Canadian heartthrob Drake has risen to the top of the commercial hip-hop heap by breaking nearly all of its macho rules. As they go, rappers don't sing. Singing is soft! And they can't come from a clean background. Yet, for this former teen soap star, with his buttery-smooth croon and chilled-out rap flow, this has all added up precisely to megastardom. Let's be real: Ladies from tweens to grown-ass women love Drake. And where they go, men and dollars follow.
They've all coalesced around his sophomore album, Take Care, which leads off with the late-night male torch song that is "Marvin's Room." Drake's concerts, though, are not all introspective gloom. He strikes just the right balance between pensiveness and pop perfection. This show not only kicks off Drake's new North American tour but marks Valentine's Day to boot. That thud you'll hear from afar later in the evening is the sound of panties dropping to the floor en masse.