Drake and Future Break Highest-Grossing Record With Summer Sixteen Tour – Today in Hip-Hop
XXL celebrates 50 years of hip-hop with this moment:
Jan. 8, 2017: On this day, Drake and Future shattered a new record with their Summer Sixteen Tour. After totaling up the ticket sales from 2016, Drizzy and Hendrix's trek was proclaimed the highest-grossing hip-hop tour of all time.
According to Pollstar Pro, Drake and Future's trek grossed over $84.3 million across 56 dates between July and October of 2016. The dynamic rappers dethroned previous record-holders Jay-Z and Kanye West for their 2012 Watch the Throne Tour, which netted $75.6 million through 63 dates from October of 2011 to June of 2012.
The Summer Sixteen excursion was produced by Apple Music in support of Drake's fourth album, Views, as well as Future's fourth project, Evol. Both artists also performed tracks from their collaborative 2015 mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive.
The tour included several surprise guest appearances from big-name superstars including Kanye West hitting the stage with the WATTBA collaborators at their Chicago stop on July 28, 2016. In August of that year, Drake and Future performed a four-night residency at Madison Square Garden, which brought out a slew of celebrities to their concerts. Rappers Fat Joe, Remy Ma, A$AP Ferg, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, T.I., Dipset (sans Jim Jones) and J. Cole all graced the stage during their run in the Big Apple. Meanwhile, Future brought out Young Thug to show the world their reconciliation for the first time.
Elsewhere, Lil Wayne joined the 6 God in Philadelphia, then again in Houston with Bun B. In Los Angeles, Rihanna and DJ Khaled performed with Drizzy and Hendrix at the Staples Center.
The Summer Sixteen tour was a star-studded affair from coast to coast. What a time to be alive.