OVO Fest 2015 Recap

The hype surrounding Drake’s annual OVO Fest music festival is always off the charts, due to both the insane love and support Drake has from his hometown crowd, and also his tendency to bring out crazy special guests that have, over the festival’s six year history, ranged from Jay Z to Eminem, Snoop Lion to Diddy, TLC to Lil Wayne, Ma$e to Stevie Wonder and more. This year, the special guests weren’t the only hot topic of discussion in the days leading up to OVO weekend, as Drake has been embroiled in a very public feud with Meek Mill over the latter’s suggestion that Drizzy uses ghostwriters to pen some of his most famous hits. The beef reached a fever pitch in the days just before the event, with Drake dropping the diss tracks “Charged Up” and “Back To Back” within days of each other, along with a few other heaters such as “Right Hand” just to keep people talking.

So with the whole city charged up for an epic weekend, night one started strong with opening performances from Jeremih and YG, followed up by an energetic, hour-long set from Big Sean. J. Cole had promised the crowd that he would perform the entirety of his 2014 Forest Hills Drive album, but unfortunately had his time on stage cut short due to an intense rainstorm that descended upon the outdoor venue. Fans were still treated to a bunch of Cole favorites throughout the course of his almost 70-minute set including “St. Tropez,” “Lights Please,” “In The Morning” and “Power Trip,” before Mother Nature outperformed him while he was in the middle of “Up All Night.”

The second day saw a different, more anticipatory vibe as people started packing into the Molson Amphitheatre: The grand finale was finally here and we would all find out which guests the 6 God would bless his disciples with this year. The show started around 8:00 PM with OVO crooner PARTYNEXTDOOR performing a generous set of his signature downtempo grooves, backed by a live band. He also paid tribute to Toronto rapper Redway who passed away in a car accident just two days ago.

The break between PND and the secondary act was painfully long as stage adjustments were made, and the crowd was growing antsy for the next opener to hit the stage. At around 9 PM the lights went out and the image of an iPhone appeared on the gigantic stage screen. Could it be — not an opener, but Drake himself coming out already, and opening with “Charged Up” to boot? It set the tone for the rest of the night: if Drake was coming out this early with this song, the rest of the night was sure to be full of surprises.

Drake, in a full-body Jordan jumpsuit, rinsed through “Charged Up” and “Back To Back” while a series of derogatory memes aimed at Meek Mill projected behind him. He also treated the crowd to a handful of favorites from his latest album, If You’re Reading This Its Too Late, and after “6 Man” turned to the crowd and posed the question, “Mans never been in OVO Fest when it’s shut down, eh?” prompting the first special guest of the night to hit the stage. Skepta threw down a rousing rendition of his grime banger “Shutdown,” which took the crowd’s energy to new heights in time for the next guest, Future. He performed some crowd favorites from his mixtapes 56 Nights and Dirty Sprite 2, after which Drake gave it up to his friend saying, “If there’s anybody that got the world on fire it’s you, my ni**a. Make some noise for super Future.” After Future exited the stage, Drake offered up some words about how one of the best parts about OVO Fest is that he gets to bring friends like Future to perform, but that he also gets to bring his idols.

The stage went dark and a huge lighting rig descended from the ceiling. As it began angling upwards, a slowed down version of “Harder Better Faster Stronger” began playing, and Kanye West appeared on stage, bathed in spotlights. His set was everything we’ve all come to expect, know and love from one of the most energetic performers in the world: he laid down on the stage, jumped up and down, displayed some of his signature dance moves and rapped and screamed with reckless abandon. The lighting rig was especially impressive and was a perfect example of how no expense or detail is ever spared when it comes to a Kanye West stage show. Just when the energy reached a fever pitch, Yeezy welcomed Travi$ Scott to the stage to perform “Upper Echelon” and “Antidote.” Scott’s ultra-high-energy stage performance and commanding presence are quickly becoming his trademark, and this night was no exception: the crowd went absolutely wild while the G.O.O.D. Music cohorts bounced around the stage. After that Drake and Kanye came together to perform “Blessings” in what was perhaps one of the shows defining moments.

Drake then continued on solo, performing a few more songs he’s been featured on as of late, including the Fetty Wap summer smash “My Way,” the Makonnen new karaoke classic “Tuesday” and also his take on D.R.A.M.’s “Cha Cha,” the freshly cut “Hotline Bling.” Then he launched again into another impassioned soliloquy on idols, before “Drop It Like It’s Hot” blasted through the sound system and Pharrell Williams took the stage.

Pharrell’s set was impressive, albeit a little out of place within the context of the rest of the evening. When the Skateboard P-produced “Alright” dropped, excited murmurs shot through the crowd about Kendrick Lamar possibly coming out, which wouldn’t be all that far-fetched considering he had just been performing at Montreal’s Osheaga festival, just one province over from Toronto. That wasn’t to be, but Pharrell did treat the crowd to an intense performance of his new song “Freedom” complete with some incredible visuals, before Drake came out and thanked him for his contributions to music, fashion and culture, telling him, “You are the king. We all look up to you: the way we dress, the music we make, the beats we wanna make, the beats we pick, the hooks we write…And now you’re on a mission to change the world. Thank you.”

And thus began the last leg of Drake’s show which included some classic material like “HYFR,” “Started From The Bottom” and more IYRTITL. He also snuck in a few more jabs at Meek Mill by debuting a portion of what could possibly be a third diss track, tentatively titled “3Peat.” One of the more epic moments was during the Toronto anthem “Know Yourself” as Drizzy invited a mob of his woes to join him on stage while he performed the superhit that has taken the moniker “The 6” and made it a household name around the world. He threw some further fuel onto the Meek Mill fire by performing “Back To Back” for a second cheeky time, before closing out the show with the ever-so-appropriate “Legend.”

Regardless of your opinion of Drake or his 6th Annual OVO Fest, it’s hard to argue with his assertion that even after his music career is over, he’ll be a “motherf*cking legend” — the first Canadian rapper to ever achieve widespread global commercial success, and a Toronto icon who has put his city on the global map like no other artist has ever been able to do.