Planned takeover by Drake fans at Kendrick Lamar's Toronto show flops

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A group of Drake fans who pitched an “OVO Takeover” to counter Kendrick Lamar’s concert in Toronto saw their efforts flame out in spectacular fashion Thursday night.

An Instagram post shared earlier this week called on fans of the Toronto rapper “to meet outside the Rogers Centre at 5:30 PM on June 12 & 13” to let Lamar know that “this ain’t just any city. This is DRAKE’S city.”

The message said the rally was meant to celebrate Drake, who was involved in a high-profile feud with Lamar last year.

“No hate, no drama – just pure Toronto energy, positive vibes, and a full-out celebration of the legend who BUILT the sound of this city,” organizers said.

But shortly before the show started, the gathering was scrapped after police shut them down.

In an Instagram post, a group calling itself The 6 Takeover said they were trying to “create good vibes for the city.”

“But unfortunately, some people decided to report us, falsely claiming we were planning to ‘start trouble’ or cause chaos,” they wrote. “Because of those reporters, police were already on high alert and were quick to shut down anything that even looked like a crowd forming – including us.”

They then returned to the platform to ask for donations to help foot the bill for the $11,000 they allegedly spent for Drake-themed hoodies planners had purchased for attendees.

“It’s for a good cause, and any amount is appreciated,” the coordinators begged.

They also claimed that Lamar was “too shook to sleep in Toronto.”

“Man pulled up with SWAT like he was entering a warzone, then dipped to NYC to sleep before flying back for his next show. You can’t make this s*** up,” they wrote.

Multiple posts on X mocked the group’s failed efforts to boycott Lamar and urged the government “to do something about the unemployment level.”

“Taking on debts for your favourite millionaire is insanity,” one person joked.

Others made fun of the low turnout, with several commenters calling the meet-up “so embarrassing.”

“One hundred years from now, y’all will be the main attraction in the Cornball History Museum,” another critic added.

Inside the venue, videos shared to social media showed it was all love between Lamar and the sold-out crowd that packed Rogers Centre.

When Lamar dusted off his chart-topping Not Like Us, a diss track that seemingly ended his beef with Drake, the audience cheered relentlessly and pleaded for him to play the song “One more time.”

It was a triumphant victory lap and perhaps the final word on a rap rivalry that started last spring after Lamar responded to a line in Drake and J. Cole’s 2023 song First Person Shooter, in which Cole referred to the three of them as the industry’s three greatest hip-hop artists. “We the big three like we started a league,” Cole rapped.

Lamar dismissed that declaration on Future and Metro Boomin’s Like That, spitting back, “It’s just big me.” He also hit out at Drake on back-to-back diss tracks Euphoria and 6:16 in LA in which he called the lyricist “a terrible person.”

Drake escalated the feud by mocking Lamar for appearing on songs by Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift and made digs at the Compton freestyler’s short stature, calling him a “pipsqueak.”  On another diss track, Taylor Made Freestyle, Drake used AI-generated rhymes by Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg to further besmirch Lamar’s name. Swift also got dragged into their back-and-forth battle when Drake declared she was the “biggest gangster in the music game right now.”

Then on his Family Matters number, Drake accused Lamar of physical abuse and infidelity.

But on his Grammy-winning Not Like Us, Lamar took things to another level when he branded Drake as a pedophile. “Say Drake, I hear you like ’em young / You better not ever go to cell block one / To any bitch that talk to him and they in love / Just make sure you hide your little sister from him,” he rapped.

The lines alluded to a 2010 concert video that resurfaced nearly a decade later in which the Canadian hitmaker invited a teenage fan onto the stage at a Denver show, where he proceeded to dance and fondle her.

Lamar’s Not Like Us also included a dig at his adversary’s Certified Lover Boy album title (“Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophile”), made claims that he slept with Lil Wayne’s ex and used an image of Drake’s Toronto mansion marked with red pedophile markers as the track’s cover art.

Drake ended up suing Universal Music Group, the label which represents both artists, accusing the company of promoting Lamar’s false pedophilia allegations and putting his life in danger.

But Universal Music said that Drake was a willing participant in the war of words when he released his own inflammatory diss tracks aimed at Lamar and hinted he was trying to take legal action because he was the loser in their rap feud.

“Plaintiff, one of the most successful recording artists of all time, lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated,” they responded in April. “Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds.”

In the lead-up to the pair of Toronto concerts this week, tickets for Lamar’s shows were slow moving and prices dropped significantly.

RTN Canada shared a post that noted that tickets that once were priced over $1,000 had dropped below $161.

“The price reduction is attributed to dynamic pricing adjustments and the availability of unsold seats and low demand,” they shared in a post that garnered more than 94,000 likes, including a heart from none other than … Drake.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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