Drake Goes The Extra Thousand Miles To Bring Vanessa Carlton Out At Wireless Festival

BY Gabriel Bras Nevares 3.6K Views
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Drake Thousand Miles Vanessa Carlton Wireless Hip Hop News
Jun 10, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Recording artist Drake reacts during the fourth quarter in game five of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images
Other special guests at night two of Drake's Wireless Festival takeover included fakemink, 21 Savage, Latto, and Sexyy Red.

Drake stuck to his hip-hop guns on night two of his 2025 Wireless Festival takeover, but he also held plenty of non-genre surprises for fans. The biggest was hands-down the surprise performance of "A Thousand Miles" from the one and only Vanessa Carlton. She took to the London stage with a piano on Saturday (July 12) and the 6ix God hyped the crowd up as she performed.

It was quite the shock for many fans out there, but it's also very cool to see such an iconic hit in an unexpected live setting. Fans were quite receptive to it as they sang along, and the singer even took to her Instagram to share some appreciative words for Drizzy and the Wireless team.

"Thank you to the one and only @champagnepapi for inviting me to be a part of his show and for the sweet introduction," Carlton wrote. "I am so moved and have been a fan since the beginning. And thanks to everyone behind the scenes that pulled this one off for us. So now I can personally recommend Drake’s fabulous @wirelessfest experience. You have one night left. Don’t sleep. X."

Drake Fakemink

Elsewhere, though, Drake ruffled some feathers at Wireless. At one point of the show, he weighed in on a viral U.S. versus U.K. rap debate that's floating around online and among MCs at the moment. This was as The Boy brought out some of the best and brightest today in U.K hip-hop, whether that's fakemink, Skepta, or Dave.

"The best lyricists in the world, mark my words, I don't care what nobody says," the Toronto superstar remarked onstage. "Nobody can out-rap London. Nobody. No disrespect to America. No disrespect to my country. But nobody can out-rap London rappers. This is the best, this is the highest level. This is what I aspire to be."

The other notable point of contention during night two was Drake (almost) calling his rival out directly. A series of chants from the crowd got us the closest to a direct Kendrick Lamar address we've gotten since "The Heart Part 6."

"Three nights headlining, three different sets, three different vibes. Name another artist that can do that and bring him up here and we can clash right now," he said onstage before "F**k Kendrick" chants began. "Chubbs, grab me a shot, I'll drink to that. [...] Y'all thought y'all could knock The Boy off for real?"

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.

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