Contrary to most of hip-hop’s success stories, where acts are developed by labels for years prior to taking off, Drake’s relevance is a continual anomaly. Coming from a background in television acting, his first mixtape was in 2006 and last year he achieved a heavy radio presence prior to even being signed to a record deal, as the eclectic So Far Gone gave rebirth to the idea of the mixtape sensation in a fashion unseen since 50 Cent’s meteoric rise. Having momentarily eclipsed his competition’s spotlight, all of the hype culminated in this week’s release of Drake’s debut LP Thank Me Later. Wednesday June 15th poetic justice was served at TLA as he assuredly sought to make up for twisting an already injured knee on stage last year a few miles away in Camden, NJ.

One of Drake’s most infamous couplets is “When my album drops (women) will buy it for the picture and (men) will buy it too and claim they got it for their sister," a prophecy actualized by this show’s turnout. A mixed crowd of varying ages and ethnicities were treated to an hour of newer and more familiar material (“Best I Ever Had," “Every Girl," “Bedrock," “Forever,” etc.) as he was backed by a live band consisting of guitar, bass, and keyboard players, plus a drummer and DJ. His live show grants him command of his audience as he’s ever reliant on the undeniable formula that ensured his initial fanfare -- the fusion of singing and rapping (using the worn out autotune trend to boot), romantic overtones that demonstrate acute awareness of his faithful female followership, slick witted punchlines and loyalty shown to his presently jailed mentor and boss figure Lil’ Wayne. By extension, Drake owes his success to Wayne and much of the evening’s performance centered around this allegiance as he had the crowd chant his leader’s verses in unison and even brought out Cash Money Records’ Bryan “Baby” Williams (aka Birdman) to the tune of rousing applause.
 
Drake has attained a star power that simply can’t be dismissed despite lacking hip-hop’s qualifier of a supposed “street credibility” behind his name. Much like Kanye West, he has guiltlessly rewritten the rules that say one has to come from a background of turmoil or have a troubled past to have a captivating story (evinced by fan favorite line “I avoided the coke game and went with Sprite instead," referencing his endorsement deal with the beverage company). The majority of his songs manage to avoid polarizing with universally relatable tales of love’s woe’s and life’s pressures, and his stage presence inspires with a charm and a confidence that says he’s cool, calm and collected amidst the whirlwind of fame.