Running! Through The! Six! WITH MY WOES!
But even if Madonna might’ve tried to make the night about her, Drake just had too much going on. The decision to do the set almost entirely solo was a ballsy one, but it paid off. Drake just has a staggering number of hits right now, and hearing him do them back-to-back-to-back without help made for a powerful statement. He sings the hook on most of those songs, too, so he didn’t even have to rely on piped-in vocals most of the time. (I did think it was funny how he led a whole-crowd singalong of Big Sean’s verse on “All Me,” though, like it was Pimp C’s verse on “Big Pimpin'” or something. Sean’s verse was the worst one on that song!) Drake’s resume now has so many bangers on it that he can go from “The Motto” to “Truffle Butter” to “Worst Behavior” like it’s nothing. And all of it seemed to build up to the If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late highlight “Know Yourself,” and especially to the big “running through the six with my woes” drop. In the short span of time since If You’re Reading This dropped, that phrase has become like “cellar door” — a wonderful thing to hear, regardless of meaning (which is good, since it means pretty much nothing). All weekend, I heard people chanting it over and over, context free, like this was 1994 and it was “Whoomp! There It Is.” And when Drake finally brought out “Know Yourself,” it was a total earthshaker. Watching tens of thousands lose their collective mind over a few seconds of music is a magical thing. I’d rate this as the single greatest moment of a festival full of them.