to watch those kinds of performances on twitter, but maybe I’m the weird
one. Regardless, Future kept pushing through his catalogue, and his inexperienced showed here and there. At times, he seemed to stop to contemplate what exactly he was going to do next. Luckily, his music did most of
his work for him, although he could have performed more DS2 material
instead of the newer stuff from Purple Reign. All in all, he was cool, but I
kind of expected more from Super Future.
Those thoughts quickly moved aside as I heard “Big Rings” start to blast
throughout the venue. This was the moment that I had waited for. What
A Time To Be Alive was really happening in front of me, and I still don’t
think I really captured how much of a once in a lifetime experience this
whole night was. And while I was in a daze, Drake and Future revealed
one of their special guests for the night: GUCCIIII! He came out literally
shining. This dude was locked up 6 months ago, and now Mr. Zone 6 himself was performing with the 6 God.
-For the record, I couldn’t resist the 6 pun.After joining Drake on “Back on Road,” Gucci did his thing and went
solo. He killed “1st Day Out Tha Feds” the single from his latest album,
Everybody Looking. Alexa loves that song, and she legit sang it word for
word with no mistakes. Although I wasn’t as good with the lyrics, I, along
with hopefully everybody else, knew the words to the next song. As the
guitar intro got the crowd as turn as possible, Gucci performed “I Think I
Love Her.” I don’t think Gucci even remembered the words as well as the
crowd did; it was truly a sight to see and a moment to experience. Actually
leaving the crowd wanting more, Gucci made a graceful exit and gave the
stage back to Drake and Future. The two decided to perform “Jumpan”
and get the crowd ready for more WATTBA classics, but that was sadly
Future’s exit as well. So now, Drake is back for round 2.
Not even gonna flex, I was tired as hell. It was creeping past 11, and I
had been up since 6:30. Yet, I somehow mustered up the energy to vibe
to Drake as he performed a slew of his dance-hall inspired hits. At one
point he almost finessed everybody into thinking that Rihanna was going
to make a special appearance as “Work” started up, but it was still fun
to dance to regardless. He continued the sub-set with “Too Good” and
“Controlla,” and then he released the hit of his career: “One Dance.” And
believe me, although I’m pretty sure that everyone in attendance had
heard “One Dance” over a million times and probably loathed its existence, everyone one got down with Drake and really jammed. There was
no way that Drake could top that by himself, so he introduced the second
special guest: long-time friend and collaborator, 2 Chainzzzzzzzzzz! They
performed their new sleeper hit, “Big Amount,” and the crowd vibed as
best as they could. But to be fair, 2 Chainz’s new tape hadn’t even been
out for a full 3 weeks. Needless to say, I’m glad I got to see it live because
it really showcased both of the artist’s lyrical abilities. Afterwards, Drake
took a breather and let 2 Chainz go solo. He went on to perform “Watch
Out.” Only thing wrong with his decision was that DJ T-Jizzle kind of
performed it for him earlier during his DJ set. Poor Chainz, because it
was the audiences second time hearing that song that night. It was just
awkward, but Tity Boi made sure it was still a lit guest appearance regardless. He made his exit by revealing an interesting little tidbit: at one point,
Drake and 2 Chainz were side by side in Phillips Arena for a Lil Wayne
show prior to both of their careers taking off. The two embraced and 2
Chainz dipped off the stage. Well kinda. He couldn’t figure out how to
leave, and even commented on it, to the audience’s amusement.
It was 11:30 at this point, so I thought Drake would call it quits and
send us off after an amazing night. I thought. Drake went over his time
like he did on previous stops on the tour, saying that he would keep going
as long we would have him. There were a lot of “I have work tomorrow,
but fuck it”s sounding around me and the subsequent applause to let
Drake know that everyone was down. So Drake delivered on his promise and continued to give us one hell of a show. “Back to Back” was on
my songs to see live bucket list, and it was crazy to see how much Drizzy
really feels and connects to that song. I get it though, every time he performs it, it’s basically an additional exclamation point to “Don’t forget that
I killed you last summer, Meek!” He keeps the energy high even though
everyone is basically dying from standing for 3 hours straight and singing
their hearts out, performing “Pop Style,” “Hype,” “Know Yourself,” and
“Energy.” He then kind of hints at playing “Views” and closing the night
out with some hardcore bars by playing the instrumental to the track.
Instead, he speaks to us. He tells us how he enjoyed himself, and how he
truly loves Atlanta and all the support he’s had in this particular city, even
when he didn’t have a name for himself. He thanks us for coming out and
enjoying the first night with him and even invites us to come back the
next night (yeah right nigga, these tickets wasn’t cheap). He tells everyone
to be safe because he wants to see each of our faces after he makes more
music to come back and perform for us, you know typical Drake salutations. Then the track changes, and the instrumental to “Legend” comes
on. He approaches his square platform as he sings the chorus. “If I die, I’m
a Legened” reverberates throughout the arena as Drake disappears from
everyone’s view.
The concert was over before I knew it. I had mixed feelings coming into
the show, but I left knowing that I had witnessed one of the greatest tours
that this artist was ever going to put on. From start to finish, I enjoyed
some dope performances from Roy Woods, dvsn, Future, Gucci Mane, 2
Chainz, and Drake. Everything about the show was perfectly balanced: the
tempo, the energy, the emotion, and the performers. I laughed throughout the whole concert, having the time of my life, and Alexa did too. The
Summer Sixteen Tour was one for the books. And although it wasn’t as
intricate and extravagant as the Yeezus Tour per say, Drake brought a lot
of humanity and inspiration to the tour, showing that hard work does
really pay off. The first night of the Summer Sixteen Tour was worth every
penny spent, and it surprisingly became one of the best nights of my life.
-Roah Jobin
photo cred: Razaorgator