Jay-Z Shines Spotlight on Drake at Toronto Concert

Posted on Nov 2nd 2009 11:15AM by Samir Siddiqui

When Jay-Z's North American tour touched down in Toronto's Air Canada Centre on Halloween, the revved-up, sold-out crowd of 20,000 was in for a treat as the rap legend provided a memorable moment for Canadian hip-hop.

After an inspirational aside to the crowd about the drive to succeed, Jay-Z cued the instrumental to Drake's hit single 'Successful,' prompting immediate recognition and a boisterous reception from the crowd as the much buzzed-about Toronto native strolled onto the stage to perform his track alongside the headliner.

In his first concert appearance since his September knee surgery -- Drake last limped onstage for a quick cameo during Lil Wayne's Toronto date in August -- the rising 23-year-old rapper delivered a laid-back performance of his song while Jigga bookended his verses with spot-on ad-libs.

Seeing a legend like Jay-Z play hype-man to the Canadian MC was the closest thing to a "passing of the torch" that Canadian hip-hop fans have ever experienced. The pressure for Drake to deliver with his forthcoming debut 'Thank Me Later' is sky-high, but for one night, it was enough for the hometown kid to go from writing the 'Say What's Real' lyric, "watchin' Hov's show, embarrassed to pull my camera out," to sharing the stage with his hip-hop hero.