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drake

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Source: Live Nation / Live Nation
So much for the 6 God taking a long break. On Monday (Nov. 13), Drake announced that he’s going on tour with Dreamville head honcho J. Cole called It’s All A Blur Tour – Big As The What?

That should sound familiar considering the Toronto rapper’s 2023 tour with 21 Savage was also named It’s All A Blur. But this series of concerts kicks off in 2024. The tour will start on January 18 with a pair of dates in Denver, CO at Ball Arena and hit cities like San Antonio, New Orleans (twice), Cleveland and Buffalo before wrapping up on March 27 in in Birmingham, AL at The Legacy Arena at BJCC. However, Cole’s final date will be March 10 in Lexington, KY at Rupp Arena.
The tour is sponsored by Cash App and Visa and is produced by Live Nation. Tickets will go on sale with the Cash App Card presale starting Wednesday, November 15 through Thursday, November 16, while the general sale kickinv off Friday, November 17 at 11am on drakerelated.com. To access the presale you’ll use the first 9 digits of your Cash App Card and complete your purchase with said card. More info is here: cash.app/exclusives/drake-presale.
J. Cole gotta be dropping a new project to perform, right? Also, get your coins up. Check out the full schedule of It’s All A Blur Tour – Big As The What? below as well as reactions in the gallery.
DRAKE ‘IT’S ALL A BLUR TOUR – BIG AS THE WHAT?’ 2024 TOUR DATES:
Thu Jan 18 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena +
Fri Jan 19 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Mon Jan 22 – San Antonio, TX – Frost Bank Center
Thu Jan 25 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center
Mon Jan 29 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center +
Tue Jan 30 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
Fri Feb 02 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Wed Feb 07 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena +
Thu Feb 08 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena +
Mon Feb 12 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
Fri Feb 16 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
Tue Feb 20 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center +
Wed Feb 21 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
Sat Feb 24 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Tue Feb 27 – Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Center
Sat Mar 02 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
Tue Mar 05 – Memphis, TN – FedExForum
Sun Mar 10 – Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena
Thu Mar 14 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena ~
Mon Mar 18 – State College, PA – Bryce Jordan Center ~
Sat Mar 23 – Sunrise, FL – Amerant Bank Arena ~
Wed Mar 27 – Birmingham, AL – The Legacy Arena at BJCC ~
+ Rescheduled dates
~ Without J. Cole

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Source: Nike / NIke
Drake’s Nike collection, NOCTA, has been a hit amongst his hardcore fans. While the same can’t necessarily be said about professional basketball players, a new addition to the NOCTA family might change all of that.

Source: Nike / NIke
Taking to his Instagram account to announce some exciting news, Drake revealed that none other than Kevin Durant would be the new face of the NOCTA family just days before the Nov. 8 release of the new NOCTA collection. With pictures of Kevin Durant surrounded by stacks of cash (American currency too, not that Canadian ish), Drake announced in the caption, “EASY MONEY 💰 NOCTA Basketball, on and off court performance apparel. Launching midnight tonight EST on NOCTA.com and 11.8 on SNKRS and select neighbourhood doors.”

Now we wait and see if NBA players begin rocking NOCTA sneakers out on the hardwood floor. We know KD will at some point.
As for the collection set to drop Nov. 8, the latest offering from NOCTA will feature a travel jacket, headbands, briefs and even a engineered knit sleeve with a NOCTA branded elbow pad. Hella fancy.
Will y’all be coping any pieces from Nike’s new NOCTA collection? Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: Nike / NIke

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Drake was the target of criticism from the likes of DJ Vlad and others for not speaking up about the Israel-Gaza conflict due to his Jewish heritage. The Canadian superstar joined with a number of other celebrities in signing a letter addressed to President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire in the war-torn region.
Via a dedicated website, Artists4Ceasefire hosts a letter addressed to President Biden that calls to end the conflict that continues to see massive casualties on both sides. With much of the world learning of the conflict by way of varying sources, a clear picture of what is occurring between Israel and Palestine has been hard to completely clarify. There have been accounts from the ground from activists using what means they can to inform the public.

