Manish Pandey
BBC Newsbeat
Getty Images
Drake has recently been touring in Australia and will be the first artist to headline all three days at Wireless
Rapper Drake has been announced as the headliner for all three nights of this year’s Wireless festival.
It will be his first UK performance in six years, with the One Dance hitmaker due to play a bespoke set on each night.
Wireless is celebrating 20 years and returns to Finsbury Park, London, between 11 and 13 July.
Other artists confirmed to be playing across the weekend are Burna Boy, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Summer Walker and Vybz Kartel.
Drake has most recently been embroiled in a rap beef with Super Bowl headliner Kendrick Lamar.
The spotlight will again be on the pair, as Kendrick has his own UK tour dates lined up for July, including playing in Birmingham the night before Drake’s first performance.
Despite the origins of the feud going back a decade, the past year has seen it ignite again with Kendrick’s Not Like Us takedown of Drake winning a Grammy – but also the subject of an ongoing legal case by the Canadian.
Read more on their beef hereGetty Images
Kendrick Lamar is considered by many to have won out in his battle with Drake
Drake first headlined Wireless in 2012, with the festival saying he holds the title “for the audience’s most requested artist”.
He recently released Some Sexy Songs 4 U, a joint album with fellow Canadian artist PARTYNEXTDOOR who will be performing on the Friday.
The same day will see R&B star Summer Walker on stage, who made waves with her previous performance at Finsbury Park in 2022.
Sunday will see Afrobeats icon Burna Boy making his Wireless debut, with dancehall star Vybz Kartel also performing on that day.
The Jamaican artist was freed from prison last year after having a murder conviction overturned.
Where are the UK acts?
The prospect of three nights of Drake has led to a mixed reaction from fans.
While some are excited to see “history” being made think his back catalogue is deep enough to make each night sound different, others have criticised the lack of UK artists.
“I don’t think there needs to be three days,” music fan Rehea Shillingford tells BBC Newsbeat, adding she’s “not against Drake”.
“There’s other British artists that could have been headlining,” she says, naming the likes of Dave and J Hus who have previously topped the bill.
But she is excited that Vybz Kartel will be performing, and feels he could “have been headlining”.
Megaman, from garage and hip-hop collective So Solid Crew, says while Drake is “the biggest artist in the world”, it’s wrong to announce Wireless “without a UK artist”.
“It’s a UK brand, so I would always love to see a top UK artist as part of the first run of promo,” he told 1Xtra Breakfast’s Nadia Jae.
“We have so many big artists in the culture, there’s no harm putting any on there.”
“We love [Drake] for what he does. But we hope he’s on-side and says: ‘I have to put a UK act on the lineup’.”
The festival has promised more acts for the weekend will be announced later.
Last year saw the likes Nicki Minaj, 21 Savage, J Hus and Doja Cat perform.
About 50,000 rap, R&B and hip-hop fans head to the event each day.
In 2023, Wireless signed a five-year deal with Haringey Council for the festival to be held in Finsbury Park every summer until at least 2027.
Tickets are due to go on general sale on Wednesday 19 February at 12:00 GMT.
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