Drake, J. Cole bring show as 'big as the Super Bowl' to Nashville's Bridgestone Arena

Rappers Drake and J. Cole were not exaggerating when they promised the world a show as "big as the Super Bowl." The two rappers, accompanied by Lil Durk, brought a night of rap, art and fire to Nashville's Bridgestone Arena for their first of two shows.

Grammy Award-winning rap artist, Drake, born Aubrey Graham, released his eighth studio album "For All The Dogs" in October, including hit songs "Slime You Out" with SZA, "IDGAF" (feat. Yeat) and Jimmy Cooks (feat. 21 Savage).

On the album, J. Cole, born Jermaine Cole, also collaborated with Drake for song "First Person Shooter," where the two tell their listeners that their duo is as huge as America's biggest game day: "Big as the what? Big as the what? Big as the what? / Big as the Super Bowl."

The highly anticipated concert came after Drake rescheduled his Nashville shows twice. He was originally scheduled to perform on June 19 in Nashville on his "It's All a Blur Tour" with 21 Savage.

In April, he decided to reschedule the show for October. He then pushed the shows to February and announced a 2024 leg of his tour, which was deemed the "It's All A Blur - Big as the What? Tour." This time, J. Cole would be in tow instead of 21 Savage.

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Drake postponed the start of his 2024 tour due to an ankle injury and kicked off the tour in Tampa on Feb. 2, making Nashville his second tour stop.

Photographers were not allowed access to the evening's show, but here are the show's top highlights.

Lil Durk joins Drake tour with first show in Nashville

On Tuesday, Drake announced that Lil Durk would be joining his tour on Instagram. He captioned the post, "BIGGER & BIGGER @lildurk joins us on the road to bring you all the most T’d show of your life."

Lil Durk kicked off the night in Nashville walking through the crowd with friend Morgan Wallen as a video projected them throughout the arena. Wallen, who received multiple shout outs throughout the show, stayed to watch but did not hit the stage himself.

Lil Durk started out the evening with a seven-song set, including fan favorites "AHHH HA" and "Back in Blood." Durk was accompanied by backup dancers wearing glowing masks, moving around him with ghoulish hops and hip-hop swagger.

The Chicago rapper wore a black sweatshirt, bulky chain, and black pants decorated with white daisies. His intensity and fervor captivated the crowd—especially in 2023 song "All My Life." Fans knew every word to the song: "All my life / They been tryin' to keep me down / All this time / Never thought I would make it out / They couldn't break me, they couldn't break me."

Big as the Super Bowl: The crossroads of football and music

When fans first filed into Bridgestone Arena, there was no ignoring the football stadium set up and full-on reimagination of the space. A square platform acted as a stage in the middle of the arena. Surrounding the stage was a floor decorated like a football stadium, appearing grassy and complete with the yard lines.

After Lil Durk left the stage, sports commentary from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith and social media star BenDaDonnn played on screens around the arena. The two introduced the evening with their own ESPN broadcast, chatting with an air of expertise signature to official sports journalists—but they were talking musicians.

"Maybe what they're saying is true—maybe Graham is past his prime, over the hill," Smith said. "We haven't seen Jermaine Cole in the game all night."

Ben bantered back, "And then, correct me if I'm wrong, Stephen A., but didn't [Drake] start an OnlyFans yesterday?"

Ben's reference alluded to ongoing social media frenzy surrounding Drake. Drake's Nashville shows come only two days after the leak of an x-rated video that shows him allegedly engaging in a sexual act. The video's leak on Tuesday caused him to go viral on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. As of Wednesday evening, Drake has not commented publicly on the leak.

On the mock ESPN broadcast, Ben continued, "On Twitter, he was trending... anyway... whatever he do tonight he's gonna have to step up his game. 'Cause if he don't, and if he take this L tonight, it's gonna be detrimental for light skin brothers across the globe."

Fans wondered if Drake would address the video this evening. Shortly after he hit the stage, Drake said, "I know y'all probably waitin' on me to address this, so the rumors are true," he paused..."My dad is here! That's what y'all were waitin' for?" Yes, Drake's family was in the house. No, he did not address the other questions on fans' minds.

Drake let it be known that the night would be about music and visual storytelling—and that is exactly what he focused on.

He drew heavily on the high school and collegiate sports culture, kicking off his show with a full marching band. The Jackson State Band traveled from Mississippi to accompany Drake, marching in with bustling drums and blaring horns and starting Drake's set off with"Trophies."

The show followed with a young version of Drake in a locker-room, which was built side stage. Young Drake eventually passed the mic off to the Drake we know and love—clad in a form-fitting grey foam football pads undershirt and white pants. He burst out of the fixture and began the show with "Virginia Beach," "Marvins Room" and "Teenage Fever."

Drake's backup dancers wore cheerleader apparel, complete with pom-poms and all. His dance crew shined on song "Nice for What," where they moved in a line and perched at the edge of the stage. "Rich Baby Daddy" had the dancers gyrating sensually, showing off their elastic moves on a stage surrounded by red lights, notably in homage to the song's featured artist, Sexyy Red.

