Thousands of Ohio State students made their way to the Schottenstein Center on Wednesday night to see Young Money-rapper Drake perform in a concert sponsored by the Ohio Union Activities Board.
The concert’s opening acts were the group Francis and the Lights and the rapper K-OS. Both acts appeared to win over the crowd with their music and dance moves.
At about 10 p.m. the lights began to go down in the arena and the crowd began to scream, “Drake, Drake, Drake!” The band cued up the music as DJ Future hyped up the crowd. The Toronto native, dressed in all black, made his way to the stage and began rapping the lyrics to one of his most popular singles, “Forever.”
“Ohio, I want this s— forever,” he said.
He performed the majority of his songs off his award-winning 2009 mixtape, “So Far Gone.” Songs like “Unstoppable,” “Houstatlantavegas,” “Successful” and “Best I Ever Had” all proved to be crowd favorites.
“I came all the way from Toronto to be with y’all tonight. I’m going to make sure this is a night we never forget!” Drake said.
One of his most well-received songs was “Uptown,” where one of Drake’s lyrics gives a special shout out to the Buckeyes.
“I see all this money through my Ohio State Buckeyes,” the crowd screams along.
During the performance, Drake said he heard that “ET” was in the building. He was referring to OSU basketball player Evan Turner, and Drake requested that Evan make his way to the stage. The rapper hugged Turner and congratulated him on his decision to play in the NBA.
“ET, I’m proud of you man! Your city is proud of you. Your school’s proud of you,” Drake said.
The rapper then dedicated his performance of his new single, “Fireworks,” off his upcoming album, “Thank Me Later,” to Turner.
Drake interacted with the crowd as he performed some of his most popular musical collaborations. He pointed out different female students in the crowd as he rapped to songs like “Every Girl,” “Bed Rock,” “Say Something” and “I Invented Sex.” The rapper even slow-danced with one female student to his song with R&B singer Alicia Keys, “Unthinkable.”
In honor of his mentor, Lil Wayne, who is currently incarcerated at Rikers Island, Drake enlisted the audience in a call and response.
“When I say ‘Young Money,’ you say ‘Free Weezy!'” he said.
He continued by saying that he spoke on the phone with the rap star today, and Drake said he feels the world needs Weezy, and the girls need him too.
Drake ended the concert with his song “Over” and a few final words to the crowd.
“Ohio, I love you forever!” he said.
