Drake pledges to fund fans’ euro trip at Melbourne concert

Rap superstar Drake has continued his philanthropic Australia tour, pledging to fund a group of friends’ trip to Europe and contribute $30,000 for a fan to start their own tech business at a show in Melbourne on Monday night.

About halfway through the concert, Drake stopped to say he liked two signs he’d spotted in the crowd – one that said, “Fund the lads’ euro trip” and another asking for help to start a new tech firm.

“I don’t know how much it costs to start a tech company, but I’ll give you, say, $US30,000,” Drake told the fan to wild cheers from the audience.

The show at Rod Laver Arena began mere hours after rival Kendrick Lamar performed his incendiary diss track at the US Super Bowl.

Drake and Lamar have been locked in one of rap music’s biggest feuds, which went nuclear in 2024 when both artists dropped deeply personal diss tracks that included accusations of grooming, illegitimate children and violence against women.

Lamar’s latest and arguably most incendiary diss fired at Drake, “Not Like Us”, dominated the Grammys last week – scooping up five wins – as well as the rapper’s star-studded half-time show at Monday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.

The track, featuring accusations that Drake sleeps with underage girls, is one of the biggest songs of Lamar’s career and is the subject of a lawsuit. Drake denies the allegations in the song and is suing Universal Music Group, which represents both men, for defamation.

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As his rival was being crowned the undefeated rap battle king, Drake arrived in Australia for his tour early, on January 28, eight days before his first show in Perth last week. Since then, there have been sunset snaps, wholesome pictures of him dining with friends, and even a late-night “Hey Australia, who’s up?” call-out via Instagram. He’s handed out thousands of dollars to fans at his shows and performed an intimate gig at a private Melbourne club for a hand-picked crowd.

With Thomas Mitchell