Ignored fans, Corinthians, no broadcast: Drake comes to Lolla after controversy at Rock in Rio | Lollapalooza 2023

The most heard artist of the 2010s worldwide, Drake owns hip hop, trap and R&B hits such as “Hold On, We’re Going Home”, “Hotline Bling”, “One Dance”, “Too Good”, ” Passionfruit”, “God’s Plan” and “In My Feelings”. The Canadian singer returns to Brazil after a controversial debut here, when he closed the first day of Rock in Rio.

He ignored fans at the hotel, wore a Corinthians shirt, made unfriendly faces and banned the broadcast of his show. Then he said it was because of the rain.

The Corinthians jersey worn by rapper Drake on Instagram after the Rock in Rio 2019 concert was a gift from Nike. The company is a commercial partner of the singer and supplier of the club. The rapper appeared by surprise with the shirt and gave advice to his followers: “A piece of advice: don’t wear a football shirt that you got as a gift outside your country. I almost started a war in a bar.” The company explained the treat. “Nike sent the shirt as a welcome gift to the singer, who decided to wear it in a moment of relaxation during his visit to Brazil.”

The most popular name in North American rap, the Canadian Drake seems not to have come to Brazil to make friends. On his first time in the country, he ignored fans who were waiting for him at the exit of the airport and appeared with a not very encouraging face on the hotel balcony.

At the last minute, he prevented his show, the most anticipated of the first day of Rock in Rio 2019, from being televised. Professional photos and videos were banned. On a darkened stage, he barely appeared on the big screen.

“I flew 14 hours to be here,” he said, entering 15 minutes late. And he promised fans “the best party ever”. But, on stage, for those who could see, he started protocol, with the heaviest part of the album “Scorpion”, released last year. Balanced with the singer’s danceable pop, rap appeared for the first time on the main stage, in a night that would initially be marked by the genre, but changed its tone with the cancellation of Cardi B, replaced by Ellie Goulding.

Then Drake skimmed through the more familiar repertoire. The main tracks of the album “Views”, from 2016, the most pop of his career, and one of the most questioned. “Hotline bling” and “One dance” were sung in sequence, in shortened versions and in the rain – even so, they generated the peak of excitement from the audience.

Megahits like “Work” – released in partnership with Rihanna, at a time when fans were obsessed with fantasizing about a romance between the two – and the reggaeton “Mia” – with Bad Bunny – deserved just a snippet. He also included “No guidance”, released in June this year in partnership with Chris Brown, whose career is marked by an episode of aggression precisely against Rihanna. He even asked the public to celebrate his colleague, but he didn’t get much response.

On “In my feelings,” from the most melodic part of “Scorpion,” fans tried to replicate the viral dance moves that made the song the rage of 2018.

The cancellation rumors led the singer’s name to be the most commented subject on Twitter in Brazil shortly before the presentation. Users said that the Rock in Rio date had been removed from Drake’s official website agenda. However, the list had not been updated for several months, points out the Rock in Rio organization itself. The show, therefore, was not even added to the singer’s website.

Afterwards, Drake included a poster on his website confirming the concert at Rock in Rio on September 27th. Drake, in fact, had some discussions about structure with the organization and asked that there be no broadcast of the show: “Sorry everyone for the live broadcast of Rock in Rio. The weather was unpredictable, the world was falling when I went on stage and we didn’t know the outcome of the show,” wrote the rapper. “My apologies on behalf of mother nature,” he added.