From Artists4Ceasefire:

We come together as artists and advocates, but most importantly as human beings witnessing the devastating loss of lives and unfolding horrors in Israel and Palestine.
We ask that, as President of the United States, you and the US Congress call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the last week and a half – a number any person of conscience knows is catastrophic. We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.
We urge your administration, Congress, and all world leaders, to honor all of the lives in the Holy Land and call for and facilitate a ceasefire without delay – an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages. Half of Gaza’s two million residents are children, and more than two thirds are refugees and their descendants being forced to flee their homes. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach them.
We believe that the United States can play a vital diplomatic role in ending the suffering and we are adding our voices to those from the US Congress, UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, The International Committee of The Red Cross, and so many others. Saving lives is a moral imperative. To echo UNICEF, “Compassion — and international law — must prevail.”
Among the dozens of stars to sign the letter, including Drake, other names present are Miguel, Diplo, Run The Jewels (El-P and Killer Mike), Vic Mensa, Jennifer Lopez, Mahershala Ali, Snoh Aalegra, and more.
Read the entire letter here.

Photo: Getty

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Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Drake isn’t letting backlash to his alleged incel-friendly album get him down. To celebrate his 37th birthday, the 6 God hosted a party in Miami that featured guests and occasional actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame serving drinks.
The shindig went down on Monday night (Oct. 23), at a new restaurant and nightspot called Casadonna, which reportedly via David Grutman’s Groot Hospitality and Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss’ Tao Group Hospitality. As for  Walter White and Jesse Pinkman—Cranston and Paul, respectively—they held down bartending duties. Drake producer BNYX shared a clip of the famed duo serving up libations.

But don’t think Cranston and Paul happened to be handing out. They have a liquor brand called Dos Hombres that they are pushing, and their stock surely just got a boost.
You can’t make this stuff up. Check out photos and reactions from what surely will be only one of Drake’s birthday celebrations in the gallery.

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Dennis Graham has often spoken on behalf of his son, Aubrey Graham, otherwise known as Drake to much of the world. In light of recent criticism that Drake hasn’t shared a statement regarding the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, Dennis Graham said that Drizzy is being careful as support for either side could be dissected to bits.
TMZ caught up with Dennis Graham at LAX and the veteran Memphis musician shared his thoughts on why his son hasn’t spoken up in support of Israel despite being of Jewish heritage.

More from TMZ:

Drake’s silence, in particular, has been a hot topic on social media thanks to DJ Vlad … who’s been calling out Drizzy and DJ Khaled, who’s Palestinian, for not using their massive platforms to speak on the crisis.
Dennis says celebs get way more backlash when they publicly address hot-button issues, and he’s certain Drake would be no different.
Graham also shared that his son’s stomach issues that promoted his hiatus from music isn’t a major issue. Of course, Drake is enjoying a nice run on the charts with his latest album, For AlL The Dogs, once again dominating the streaming ecosystem as he often does.
While there is no timeline for Drake’s return to music, Dennis Graham said it could last for an entire year but even he isn’t too sure.

Photo: Chris Polk/BBMA2017 / Getty

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Source: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty / Azealia Banks
Azealia Banks didn’t bite her tongue when addressing Drake, who has been a bit emotional responding to criticism his latest album is receiving.
Banks is no stranger to letting the chopper spray when giving her opinion on matters regarding the music industry, and that continues to be the case here.

