Drake brings out Section Boyz, Giggs and Kyla at first of eight London shows

The Toronto rapper showed his love for London's music scene once again at his opening night at The O2

Drake was joined by three special guests last night (January 30) as he kicked off the opening night of his residency at London’s The O2.

The Toronto rapper will play eight nights at the arena between now and March as a part of the Boy Meets World Tour. The European leg of the excursion kicked off in Amsterdam on Saturday night (January 28) after several delays due to production issues.

Throughout the night, Drake repeatedly referred to London as his home and, after ‘HYFR’, told the crowd: “London is the most inspiring place in the world – the people, the music, the women.”

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To proof the second of those three points, he invited three acts from the city to join him on stage. After ‘Successful’, south London crew Section Boyz made an appearance to play their track ‘Lock Arff’. The performance came just under a year after Drake made a surprise cameo at their Village Underground show.

Giggs also turned up to do his song ‘Whippin Excursion’. Afterwards, Drake told the crowd: “Make some noise for this legend, my brother, Giggs.” The south London rapper made a second appearance in recorded form when, during a short intermission, Drake aired a new track from his forthcoming ‘More Life’ project that also features Giggs.

Kyla, the vocalist on Drake’s huge hit ‘One Dance’, was the last guest of the night, coming out to sing her parts on the track. “There would be no ‘One Dance’ without Kyla,” Drake said afterwards as he hugged the singer.

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Elsewhere in the night, which included 36 songs in total, Drake called Rihanna “the queen of everything”. He made the comments after playing two of the pair’s collaborations, ‘Work’ and ‘Too Good’. “You got two Rihanna records,” he added. “If you want women to feel sexy you got to play those RiRi records.”

After ‘One Dance’, there was a brief intermission while a giant orb was inflated in the middle of a small second stage in the centre of the crowd. Afterwards, Drake reemerged on that stage and stayed there for the rest of the gig to perform ‘Pop Style’, ‘Know Yourself’, ‘Energy’ and ‘Fake Love’.

“This was probably the most fun I’ve had at a single show in my life,” Drake said after the latter. “Do you know what my favourite thing about tonight is? The world is going through so much hate and confusion right now. But take a look around.

“There are people from all places and all races here tonight. I want you to keep loving each other and take that concept and apply it when you leave these doors.”

Before closing the night with ‘Legend’, Drake also confirmed that he is “almost done” with his playlist project ‘More Life’. He finished his set by saying: “I’m going to move to London one day, I promise.”

His residency continues at The O2 tomorrow (February 1).

Drake played:

‘Still Here’
‘Started From The Bottom’
‘Headlines’
‘Trophies’
‘HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)’
‘0 To 100’
‘Keep The Family Close’
‘9’
‘Child’s Play’
‘Feel No Ways’
‘Over’
‘Worst Behaviour’
‘Blessings’ (Big Sean cover)
‘Versace’
‘I’m On One’
‘Up All Night’
‘Successful’
‘Lock Arff’ (with Section Boyz)
‘Hotline Bling’
‘Hold On We’re Going Home’
‘The Motto’
‘For Free’ (DJ Khaled cover)
‘My Way’ (Fetty Wap cover)
‘Back To Back’
‘Jumpman’
‘Whippin Excursion’ (with Giggs)
‘Work’
‘Too Good’
‘Controlla’

‘One Dance’
New song from ‘More Life’
‘Pop Style’
‘Know Yourself’
‘Energy’
‘Fake Love’
‘Legend’

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