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By Cly! Host of "The 4/20 Lounge"!

5

Drake, groundbreaking HIP-HOP artist, or Big Impact Pop Star, the difference may effect your EXPERIENCE…

Yow! Classic NY Sour for this one…perfect vibe. Happy Fathers Day!

Ok, so I hit this “FREE CONCERT” last week sponsored by Ray-Ban and Paper Magazine. The concert was said to feature Drake and Hansen, in an attempt to mix the crowd and express the aims of the magazine towards diversity.

What apparently wasn’t on the agenda was actually having the featured acts PERFORM! Another aspect of the show it may have been nice to plan for is the 20,000 New Yorkers that decided to make their presence felt! For whatever reason, on this particular day, one of the hottest acts in the game wasn’t supposed to attract a crowd in the busiest city in the world, during a FREE show. PM and I didn’t want to get there too late, not knowing what to expect from a free “Drake Concert”, and we couldn’t have gotten there early enough to be prepared for the situation that was about to unfold.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a “Niggaz don’t know how to act” themed piece. This is more of a “What the fuck is going on” kind of vibe I’m working to establish. The crowd at the concert has been recently portrayed, as “the reason for the concert being cancelled” was the type of crowd that HIP HOP artists live and die to entertain. Ciphs among strangers, beach balls flying, crowd surfing, and general rare UNITY were among the features of this “angry mob”. They were actually so angry, that I was able to interview various people about current issues in hip hop. So, for the sake of not lying my ass off and going with the flow of bullshit that is the media, I deem this to be a “don’t blame us because you don’t have your shit together” themed piece. However, if we don’t hold promoters and artists accountable for things like this, how is it ever going to change?

What starts a “riot” is getting a big group of people together, and pissing them off. That’s precisely what happened. People came out to see Drake, some to see Hansen, and nobody saw anyone, except NinjaSonic, who left the scene unscathed, along with the DJ who got a few minutes to rock the crowd. Everything was fine until it came down to show and prove that you had the hottest act in the game here to perform for everybody, free of charge.

Nobody came out, hours pass as we wait for the DJ to get back to spinning. The moment never arrived, just the announcement that the concert was cancelled, and a fiery  reaction from the crowd upon seeing a TWEET from Drake, blaming his non-appearance on the NYPD, who blamed in on the unruly crowd, as the crowd blamed its unruliness on the lack of fulfillment of a promise. Up to that point, the only issue was people getting on roofs to get the best view! 

The crowd goes from unsettled, to unruly, to uncontrollable! Please take a moment to check the footage of the fights breaking out, a woman running with an infant -what the fuck she was thinking, remains a mystery-, various foods and bottles flying and landing with no direction, clear safety violations, nobody explaining anything, overly-aggressive police, and unified anger.  The worst part of all this, it wouldn’t have happened IF DRAKE CAME out. I just wanted to set the tone for this. Real MCs Move Crowds, they don’t move away from them. People got hurt, children were at risk, and more of the negative vibes that already saturate this city were incubated here. Somebody has to take responsibility, and I don’t think it’s your supporters Drake. It might actually be the photographer that was ON STAGE, TAKING PICTURES OF THE ANGRY CROWD...

Real Hip-Hop superstars would have made that scene into a moment. All the ingredients were present. What if it were Jay-Z, DMX, Jeezy, or Busta Rhymes? That scene would have been replayed for years to come. Thousands were screaming “We want Drake!”, but the question at the end is, what do you want Drake? I feel like I shouldn’t be upset, because of the repetitive claims of being in this industry for the money, but how about what your support is in it for? Does that shit matter AT ALL ANYMORE?! 

This “in it for the money” trend that’s taken over Hip Hop is translating to more than a loss of substance in the genre, but a loss of integrity and responsibility, as people don’t take the initiative to not buy your shit when you fuck them over. Congrats on the gigantic album sales Drake, I guess “Thank Me Later” was an appropriate title, because according to these interviews, one of the aspects that he's still developing is his stage presence, and I don’t see shit to be thankful for right now on these vids and pics. Except, a chance to see a lot of angry ass people that felt like he wasn't built for the NY scene. Keep that weak shit outta here...

Hold dat, WAhhh!

5 comments:

LIT_APOC said...

