Metro Metro’s Founders on Following Up Last Year’s Drake Surprise: ‘It’s Like Having the Pope Approve’
Written by SOURCE on May 17, 2023
In just its second year as a festival in between a pandemic, Montreal rap festival Metro Metro scored a major hit when Drake showed up unexpectedly during Lil Baby’s headline set for an impromptu performance.
In year one, the festival also landed a big name in Cardi B, who was fresh from winning the Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards. So what does Metro Metro organizer Midway Group have planned for a follow-up? Last year’s headliner Lil Baby is back, along with Lil Wayne and Jack Harlow. Yeat, Coi Leray, Destroy Lonely, Nav, Metro Boomin, Murda Beatz, and more round out the lineup. There’s that, but also sometimes it’s about planning for the unexpected.
Drake’s appearance only came together in the final days leading up to the 2022 edition. Cardi nearly didn’t show after she pulled a “yesterday’s price is not today’s price.” Last year, after Young Thug was arrested weeks before his planned headlining set, the fest pivoted fast and brought 50 Cent to Montreal on a private jet.
Metro Metro organizers Olivier Primeau and Jonathan Marchitello, who also operate summer hotspot Beachclub and Latin music fest Fuego Fuego, are refreshingly candid about the chaos that inevitably swirls around a major festival. They know a rapper might get turned around at the border, so instead of dealing with it privately, they let the fans know that things may change at any time, but they’re constantly working the phones to ensure the party goes on.
This year, that includes Primeau having a business firebombed and shots fired at his home in the lead up to Metro Metro 2023. He conducted this interview with Complex Canada before the incidents, and he hasn’t spoken publicly since, only saying on Instagram that he’s taking “a step back and being less present publicly” until the situation is resolved.
On site, Metro Metro has revamped their Olympic Stadium site to deter fence jumpers—an issue last year—and give better sightlines.
Complex Canada met up with Metro Metro’s Primeau and Marchitello to talk about how Drake came together, 50 Cent’s jet, and competing with the big festivals.
What did you learn from the first two Metro Metros?
OP: The big question we’ve learned to deal with: Which artist is going to be there? That’s first. Last year, maybe two weeks before, we lost two of three headliners with Young Thug and Playboi Carti. It’s a lot of stress. You have to be sure they’re going to pass customs, which you never know.
People often thought you couldn’t have a rap festival in Canada because of the border? The first year you did it, pretty much everyone showed.
OP: In 2019, we were the first hip-hop festival of that size in Canada. Before Rolling Loud, and of course there’s OVO. We knew we were taking a risk, but I think we’ve done it right. In 2019 we started with Cardi B, just as she won the Grammy. Then last year was a super huge event for us with Drake showing up and 50 Cent instead of Young Thug. And I think we have a nice lineup this year.