The “212” crafter had some harsh words for Drake after he decided to clap back at Joe Budden for levying some fair criticism about his latest project, For All The Dogs.
Like always, Banks took to her Instagram Stories to address the Canadian musician for using his success to shame Budden for his “failing rap career.”
Per HipHopDX:
“Does drake know his nose job and liposuction is not Hip Hop??” she shared on her Instagram Story. “Does drake know that no one who actually understands Hip Hop — a culture born from oppressed, don’t reeeeeeeeallly care about his soft-toothed colonized confused mixed-race facsimile attempts to exhibit the true authenticity of an actual MC?
“Does drake know his desperate attempts to gangsterize Canadian ‘street life’ is an all encompassing failure in and of it itself?”
Azealia Banks Also Called Out Birdman
Banks wasn’t done. She also directed some vitriol towards Cash Money Records owner Bryan Baby Williams, calling Birdman out for caping for Drake after Budden’s take.
“Does birdman know how low iq, tacky and how much of a fucking loser he looks threatening joe Budden via the internet,” Azealia Banks wrote in a following IG Story post. “Can u just make some more lug and quit threatening people online before you get arrested? Shit like that really makes the genre look trashy and low budget as hell… and sorry… you’ve kinda just made it so hot that if anything happens to joe Budden it’s certainly getting traced back to you and drake. LOL
She continued, “Loved ur verse on ‘constantly hating’ but it has been a minute since anyone cared for your music, and drake is redundant as hell. Only weird nepo babies and Eastern European immigrants who wear USS polo association, cool water and media fuck boys actually care for him.”
Banks ended her Birdman rant by saying, “Work some magic and bring back young thug please.., that man is very very special,” eventually shifting the focus back to Drake.
In her final scathing remarks, she reminded the world that Drizzy’s momma is white and that he probably wouldn’t be such a cornball if he had a Black momma.
“Honestly, if drakes mother was black he’d probably not be so corny. White mom syndrome is very real,” Banks said in her final post about Drake.


Photo: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty

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Drake and Joe Budden have done the dance of dissing one another when the latter was still an active rapper, but things are getting personal after Budden’s critique of For All The Dogs. Drake has already fired an explosive shot at Joe Budden, who replied somewhat with vague social media activity as the Canadian superstar also hit one of Budden’s cohosts with a stray.
For those who missed it, on The Joe Budden Podcast episode 664, Budden and his costs Parks, Ish, Ice, and QueenzFlip all shared their comments on For All The Dogs, which dropped last Friday (October 6). Budden, who has long expressed his support of Drizzy’s musical output, was lukewarm regarding some of the tracks on the latest release while still attempting to find the gold within.

Catching wind of the comments made on the pod, Drake fired a missive towards Budden on Akademiks’ Instagram page, which has sparked a flurry of comments from fans and detractors of both men. Further, it opened the floodgates of the pair’s former beef while ignoring the fact the two have since patched things up and engaged in playful online banter since settling things.
Parks Vallely, an accomplished audio engineer who worked on Scorpion, also caught shots from Drake via an Instagram Stories post referring to him as Mark Zuckerberg, after Parks offered his commentary during the aforementioned pod episode.

Seemingly in response, Budden blacked out his profile image on X account, formerly known as Twitter. His latest Instagram post shows the broadcaster in a pool while looking at his smartphone but it is anyone’s guess what the image is meant to convey.
Without a doubt, fans will be tuned into the Joe Budden Podcast on Wednesday (October 11) for episode 665 to see what the host and castmates will respond.

Photo: Johnny Nunez / Getty

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Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Druski has made another clip poking fun at Birdman, which has made him angry and compelled Drake to send a warning to the comedian.
The furor began on Friday (Oct. 6) as Druski posted a new video to his social media accounts. The caption read, “Cash Money vs Coulda Been BEEF CONTINUES” and shows Druski as the scowling head of “Coulda Been Records,” a comedic “label” he started. A deeper listen to the clip reveals that he’s listening to “Daylight” from Drake’s newest album For All The Dogs, brooding as he hears the rapper use a line that he’s employed in previous skits, “Standin’ on business,” as if to imply that Drake was taking his phrase.

The clip caught the immediate attention of Birdman, the CEO of Cash Money Records who replied in the comments, “Bro you still playin’ with a real gangsta SMFH.” Drake also added a cryptic comment to the video. “Stunna bout to have you come up missing on Gladys,” he wrote. Birdman would write more on his since-deleted Instagram Stories, posting photos of the comedian while writing: “MY LIL N***** WANT SOME OF THAT STOP PLAYING WITH THA GOAT @CHAMPAGNEPAPI RICH GANG OR DON’T BANG YOU LIL B**** @CASHMONEYOFFICIAL.”
Despite the comments, Druski is still running with the joke, resharing Birdman and Drake’s comments as well as the responses from his fans on social media with the phrase “Standin’ on business.” This comes after Birdman confronted Druski during an Instagram Live chat between the two a few months ago over Coulda Been, with Druski doing his best to try to smooth over the situation and calm the mogul down.

