THE WEEKND at Massey Hall, October 17, $45-$75. LN. See listing.
DRAKE at Air Canada Centre, October 24, $76.75-$126.75. TM. See listing.
Drake and the Weeknd are inextricably linked. You may have first heard the latter, aka Abel Tesfaye, on Drake’s song Crew Love from his last album, Take Care. You may have first seen the elusive, media-shy Tesfaye perform at Drake’s OVO Fest two years ago.
You may be aware of the alleged feud, and the purposefully public burying of the hatchet via first an Instagram shot, second the Weeknd’s performance at this year’s OVO and third a Drizzy verse on Live For, the third single on Tesfaye’s long-anticipated studio debut, Kiss Land (Universal), which came out earlier this month.
Next month, the Weeknd will celebrate with a show at historic Massey Hall. And now that Kiss Land has proved Tesfaye is not just a flash in the pan, or should I say three flashes – his mixtape trilogy, Trilogy, was one of the best musical projects of 2011 – we can set our sights on the September 24 release of Drake’s third full-length, Nothing Was The Same.
We’ve already heard two drastically different singles, Started From The Bottom and Hold On, We’re Going Home, whose only similarities are complete radio ubiquity (I won’t say overplay) and earworm infectiousness.
Despite a surge of haters (some time between 2010’s Thank Me Later and 2011’s Take Care, unabashed Drake-loving became less cool than, say, unabashed Jay Z-loving), Drake continues to kill his city with kindness. In release after release, he shows a knack for coining phrases that quickly become vernacular, and for not just capturing the musical zeitgeist, but shaping it.
Judging by the office reaction to my squeal upon hearing the date of Drake’s Toronto ACC show, not everyone is aware that October 24 is also Drizzy’s 27th birthday. For he’s a jolly good fellow, that – try as they may – nobody can deny.