On 2023 song "First Person Shooter," J. Cole and Drake rapped together as football projections lay on the stage. The two even threw playful punches at one another while green lights and pyrotechnics rained down.

Drake's busy, visual effects contrast with J. Cole's empty stage

Drake's performance was highly visual, interlaced with light arrangements that featured lasers, pyrotechnics, strobes, smoke, columns of fire and beams. It was big. It was busy—and it was captivating in all its eccentricity and artistry.

Drake brought with him a giant sculpture of late designer Virgil Abloh in motion, throwing a paper airplane. The gargantuan statue, which came with him on the first leg of the "It's All A Blur Tour," towered over the audience. At the end of the show, Abloh released his paper airplane, which flew over the stage.

Other visual highlights included: A space ship beaming Drake up on song "HYFR," fireworks during "Know Yourself," a giant bra floating above the stage after "God's Plan," an inflatable, flying, light-up sperm during "Child's Play," a Spiderman hanging from the ceiling, a giant grim reaper on "Knife Talk" and dazzling, flying blue fairies for "You Broke My Heart."

Other highlights include Drake's cover of Travis Scott's "SICKO MODE," where fireworks shot out of a giant, floating sculpture of Scott's face. Drake also sang Rihanna's song "Work" as he traveled up to the top rows of the arena on a floating cube, blowing bursts of smoke into the crowd. "Who else you know that would come visit you up top?" he said.

The list only covers half of the visual spectacles from Drake's show. J. Cole took to the stage halfway through Drake's set to perform his own portion of the show. Cole was clad simply in all black, marching out to a notably and intentionally empty stage, filled only with Cole, his microphone stand and a floating sign repping his home city of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The contrast between Drake and Cole's sets was personal and true to each artists' individual style.

Cole began with "Middle Child," and played a 10-song set. "Wet Dreamz" and "No Role Modelz" were standouts, as Cole rapped with passion and fervor, yet a conversational relatability.

The pinnacle of his performance came with an a cappella version of "The Secret Recipe," where his stripped down style spoke for itself. Though Bridgestone can hold 20,000 people for concerts, Cole seemed like he was speaking just to you.

Drake and Cole then performed "In the Morning" and "First Person Shooter" together before Drake took the stage back, calling J. Cole "one of the greatest to put his pen to a sheet of paper."

Drake shouts out Tennessee, his second home

"I'm happy to be home," Drake told the crowd about being in Tennessee. Though he was primarily raised in Toronto, Canada, Drake has a special affinity for the state.

"My dad and his entire side of my family, they from Memphis, Tennessee," Drake said. "Every summer, my dad used to drop me out in Memphis, we used to stop in Nashville. Y'all got great food, great music, and most importantly, y'all got great motherf-f***** people," he said, also calling Nashville's women beautiful.

During the show, he also gave an impassioned speech on loving your neighbor. Once he noticed a sign in the audience from a fan that read "Just Finished Chemo," he gifted cancer survivor Lauren Schwallier $100,000. The emotional moment moved the crowd to tears and cheers, all the while changing Schwallier's life.

Drake's affinity for the city and its residents was apparent; he gave the audience all he had with a show that ranged over three hours. He sang, he rapped, he showed off his signature shuffles and hops, and he asked Nashvillians to make sure we all got our friends home safe that evening.

Then, Drake finished out the show with an encore of "Slime You Out." On Thursday night, he'll be back on Bridgestone's stage again.

Drake, J. Cole, Lil Durk Nashville Setlist

• Lil Durk:

• AHHH HA

• Backdoor

• Home Body

• Every Chance I Get

• Back in Blood

• The Voice

• All My Life

• Drake:

• Trophies (with marching band)

• Virginia Beach

• Marvins Room

• Teenage Fever

• Feel No Ways

• Jungle

• Over

• Headlines

• The Motto

• HYFR (Hell Ya F****** Right)

• Started From the Bottom

• Energy

• Know Yourself

• Nonstop

• Daylight

• MELTDOWN (Travis Scott cover)

• SICKO MODE (Travis Scott cover)

• Laugh Now Cry Later

• God's Plan

• Pound Cake

• Child's Play

• In My Feelings

• Nice for What

• Rich Baby Daddy

• Search & Rescue (with marching band)

• Controlla

• Too Good

• Find Your Love

• Hold On, We're Going Home

• Passionfruit

• Work (Rihanna cover)

• One Dance

• Gently

• J. Cole:

• Middle Child

• Wet Dreamz

• A Tale of 2 Citiez

• G.O.M.D

• Power Trip

• The London

• A Lot

• Love Yourz

• The Secret Recipe (a cappella)

• No Role Modelz

• Drake and J. Cole:

• In the Morning

• First Person Shooter

• Drake:

• Knife Talk

• Rich Flex

• IDGAF

• You Broke My Heart

• Encore, Drake:

• Slime You Out

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Drake, J. Cole, Lil Durk light up Nashville's Bridgestone Arena