As for Drake getting involved, it reportedly might have to do with the fact another song from For All The Dogs is now the focus of an allegation by the ’80s group Pet Shop Boys that uses elements of their song “West End Girls” in the “All the Parties” track. “Surprising to hear @Drake singing the chorus of ‘West End girls’ in the track ‘All the Parties’ on his new album. No credit given or permission requested,’ their post on X, formerly Twitter, said.

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Pet Shop Boys, a pop duo that dominated the charts in the ’80s and ’90s, says that Drake neglected to clear a sample of one of the United Kingdom group’s biggest hits. On Drake’s For All The Dogs album, the track “All The Parties” samples the song “West End Girls, one of the top songs from the Pet Shop Boys.
As reported by Deadline, Pet Shop Boys, which consist of bandmates Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, took to X to call out the fact that Drake sang a portion of “West End Girls” on “All The Parties,” an instance that apparently came as a shock to them.

Via their X page, Pet Shop Boys wrote, “Surprising to hear @Drake singing the chorus of “West End girls” in the track “All the Parties” on his new album. No credit given or permission requested.”
Given the fact that Drake worked on For All The Dogs up until its release last Friday (October 6), it’s possible that the proper paperwork didn’t make it to the band in time.
As we shared over the weekend, Drake has heard enough of the criticism from music pundits, lashing out at Joe Budden, who took shots at the rapper on his eponymously named podcast over the weekend.
It isn’t known if Drake settled the sample issue with the group as “All The Parties” is still present on his latest solo studio album.


Photo: Getty

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Drake is currently taking in all the kudos and critiques of his latest studio album, For All The Dogs, which dropped on Friday (October 7) after a spat of delays. Joe Budden, a noted fan of The Boy, had some harsh words for the latest drop, prompting Drizzy to unload the clip on Jumpoff via Instagram in epic fashion.
The rift between the pair began when DJ Akademiks shared a clip from The Joe Budden Podcast where the hosts were discussing For All The Dogs and who the target audience is. It appears that Budden and his co-hosts believe that Drake was attempting to cater to a younger generation instead of those in his late-30s age group. Always aware of where his name is mentioned, the Canadian superstar unloaded the clip as only he could.

From Akademiks’ IG:
You have failed at music. You left it behind to do what you are doing in this clip cause this is what actually pays your bills. For any artist watching this just remember you are watching a failure give their opinion on his idea of a recipe for success…a quitter give their opinion on how to achieve longevity…you switched careers cause the things that pop into your brain had you broke living cheque to cheque and the raps you write had 450 men showing up to your shows in dusty Enyce jeans to screw up their face to Mood Muzik 29 and pretend you are the goat…pls to any artist that’s doing what they feel is right don’t let these opinions affect your mindset after the fact…this guy is the poster child of frustration and surrendering. You retired and we never hung up your jersey we don’t even remember your number. We know you for doing this…you withdrew from rap not cause you accomplished all you need to it’s cause it wasn’t working for you. I never want anybody in the generations to think that the whole “everybody’s entitled to their opinion” is a real thing…this is a man projecting his own self hate and the fact I did and continue to do everything he wanted to do for himself. If you need it put in simpler terms I own a 767…he owns a modest house in the 973 and flies first class on special occasions.
Budden replied under the missive, writing, “You’ll grow up sooner or later…Father time is undefeated.”
Budden and Drake have a history of going back and forth with one another although, at a time, it was relegated to the music. An example is in the X reply below.

With Budden known as one of the top podcasters in the entertainment space, the New Jersey network chief has aired his grievances with Drake and his moves via his wildly popular program. In fact, he’s been very critical of Drizzy’s recent output while also praising him as one of his faves.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans are having a field day with this exchange and we’ve got the reactions from all sides below. A warning: there are some emotional responses down there. We hope they’re okay.

Photo: Getty