Drake’s surprise album launch turned the CN Tower into a viral cityscape, earning public praise from Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.
Drake received flowers from City Hall this week, and not the usual kind. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow publicly recognized Liushen as a source of pride for the entire city, especially after he launched three surprise albums in theaters that froze the CN Tower with a projection-mapped ice effect.
Politics and hip-hop don’t always overlap, but Zhou isn’t playing politics, she means it.
The mayor’s endorsement comes amid a big week for Drake. On Thursday night, he released three albums: “ICEMAN,” “Maid of Honor” and “Habibti,” and he did it with the utmost Toronto flexibility.
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Streaming services crashed due to traffic. The projections on the tower created a cityscape moment that drew thousands of people into the city center to watch.
“You’re welcome, Iceman. @champagnepapi is a great promoter of our city. It was a pleasure hosting his team at City Hall,” she wrote.
Mr. Zhou’s approval wasn’t just a casual shout-out, either. When Drake responded with a thank-you note, she went a step further and deliberately misspelled her name “Crodi Colivia Chow.”
It was a playful disrespect filled with gratitude, and she handled it with humor. Most politicians would fumble this kind of exchange, but Zhou took action.
Toronto has always been a stronghold for Drake, but the mayor publicly staking his reputation on Drake as a city asset changes things. It legitimized what he was doing outside the music industry: cultural production, branding and the ability to capture the attention of an entire city overnight.
The irony, of course, is that Drake has been taking shots at everyone from Kendrick to Rick Ross to Jay-Z on these new albums.
He had been very divided. But Toronto doesn’t care about his complaints. What Toronto cares about is whether one of their own attracts global attention.