There are numerous accounts of the crowd getting unruly AFTER the concert was cancelled. I have yet to hear of an incident that would implicate a riot prior to the announcement. Yet again, media sources are taking to the airways in a desperate attempt to say they covered the story FIRST instead of saying they covered the story Right. Thanks for the first hand account Cly. As for DRAKE, he should really spend less time stressin over payin homage to Lil Kim, and more time stressin over how he's gonna bounce back. You may not want to believe it DRAKE, but when people like you, and you say that you will entertain them for free, the crowds tend to come out in larger numbers. Whether or not large crowds of fans is foreign to you or not, that was a class A bitch move. Seeing as how you can't find the balls to perform for free, i'll be sure to think twice before buying a ticket to one of your shows.

June 21, 2010 at 7:30 AM
Dawnie said...

First of all!!!!! I would like to give a shout out to Cly and DJ PM for putting together an awesome blog. NOW ABOUT DRAKE.. I honestly look at Drake differently after this stunt that he pulled. Don't get me wrong his music is still fire but respect for what he does just isn't there anymore. You left your fans high and dry. What type of Artist does that to his fans?? TWO THUMBS DOWN i can just imagine how many fans he has lost over this. I also understand how he was concerned for his life. But honestly would it of been that bad if he came out. You have thousands of people chanting your name and you show them no love in return.. The Millions of dollars that he spits about are there for one reason only your fans.. that being said.. BOOOO to Drake.. ;0)

June 24, 2010 at 3:27 AM
katie said...

well for me, this was not the turning point of losing respect for drake. i had done so before he failed to show up for his fans. but regardless of how "reckless and riotous" the crowd was, he should have still showed. regardless of the police, whether it be lack of or not, he should have showed. his fans are the only thing that will keep him where he claims he wants to be, at the top of the charts, making music with the best of them. regardless of this being a free concert, so many people showed up. the crowed was so diverse that he had the chance to gain a whole new group of fans, ones who would not give his music five seconds had they been given the chance previously. im not sure what was going through his head, and no one will know the real reason he didnt come out on that stage. we can only judge him from what we do know, that he lost a perfect opportunity to show his already existing fans and new fans what he is capable of. he can obviously draw a crowd, but now were not sure if he can actually please the crowd. with that being said, i agree with lit apoc.. i wont buy tickets to his concert. i wont support his music like i used to. because if you cant please people for free, it really seems to us that youre only in it for the money. that is not a true artist, a true performer, a true love for what you do. yes you have talent, but if you dont do it for the fans, then you will never transpire to them. you will never come off as though you love what youre doing. fans connect with who they listen to, some because they can relate to whats being said and others simply because they can FEEL what you feel. drake was unable to deliver this early in his career, when most artists are so in touch with who are and want to show themselves off the anyone and everyone who will listen. so really, what does this say about drake? maybe he simply is just aubrey graham and jimmy from degrassi, maybe his drake facade is lost in the money he has made and the true celebrities hes had the pleasure of working with. drake doesnt seem to be one for the fans, but one for the industry.

June 24, 2010 at 11:54 AM
NiNi said...

I can honestly say the day of the "concert" I lost damn near every ounce of respect that I had for Drake as an artist, especially considering I was one of the first people to put my friends on to him. I feel like he set all of his NY fans up to be that typical NYC rowdy bunch and give people a reason not to fuck with NYC niggas. I feel disappointed, especially because he is being deemed as the artist who's supposed to come and change the game and save Hip Hop. You can't save Hip Hop if you're sitting on your tour bus being a lil bitch complaining and tweeting about the NYPD. But I'm even more disgusted at how the media is trying to portray everything that went on. Websites like Mediatakeout and THEYBF as well as the radio are really trying to make it seem like the crowd was really gonna attack Drake and that he was scared for his life. First of all, we were all there to see YOU, with 20,000 people screaming your name its highly unlikely that anyone was really going to hurt him. All the crowd wanted was what we came out there for, A DAMN PERFORMANCE!!! Drake had an opportunity to earn major street cred and show people he's real, instead he flopped on us all like the industry nigga everyone claims him to be.

June 24, 2010 at 6:41 PM
Cly! Host of "The 4/20 Lounge"! said...

I just saw a clip of this man saying "I just can't do pen and paper, the way the blackberry keys are made for the hands.." so on and so forth...You're an artist, but you don't have it in you to write rhymes on pen and paper? That shit is outlandish...contemporary hip hop ass bullshit, i'm losing more respect for it by the day, and it declines faster with that weak ass excuse he gave for not showing up to the concert. Make sure you check those videos because its getting out there. I think the longevity is definitely on the ropes...

June 25, 2010 at 2:23 AM

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