toronto” (PARTYNEXTDOOR), “Recognize” (PARTYNEXTDOOR), “All I Do Is Win” (DJ Khaled), “I’m on One” (DJ Khaled), “No New Friends” (DJ Khaled), “Bitches Love Me,” “All Me,” “2 On” (Tinashe and OB O’Brien), “Who Do You Love?” (YG), “Climax” (Usher), “Confessions” (Usher), “Lovers and Friends” (Usher), “U Don’t Have to Call” (Usher), “Good Kisser” (Usher), “Wu-Tang Forever,” “Own It,” “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” “Started From the Bottom,” “What Up Gangsta?” (50 Cent), “Beamer, Benz, or Bentley” (Lloyd Banks), “Smoke” (50 Cent and Trey Songz), “I Get Money” (50 Cent), “Don’t Worry ‘Bout It” (50 Cent), “In Da Club” (50 Cent), “Trophies,” “Believe Me,” “Worst Behavior,” “0-100.”
Great question. After the fifth annual OVO Fest, the answer is yep, definitely, 100 percent, mmhmm, yes.
What was Drake getting away with, exactly? Oh, only the most heartwarming celebration of friendship, hip-hop, and ecstatic rap hands this writer has ever witnessed. The guests (and hugs) were plentiful, numbering in the double digits, and the set list tapped out at 50-plus. Over the course of three hours, Drake unfolded his favorite subject—his life—for his beloved hometown, and if that sounds obnoxious it's only because that doesn’t emphasize how his much his narrative depended on his friends and family.
It began with worship, as Drake bowed before the mighty Lauryn Hill, who sprinted from the tarmac to the stage and then through her set. She rapped triple time to “Lost Ones.” Her only moment of repose came when Drake arrived to praise her (duh) and then use her performance of “Doo Wop” as the segue into “Draft Day.” He hugged her, bringing the hug count to a total of one.
1.
In black jeans and a black T-shirt, he kept the crowd surging off the surprise of Hill with “We Made It” and “The Language” before bringing his mom on stage to thank her and let her officially start the show. In an exchange that can only be described as peak mom, Drake asked Sandy for her help in kicking things off, asking her if it was time to go. “Is it time to go?” she said, sounding perplexed at her boy’s request. You could hear the follow-up thought—but we just got here—in her voice, and everyone with a mother or maternal figure grew warm and we laughed together and then the stage was really set: Tonight would be about love. (Hug count: two.)
Drake talked about performing songs he hadn’t been able to before, early stuff from So Far Gone. In my notebook I wrote, Is he gonna do “Bria’s”? When he started singing “Bria’s Interlude,” the perfect Missy Elliott-sampling gem from his 2009 mixtape, I frightened some of the people around me. When he followed that up with “Sooner Than Later,” I tried to continue keeping track of the setlist in my notebook but my hands didn’t work like normal hands anymore and with my pen I scratched nonsense symbols that represented my gratitude and dumb wonder. The English language was no longer an option.
Then Trey Songz showed up.
They hugged like brothers after Drake described how Trey was the first American artist to believe in his music. Their performance of “Successful” (and the hug) rivaled Drake’s interaction with his mom for most moving moment of the evening. The chorus of the song—“I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful”—is so earnest, and witnessing these two men who have achieved just that embrace in front of 16,000 people means more than a lot. In that instant, it meant everything. (Hug count: three.)
2.
Getting back to business, Drake resumed spastic rap gesticulations like playing air piano with a single raised hand and spinning around in place. (Bless him for not trying to be cool when he raps.)
The public expression of male friendship resumed when Drake introduced J. Cole. As the Roc-A-Fella MC rapped the opening verse of “Power Trip,” Drake rapped along, but not into his mic. He wasn’t accompanying him as a musician; he was appreciating as a fan. (Hug count: four.)
3.
And there are so many other artists to fan out about and befriend. Rivals don’t need to be enemies, and thus Drake shouted out Kendrick Lamar, saying there are “a lot of kings in this shit.” Olive branch, extended.
It turned out that Drake had still more olive branches up his sleeves, as he rapped “Crew Love,” amending a reference to The Weeknd to: “That OVO and that XO still everything you believe in.” Still! In one night, Drake squashed all beef, brought about world peace, and since there was a video of a firefighter fighting a forest fire projected on the big TV screen behind the stage, I think that means that Drake ended forest fires and thus concluded a war that Smokey Bear has been waging for years.
There are, somehow, more things to tell you about. Like how Drake performed “Marvin’s Room” from a flying disc that soared above the crowd. Or how DJ Khaled entered and shouted his own name over top the recording of him shouting his own name during the opening of “I’m on One.” Or how Drake declared PARTYNEXTDOOR one of the most talented people he’s ever seen. (PND’s set included “Break From Toronto,” so obviously it was a necessary detour, but the young R&B artist from Mississauga is no seasoned vet and looked a little shook on stage. He sounded off tempo at times, but when he sang a cappella before departing, his voice was clear and bright. He’ll get there.)
Oh, and Usher appeared. And YG. And Tinashe. And OB O’Brien. And Majid Jordan. And 50 Cent. And Lloyd Banks. (The hug count began to break down, as it was too much hugging to document, though I can testify that 50 received a generous one and Majid, of Majid Jordan, got one that included a pat on the back of the head.)
4.
Still, with so many friends, where was Cash Money? The absence of Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne became conspicuous as the night rolled into hour three. Where were those friends? Drake let Nicki’s verse on “Up All Night” play for a bit, but that doesn’t satisfy, say, the way an in-the-flesh rendition of “Make Me Proud” would have. Or the live debut of “Anaconda.” The best explanation for Wayne is that no one wanted to spoil the impending magic of the Drake vs. Lil Wayne touch, which kicks off later this month.
And anyway, Drake can get away with all of it. He has our blessing.
Ross Scarano is a deputy editor at Complex and he swears by "Girls Love Beyoncé." He tweets here.
