Kanye Vs. Drake & Why Hip Hop Won
If you would have told me earlier this year that Kanye West & Drake would come together with Amazon and IMAX to put on a benefit concert to Free Larry Hoover in LA I probably would’ve looked at you sideways. But like most events in this roller coaster of a year it most certainly happened, who could have thought in January of this year that we would get such an epic show between these two when at the time we weren’t even certain if their albums would drop. Last night the world witnessed history when two Hip Hop heavyweights took the stage together in unity for a greater cause, on a cold winter night in LA Kanye & Drake held the “Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert” an event held to show awareness to social justice reform and also to bring to light the conversation about the unjust incarcerations of black & brown people across the country.
“Watching two of the biggest artists in Hip Hop on the same stage was absolutely magical”
The atmosphere in the LA Coliseum was electric
In what was one of the most bizarre and “soft” rap beef‘s in history Drake in Kanye West came together to perform in a once in a lifetime type of concert and it was probably one of the most dope concert experiences I’ve ever had in my life. In a year where we didn’t even know if these two artists were going to put albums out you never could’ve imagined that these two would be on stage together in the capacity that they were in in the middle of LA on a cold December night and it delivered. The concert started off with a beautiful small performance from Kanye‘s Sunday service choir and they they did a couple of original pieces which led them into singing a rift from Jesus walks and then out from the lights come Kanye and Drake and they walked down these long steps together and that’s when the feeling six in that it’s really happening Drake and Kanye are here we waited two hours for this but it’s finally happening and once they get to the bottom of the steps and get closer to the stage that then it’s time to go they shake hands can you gets on stage and he gets deep into his iconic discography, from “Jesus Walks” to “Good Life” a special shout out to Kim Kardashian in a rendition of “Runaway” Ye brought out the gems. Then came Drake singing his version of Kanye’s song “24” that moved the crowd and reminding people that drake can really sing live. And then he gets into some songs from his new album “Certified Lover Boy”. Drake didn’t reach into his classics bag like Kanye did but in all honesty this was more of a Kanye show from a setup and visual standpoint so it’s understandable why drake went this route to performing his newer songs. Drake did his set and ended it with some more hits, Kanye comes back on stage does a couple more classics and then dives into his Donda album and just killed it and at the end of the concert Drake comes back on stage and they do “Forever” together which is an interesting choice of a song for them to do together because when you think of a Kanye West & Drake song forever is not the first thing you think of. Is it a great song? Yes but I’m thinking more “Glow” or some the unreleased remixes & verses they have recorded for each other over time.
Drake & Kanye walking off stage together at the end of the “Free Larry Hoover” Concert
In all honesty watching two of this generations biggest artists come together and perform amidst the situation they were going through has been an amazing experience to see. This is something hip hop needed to move forward, even though this wasn’t much of a beef it is quite refreshing to see two heavyweights collaborate on stage. That’s the beauty of it all especially during such a tough time in this pandemic and the lives we lost in the culture and around the world, in a life that proves it is too short for the shenanigans the once in a lifetime things like Drake & Ye coming together makes it that much sweeter and Hip Hop thanks them.
