This week, Drake performed back-to-back shows in Glendale, Arizona, for his It’s All A Blur Tour with 21 Savage. At one of the shows, he walked to the stage joined by basketball star Devin Booker, a member of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Further embracing Booker, Drake happened to be wearing the hooper’s all-new signature Nike show on stage, yet to be released to the public.
Videos by American Songwriter
On Thursday afternoon (September 7), Nike officially announced the sneaker, dubbed the Book: Chapter 1. Accompanying the announcement, the sportswear brand put out a video compiling clips of Booker showing the all-orange shoe to Drake, J. Cole, his Suns teammates Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, and many more celebrities. Towards the end of the video, though, Nike included footage of Drake’s speech at one of the Glendale shows, where he praises his friend Booker and shows off the shoes.
“I told him when the tour is over… I’m living in Phoenix for like a month or two,” Drake told the crowd in Arizona referencing a conversation he had with Booker. “[To] come see my brothers’ hoop.”
Along with Booker, Drake is notably a huge fan of Durant as well. A few years back, when Durant was a member of the Golden State Warriors with fellow hoops star Stephen Curry, the Toronto rapper got both of their jersey numbers tattooed on his left arm.
[RELATED: A.I.-Generated Song Replicating Drake and The Weeknd Eligible for Grammy Consideration]
Currently, even though he still has 16 more dates on tour, Drake is gearing up to release a new album titled For All The Dogs on September 22, which he announced last night (September 6). Dropping the same day he has a show in Charlotte, the album “sounds very current,” Lil Yachty asserted in a recent interview. With already confirmed features from Bad Bunny and Nicki Minaj, For All The Dogs will likely become hip-hop’s third No. 1 album of the year thus far, though it will have to compete with Doja Cat’s Scarlet, also due on the 22nd.
Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage
