For the first of back-to-back nights (August 29) in Vancouver on his It’s All a Blur Tour, Drake swapped out his co-headliner 21 Savage for Travis Scott. To kick off their shared set, Scott approached the stage in style, borrowing the same introduction music used by world-famous, now-retired wrestler The Undertaker, which consists of a menacing bell ringing repeatedly.
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The bell quickly bled into Scott’s first song of the set, “HYAENA,” the intro to his most recent studio album UTOPIA, which has spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. After this, Scott and Drake came together on stage to give fans a performance of their two most prolific collaborative tracks “Sicko Mode” and “Meltdown.”
“For the first time ever here in Vancouver, Astro and the Boy,” Drake shouted to the crowd. “We in this bitch.”
For the “Meltdown” performance, the first time the two have performed it live, Drake made a concerted effort to rap every lyric from his verse, which included the controversial portion about him melting down gold chains he received from Pharrell Williams.
I melt down the chains that I bought from yo’ boss
Give a fuck about all of that heritage shit
Since V not around, the members done hung up the Louis, they not even wearing that shit
When it came time for Scott to rap his part of “Meltdown,” consisting of the Is you fuckin crazy? exclamations, he matched Drake’s energy perfectly, making for a special moment for the Vancouver crowd. On top of it all, Scott would go on to perform other UTOPIA tracks like “I Know ?” and “FE!N,” the fan-favorite collaboration with Playboi Carti. He will return to fill in for 21 Savage again tonight (August 30) in Vancouver.
[RELATED: What Does Travis Scott’s Fourth Week at No. 1 Mean for Drake?]
Scott’s appearance last night came just hours after he announced all the dates for his upcoming Utopia – Circus Maximus Tour beginning on October 11 in Charlotte and ending in Toronto on December 29. Though the tour includes over 25 dates, Scott will not be making a stop in his hometown of Houston, Texas, even after a show was previously reported to be happening in the city on October 19.
After catching wind of Scott’s potential H-town return, city police pleaded with their officials to stop the concert from happening, citing the potential for another tragedy to occur similar to that of Scott’s fatal Astroworld Festival in 2021.
“This is outrageous and the HPOU will be calling for all of our elected officials to stand up and say, ‘Not in our city, not again!’” Houston Police Department Union President Douglas Griffith wrote in a memo.
Regardless, Scott fans elsewhere are excited about the chance to see him live in their city, as UTOPIA has been one of the most talked about hip-hop albums in recent memory. To get a glimpse of what his performances could look like on the Utopia – Circus Maximus Tour, watch the video of him and Drake in Vancouver below.
Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage
