Drake’s second night at the Apollo Theater in New York is just as eventful as the first—someone falling from the second floor eventful.
Drake is one of the heroes of early 2000s music. The Toronto-born artist has been active since 2001. He has set his reputation in stone with hits like “God’s Plan” and “Hotline Bling.” In 2022, he released his new album called “Her Loss,” and he was supposed to perform at the Apollo Theater to promote the said album in the same year. Unfortunately, due to the passing of fellow rapper Takeoff, Drake postponed his November show. He canceled for the second time due to logistical issues. But on January 21st and 22nd, his intimate concert at the historic Harlem theater finally happened.
The show on the 21st was the first time Drake performed at the Apollo Theater. On his first night, he showed the audience his origins by telling the story of how he started writing songs and how his success happened. The stage design was nostalgic as Drake reminisced about his humble beginnings of writing in his childhood room until the artist went and produced music in a studio. Drake highlighted that the show was all about gratitude. It was his way of saying thanks for all that he had done and gotten. Drake also acknowledged his mother, who was watching from the mezzanine. He thanked her for all she did for him.
The first night was star-studded, with other celebrities like Justin and Hailey Bieber in the audience. However, Drake’s second at the Apollo is just as remarkable, albeit for different reasons. The show started smoothly. For the first half-hour, the artist performed without a hitch. But just as he was about to perform with 21 Savage, his album’s artist collaborator, a man fell from the second floor. He hurtled down to the crown on the first floor. It wasn’t clear what happened to make the man fall, but Drake halted the show for a few minutes to go and check if there were any injured audience members from the incident. Fortunately, after about 15 minutes, the crew gave the go-ahead to continue, as there were no reported injuries to the falling man or the crowd members.
Bizzare incidents and accidents have happened in the past at concerts, but the mezzanine fall is no doubt one of the highlights of Drake’s second show. The artist and 21 Savage continued their performance without any other incident for the rest of the night.
A tour and a possible new album of Drake’s were hinted at the last Apollo Theater show. That should excite his fans, hopefully not falling-from-the-second-floor excited.
The 36-year-old Canadian artist shows no signs of stopping, and his music is as relevant today as it was on the day he started. His beats are not outdated. He is one of the artists who was able to adapt his style throughout the decades. Fans can expect to see more of Drake this year, as he appears to be making a comeback in the hip-hop scene.