DRAKE CONCERT---PIER 6 PAVILION, MAY 5, 2010

YOU COULD FEEL THE ANTICIPATION IN THE AIR ON THIS MILD, SPRING EVE AT PIER 6 PAVILION. THE EMCEE AND ARTIST WITH THE MOST INDUSTRY BUZZ SINCE 50 CENT WAS ABOUT TO TAKE THE STAGE. AUBREY DRAKE GRAHAM, THE TORONTO, CANADA AND DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION ALUMNUS APPEARED AT APPROXIMATELY 9:20PM, TO THE DELIGHT OF FANS, OLD AND YOUNG. THERE WAS A MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS DOWN AT PIER 6 (AND PIER 7 AS WELL, FOR THAT MATTER I ENCOUNTERED PERSONS FROM DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS AND WALKS OF LIFE, THERE TO WITNESS THE DRAKE PHENOMENON THAT HAS BEEN PRESENT IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY FOR THE BETTER PART OF A COUPLE OF YEARS AT LEAST. YOU COULD FIND A MIDDLE-AGED WHITE WOMAN STANDING NEXT TO A TWENTY-SOMETHING BLACK MALE, BOTH THERE TO ENJOY AND ABSORB THE MOMENT.



LEGIONS OF FANS WERE READY FOR THE PERFORMANCE TO COMMENCE, AND HE LAUNCHED INTO “FOREVER ”, HIS COLLABO WITH L’IL WAYNE. KANYE WEST AND EMINEM. THE CROWD, FROM WHAT I COULD OBSERVE, WERE VERY HAPPY WHEN DRAKE PERFORMED CUTS FROM HIS UPCOMING STUDIO ALBUM DEBUT THANK ME LATER. “FIREWORKS”, COMPLETE WITH SIMULATED FIREWORKS AT THE SONG’S BEGINNING, SET THE STAGE FOR THE REST OF HIS HOUR OR SO LONG SHOW. DRAKE BLESSED THE CROWD WITH A FEW FREESTYLES DURING HIS PERFORMANCE, LEAVING THE AUDIENCE WITH SUCH LINES AS “THE GAME NEEDED LIFE, SO I PUT MY HEART INTO IT”. EVEN THOUGH THE CROWD WAS THERE TO LISTEN TO SONGS THAT HAVE INFILTRATED EARS FOR THE GOOD PART OF THE PAST YEAR OR TWO, DRAKE’S STAGE PERSONA DIDN’T QUITE MATCH HIS SONG QUALITY. HE KEPT THE CHARM CITY CROWD ENGAGED, BUT DIDN’T SHOWCASE THE ONSTAGE CHARISMA OF HIS LABELMATES L’IL WAYNE OR EVEN NICKI MINAJ, WHO IS VERY ANIMATED, TO SAY THE LEAST. HOPEFULLY, IN TIME, DRAKE WILL DEVELOP A STAGE SHOW TO RIVAL HIS RECORDED MUSIC CATALOGUE. COMING FROM THE SCHOOL OF EMCEES SUCH AS KRS-ONE AND BUSTA RHYMES, ARTISTS THAT CONTROLLED THEIR HIP HOP AUDIENCE FROM BEGINNING TO END, I GUESS I AM A LITTLE JADED WHEN VIEWING AN ARTIST THAT WASN’T OF THAT MOLD.



THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OF THE SHOW WAS THE APPEARANCE OF BIRDMAN, CASH MONEY CEO AND PART TIME ARTIST. HE SHOWED LOVE TO DRAKE BY RHYMING ON A FEW JOINTS WITH HIM. I WAS A LITTLE SURPRISED THAT HIS YOUNG MONEY COHORTS WEREN’T PRESENT, AT LEAST ONSTAGE. NEVERTHELESS, DRAKE NAVIGATED THROUGH SONG AFTER SONG, SUCH AS “SUCCESSFUL”, “SAY SOMETHING”, AND OF COURSE, “BEST I EVER HAD”. JUDGING BY THE MOSTLY FEMALE CONTINGENT THAT POPULATED THE CROWD ON BOTH PIER 6 AND 7, IT WAS QUITE EVIDENT THAT THIS BUDDING ARTIST’S MUSIC IS CATERED TO THE ESTROGEN-BASED AUDIENCE. DRAKE EVEN SHOWCASED HIS VOCALIZING DURING HIS SHOW, TO THE DELIGHT OF THE MANY WOMEN IN ATTENDANCE.



TOWARDS THE END OF DRAKE’S SET, HE INTRODUCED THE BALTIMORE CROWD TO HIS LIVE BAND. THE BAND PROVIDED A NICE BACKDROP MUSICALLY TO THE SHOW. DRAKE SENSED THAT THE SOUNDMAN WAS READY TO PULL THE PLUG ON THE SONIC ASPECT OF THE SHOW, AND HE ADDRESSED THIS, TO THE DISMAY OF THE CROWD. ENDING THE SHOW IRONICALLY WITH “FAR FROM OVER”, I CAN SAFELY SAY THAT MR. GRAHAM’S MUSIC CAREER IS FAR FROM OVER. THE WAY THAT HIS PHENOM HAS CAPTIVATED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY MAKES IT VERY APPARENT THAT THE SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR DRAKE. HOPEFULLY, THE ARTIST THAT HAS SHARED THE SPOTLIGHT WITH INDIVIDUALS AS DIVERSE AS PHONTE, L’IL WAYNE, AND TIMBALAND, WILL GROW TO BE AN EMCEE THE MASSES CAN BE PROUD OF. JUDGING BY THE THRONG OF AUTOGRAPH SEEKERS WAITING FOR THE OBLIGATORY DRAKE SIGHTING NEAR HIS TOUR BUS, OTHERS MAY AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT.

I WITNESSED A COOL SHOW OVERALL. ASKING MY THREE TEENS, AGES 18, 17, AND 15, ABOUT THE SHOW, BECAUSE THEY WERE IN ATTENDANCE, THE CONSENSUS WAS THE PERFORMANCE WAS EXCELLENT. NOT QUITE, IN MY OPINION, BUT THAT MAYBE DUE TO ME COMING FROM A DIFFERENT ERA OF HIP HOP ARTISTS. I WON’T ALLOW MY UNDERGROUND, NATIVE TONGUES-INFLUENCED HIP HOP ROOTS TO TAINT MY VIEW OF AN ARTIST THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GROW INTO A VERY DIVERSE CREATIVE FORCE. I CAN’T FRONT THOUGH, IT WAS QUITE HUMOROUS TO WITNESS THE SCENT OF “GREEN PASTURES” AS THE TOUR BUS PULLED OFF FROM PIER 6, HEADING TO THE VELVET ROPE FOR AN AFTERPARTY. ONCE THE LAST OF FANS, GROUPIES, ONLOOKERS AND SPECTATORS LEFT THE SCENE, I CALLED IT A NIGHT, THUS ADDING A NEW CHAPTER TO THE BALTIMORE HIP HOP BOOK.

PEACE AND LOVE WISDOM SEEKING FAMILY!!!!