There are no lightweights on the bill for Drake's upcoming Club Paradise Tour.
While hitting the road with J. Cole, Waka Flocka Flame, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz and French Montana seems like a no-brainer for any rapper looking to rule the summer touring season, Drake insists he didn't choose the hottest young talent just because — there are genuine connections there.
"I have very strong alliances with these guys that are on this tour with me," Drake told a gathered group of press during a conference call Tuesday (April 24). "I guess it's safe to say now that anybody that I didn't have a song with before, I have a song with now. I made sure of that."
For those keeping score, Drake and J. Cole partnered up on "In the Morning," a warm-up single from the Roc Nation rookie's 2011 debut album. French and Drizzy teamed up with Rick Ross, on Rozay's "Stay Schemin'," and Waka and the Take Care spitter leaked their strip-club ode "Round of Applause" last September.
Drake hasn't yet released music with Meek Mill or 2 Chainz; those collaborations will come in conjunction with the outdoor tour. "Along with this tour, fans are also going to get some exciting musical material that will probably end up dropping a few days before the tour, so that we can perform it on tour," Drizzy said.
For the Toronto MC, summertime is the best time for new music, and he designed this current amphitheater leg of Club Paradise to come at a time when he plans to release some fresh tunes. "I want to go out on tour with the most exciting artists right now, and I want to make sure that I have songs with all of them," he said. "If we start getting into it and we start really vibing, maybe the last few nights, it's a collaboration show, maybe we do all of our songs onstage together."
Whether fans actually get to see all six MCs rocking at once remains to be seen, but Drizzy does believe that each act will bring their own brand of excitement. Don't arrive fashionably late, he warned.
"On this tour, I encourage people to get there early, because it's more [of] a festival vibe, if anything," he said. "It's one of those days that's it's going to start during the sunlight and the sun's going to drop, it's outdoors, it's summertime ... I want people to make it a day."
The amphitheater leg of Drake's Club Paradise Tour kicks off May 7 in Concord, California.
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