Drake at the Assago forum: sometimes big hits are not enough

The “O” shape -shaped stage surrounding all the parterre of the Assago forum, with two ends on which Drake will perform for large parts of the showthe first of four, immediately makes his intent understand: capturing the attention of the fans, breaking the barriers, showing a few centimeters away And thus creating a sort of space where everything seems possible. This is the reason that prompted him to undertake a tour in the arenas landing for the first time in Italy, At the opposite of the rival Kendrick Lamar who instead, together with Sza, opted for the stadiums where the distances, for various sectors, are giants.

Drake in an attempt to resurrect, metaphorically, from a coffin with engraved “Not like us” abovestarts from here, from direct feeling with those who support it. Face to face with your own idol, one step away from the unattainable ironing: both from the parterre and from the stands of the building, with Drake who performs with feline movements along the entire circular stage, The view is ideal for a video from Tiktok, for an Instagram story, to flexe an “I was there: concert of the year”even if the “concert of the year” is never what is defined as such. If Bob Dylan makes smartphones, almost by imposing spectators to fully enjoy music without distractions, Drake suggests exactly the oppositeallowing everyone to run from one part of the forum to the other to bring home a “perfect content”. A gimmick that works very well.

Descending from Olympus, the Canadian voice It focuses on the construction of a direct line with the fans, repaying them of a far from light disbursement. Tickets went from 150 to over 200 euroscommissions included. The great rap concerts, the genre that most of all should represent those on the margins, Are they now gathers of rich? However, we come to the artist from Toronto: the final result of his show is only at times convincing. The energy generated by some songs comes like a wave, the relationship with the public, electrified, is magical, but in other situations the trend is jammed. The set of and with Partynextdoor, guest of the tour, with which Drake made the album “Some sexy songs 4 u”, is boring. There is even the trash entry, of some strip-club dancers. Drizzyeven in the face of the few degrees that separate him from his loyalists, he should show himself with the flames in the eyes for the duration of the evening, Instead, piece by piece, it seems to normalize.

The epic and introspective introductory introductory introduction of 2011, “Over My Dead Body”, The initials “Marvins Room” and “Passionfruit”, “What Did I Miss?”, “Sicko Mode”, which generates a Moshpit incendiary, “God’s Plan”, “In My Feels”, “No face”, “Fancy”, “Hotline bling” and “Nokia”, in the final, are just some of the songs that tell who Drake is And what is capable of, passing from being a sort of romantic crooner to a crowd agitator. An artist primarily capable of embarking on a journey into feelings, Building hit on the story of human and existential wounds, on complicated love stories. All by mixing the genres and expanding the coordinates of rap from the first stepsas its shining R&B debuts demonstrate. One of the keys to Drake’s success is precisely to have contributed to bringing vulnerability to mainstream rap, an aspect that at the beginning displaced and annoyed many purists, but which today became almost a standard. Also thanks to a soft stamp, and and produced and emptied productions, one of its trademark, manages to convey melancholy, nostalgia, solitude. His is an emotional rap, however, not always capable of avoiding the cloying and predictable. Breaks through the clubs, becomes viral, it is pop, pity, magnets a large female audience, but live has interpretative and rhythm voids.

The concert, as a whole, remains “shots”: The big hits to be sung or from pogo are not enough to offer constant strength to the performance, but appear more like lightning. The “wow” effect of the beginning, with the flow of the hands, fails and returns to light only towards the ending. In recent years in Italy we have seen the giants of the scene: Travis Scott It’s all physical performance, Laminar He keeps the level of dialogue with the public low, but his words are bullets and how he shoots them causes goosebumps, Tyler, The Creator He does not have hits, but fantasy, inspiration and unpredictability to sell. Drake, considered the “Hitmaker par excellence”, is no longer the underdog of the beginning, but not even the untouchable God who claimed to be before bleeding in the feud with the compon antagonist. It is more human than what could be imagined. Poised between instagrammable spectacularity and real boredom.