Drake performs at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, Aug. 1, 2010.Ryan Enn Hughes
Drake
- At Molson Amphitheatre
- In Toronto on Sunday
You know those occasions that are supposed to celebrate a really big thing in a friend's life, and the food is a little off, and the wine doesn't work out so well either, and a hundred other miscues chip away at the specialness of it all, and everyone tries not to notice? It was like that on Sunday, as hometown hero Drake rolled into a packed Molson Amphitheatre with a hit debut album, a posse of special guests that included Eminem and Jay-Z, and a whole lot of uncompleted homework.
For at least a year, Drake has been hip hop's golden boy, whose mix tapes generated more buzz than many other people's major-label debuts. Thank Me Later, his first album for Lil Wayne's Young Money label (through Universal Motown), hit No. 1 in the United States when it came out in June, and a New York live appearance drew such a crush of people that police cancelled that gig and an even bigger one in Central Park.
Thank Me Later isn't the revolutionary album some predicted, but its tuneful tracks stand out in current hip hop for their introspective tone, minimal thuggishness and smooth fusion of rap and R&B. The studio hides many blemishes that the stage did not, however, and the parade of guests only made things worse.
No one claims that Drake is the most proficient rapper in the game, but he did himself no favours by playing host to others with skills so much better than his. Eminem and Jay-Z took only a couple of minutes each to show where the bar stands. Even Rick Ross's stodgy holler-rap (in Blowin' Money Fast) had an intensity not heard from Drake, who shadowed this number like a little brother waiting for the day when he, too, can play with the big kids.
A good hour before Eminem stole the show, Kardinal Offishall romped through a solo demonstration of what Drake still has to learn about stage presence. His willingness to show doubt and vulnerability are part of Drake's appeal (especially among a female audience other rappers don't reach), but we need to believe that he owns that platform of doubt, not that he's trying to rent it.
Drake needed no visitors to shine a harsh light on his singing skills. His R&B tenor has a nice velvety tone, but in his live performances of A Night Off and Find Your Love, his studio debt to Auto-Tune was painfully apparent. I'm not talking about the contained off-pitchness of someone who can't always hear his backing band (a very tight group, by the way), but the uncertain groping of a singer whose ear and vocal cords lack basic training. This man needs emergency singing lessons.
For someone who has been in show business for nine years (as a regular on the Degrassi TV series), Drake was remarkably inept at running his own show. His scripted song introductions were laboured, and his down-tempo numbers (e.g. Lust for Life) didn't just change the pace, they killed the party. An encounter with a woman invited up from the crowd was as awkward as the first dance at a school prom.
All these faults can be repaired, or minimized, with time, hard work and professional help. Drake's debut disc is full of misgivings about success too quickly acquired, and till Sunday I thought he was just referring to the burdens of celebrity. Now I think he would have been better off with a few more years slogging in the trenches. As a performer, the best he ever had is still a long way from great.