Drake’s next album, For All The Dogs, has been eagerly anticipated by fans over the past year. With rumored guest appearancies from Nicki Minaj, Bad Bunny, and SZA and production from Bnyx, BeautifulMvn, Lil Yachty, and more, the album has had fans scouring the internet looking for clues for when it would drop.
Drake has been teasing the release of his 8th studio album since January, but fans got word Friday night what was causing the hold up: It’s either the tour or the music.
Drake took to Instagram and the beginning of this weekend to let fans know the balance he was trying to maintain writing. “Okay my dilemma I am faced with is either cancel shows to finish the album or I complete the mission and drop the album before the last show” and concluded the post with “For All the Dogs October 6th. It’s only right…”
The It’s All A Blur Tour touched down at the Toyota Center Sunday for night one of its two-night showing and anticipation was high. The Canadian rapper has maintained a special connection with Houston and, although he performed at the ill-fated Astroworld Fest, hasn’t headlined a show here since his three-day tour stop with the Migos back in 2018.
With viral videos of bras begin thrown on stage, appearances from guests like French Montana, Beat King, Lil Yachty, and Sexyy Red, and co-headlining in certain cities alongside 21 Savage, Houstonians were definitely looking forward to seeing what the MC had in store for the city he is always showing love. It’s an anticipation that was felt by Drake as well.
“There are two shows on this tour that I call homecoming shows, “exclaimed Drake as he walked around the centralized stage addressing the sold out, screaming Toyota Center crowd. “The first of those two homecoming shows is right here in Houston, Texas. This is where it all began.”
What began was a whirlwind career of countless hits from mixtapes, albums, and features that has propelled the former actor into one of the largest Hip-Hop artists in the world and the It’s All A Blur Tour tries to perform the impossible feat of giving fans it all.
The tour is two and a half hours of everything from radio hits like “Started from the Bottom” and puts them right alongside mixtape cuts like “November 18th. “ Drake kept the energy up by constantly moving around the stage, hyping up the audience amidst lasers, lights, and fire.
The MC spent almost the entire night in front of the audience, even taking a quick “break” from the show to play tracks from his 2017 release More Life, but still couldn’t help himself from performing the songs from the DJ booth off stage. The show is so jammed packed that you could almost forget that 21 Savage is a co-headliner but the Atlanta rapper commanded the stage, taking over during the middle of the show, before Drake returned to perform tracks from their 2022 release Her Loss.
For the fans, and for Drake, the show is not just a celebration of him as an artist, but a celebration of the city from which he was taken so much inspiration.
“I remember performing at Warehouse Live for 800 people,” recalled Drake as the audience roared with approval. “It meant something to me knowing people spent their hard-earned money on me back then and it still means something to me now. I love you, Houston.”
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
