Poor Ticket Sales Causes Drake To Push Back The Start Of His Tour

Rapper Drake’s North American tour is not getting off to a strong start. Sources tell us ticket sales are tepid for the 41-city tour, and the rapper announced Friday that he’s pushing back the start date until Oct. 18.

The Toronto-born rapper, who is releasing his latest album, “Nothing Was the Same,” on Tuesday, announced in June he would embark on his “Would You Like a Tour” tour in mid-September, with rapper Future and R&B singer Miguel.

But on Friday, Drake announced he was postponing “due to an intense rehearsal schedule and technical production requirements that will be part of the show.” The tour will kick off at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center, and tour promoter LiveNation rescheduled 13 tour dates on his now 39-city tour until later this year. (Two dates dropped off due to scheduling conflicts at the venues.)

The tour delay follows Drake having to push back the release of his album from Sept. 18 to Tuesday, because sources said he needed more time to get legal clearances for some song samples.

That one-week delay, a source told Page Six, “sent a whole spiral of things. Drake had a rehearsal schedule for this tour, and that all just got moved.” The rapper also wanted time for people to hear his new material before the tour. “He wanted his fans to live with the music before he went on the road.”

While Drake’s single, “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” has cracked the top 10 on iTunes, music insiders tell us that ticket sales at several arenas are sluggish so far.

What’s more, Drake has stiff competition for fans’ money from Jay Z and Kanye West, who are both kicking off tours this fall.

“The record has good buzz, but it’s up against so much noise in the hip-hop market now,” said one music insider.
Reps for Drake said: “Drake’s tour is nearly sold out in every major market, and he is excited to share the new music with his fans.”



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