Drake vs. Lil Wayne Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 27, 2014
"He flew across the stage on the stripper pole?"
And so the summer of 2014 concluded with two best friends forever trading insults about themselves and the quirks that make them who they are. It's been a summer of awkward dances around one another, Jay Z & Beyonce probably being chief among them. Watching Drake and Lil Wayne banter back and forth in between their colossal combined set lists felt almost as if it had zero edge to it, despite the tour's billing as a summer-long battle between the two superstars.
Drake vs. Lil Wayne had crisscrossed between various U.S. cities for weeks and Houston, fittingly if you're Drake, was the last stop. Also fitting? The date happened to be Lil Wayne's 32nd birthday. Never mind the fact that Wayne seemed like he was 27 for three years straight at one point, it allowed both men to be even more freewheeling when trading insults.
It also allowed for another argument: which Drake show is better? In June, the Toronto rapper and V-Live enthusiast (vintage steakhouse!) performed at Warehouse Live for a crowd of maybe 1,000 for nearly two and a half hours. Last November he was in Toyota Center, belting out Nothing Was the Same records albeit without the same kind of personal flair at Warehouse.
I guess another summer of doing large venues has done Drizzy good.
During Wayne's performance of his verse from Chris Brown's summer smash "Loyal," Drake stood in front of Wayne and began dancing. Pop-locking. Doing probably the best impersonation of Chris Brown without being Chris Brown we've ever seen. "I should have did that shit with Rihanna, maybe we would have lasted!", Drake quipped to oohs from the crowd.
Petty Drake is the best Drake.
Taking cues from Capcom's epic fighting game Street Fighter, various onscreen images the two Young Money rap titans in karate garb. Neither one decided that was worth it and opted for far more traditional wear onstage. Wayne -- for much of the night and seemingly every year at The Woodlands -- was shirtless with tube socks all the way up his shorts and Chuck Taylors. Drake seemed far more crisp in Supreme sweatshirts, OVO T-shirts and jeans.
Even if they acted like they were battling back and forth, there wasn't really a point after bombing fans with hit track after hit track for the better part of two hours. Lil Wayne led off with "Blunt Blowin'" and "John" from Tha Carter IV, which prompted Drake to swing back with "Draft Day" and "We Made It." The crowd roars didn't differ much from any other time Drake or Wayne have taken the stage. You could have had them standing in front of 20,000 people at Cynthia Woods and people would have been screaming their heads off regardless.
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