Wireless festival 2025: A fair review

I wrote an in-depth review yesterday, had a paragraph left, but my post didn’t save so I gave up on posting — but I still see some Wireless hate, so I’m going to take my time and do this again!

Here is my review as a Canadian Jamaican, Drake stan.
Being from Toronto, I’ve had the pleasure of attending many OVO Fests, which is similar to how Drake tried to set up Wireless.

The overall set up
I personally think the set up of the park was silly. There were too many people to only have toilets in the back. I also think it was insane that in the pit, they literally had drums of water and security was just dipping the used cups and their dirty hands in it 😭. Food options I can’t comment on because I didn’t get food at the festival. I always ate before arriving — except Sunday. Also, forcing everyone to exit at the back of the park was madness.

Security was so calm — honestly, getting alcohol in was not difficult at all if that’s your forte. But it also made me concerned about safety.

Day One
I got there when Leon was performing. I didn’t know many of the artists listed to perform — I came for Drake. We got into the pit relatively easily, but we had to use the washroom, and when we came back they wouldn’t let us back in. I missed Summer because we were stuck at the mosh pit gate. Eventually the crowd stormed the gates 😭😭, and I got back in for Drake.

Friday was RnB night. He brought out some relatively good artists. I say relatively because I’ve been blessed to attend many OVOs and seen the likes of Snoop, the diddler (a necessary evil mention), TLC, J. Cole, Kanye, The Weeknd, Migos (all three, RIP Takeoff), Chris Brown, Megan, Wayne, Nicki, Lauryn Hill, and so many others I can’t recall. It was a great night, but not like OVO.

This is where problems began. Drake started his set like 45 minutes late. This is not atypical of him unfortunately. But I know it’s worth it in the end, so we move.

He brought out Lauryn Hill, and Wireless cut her mic off disrespectfully. It was 10:35 and the concert was supposed to finish at 10:30 — so we’re only 5 minutes over. She was about to sing what I can only presume was Killing Me Softly. While I thought it was crazy, I can respect Wireless for trying to make sure the artists run on a set schedule — because sometimes they’re outrageous, being hours late.

But Drake started getting pissed from here because the way they did it was insane. Like, it was the first night and it was Lauryn Hill, chill. It was 2 more minutes.

Day Two
This was the best day for Drake hip-hop fans. The guests he brought out were mainly from the UK — Cench, obvs, Dave, Skepta, etc. From the US, he brought out 21, Latto, Sexyy. I love Sexyy — and so many more.

Again, you’re not gonna get to see the North American superstars anymore because it’s everyone vs Drake at this point. Idk if you’ll ever get an OG OVO Fest again. But it was close.

This was the night you should’ve been there if you came only for Drake.

Now SUNDAYYYY
I see a lot of hate going on about Sunday, but this was personally my FAVOURITE DAY.
This was the first day I got there from the beginning because I’m a super dancehall fan.
I loved every single artist. And in all honesty, despite being a Drake superfan, I was wayyyy more excited to see Vybz Kartel.

Vybz Kartel was amazing, by the way. It seems a lot of people in the crowd didn’t know him, but he’s the biggest dancehall artist to ever do it. Like, nobody is above Vybz Kartel, and everyone — even the dancehall artists — know it. It’s a fact accepted universally. Even Drake knows this. You can hear the reverence from everyone who spoke about him.

He is supposed to be in prison for like 20-life and he’s battling Graves Disease. So him performing is MONUMENTAL. He went over his set but I — and many other Vybz fans — did not care because VYBZ FRICKIN KARTEL. I was in my young teens when he went to jail, and I never thought I’d see the day I’d see him on stage — let alone him and my baby Drake on the same stage. Monu-effing-mental. But you have to know the culture to understand how big that moment was.
You’d be surprised — a few of your favourite Drake songs have Vybz Kartel influence.

Burna Boy
Now I don’t know his entire catalogue but his performance was by far the best of the entire festival.
The live singers, the live band, the dancers, the storytelling, the stage props, the stage presence, the energy — he lit that place up and you can do nothing but respect it.
He earned a fan outta me. That man put in WORK.

He also brought out Lauryn for Killing Me Softly, for what I presume to be redemption for Friday.

I can definitely understand the frustration with Drake’s performance on Sunday. He barely did anything. He was also annoyed because they announced a curfew on him. He only had 40 minutes. Along with that, they were delaying his songs when he cued them (he angrily yelled RUN IT when they were taking too long to start).

I honestly don’t mind how he ended the show because he did what he came to do Friday and Saturday. And if you think about it, he mainly played his dance songs, which matched the theme of the day. He literally stood by the DJ booth the whole time and mixed dance classics over house beats.

I think after the entire weekend, it was a nice calm end, but I would definitely be pissed too if that was the only day I came.

Final thoughts
I still feel, at the same time, you should’ve known what you got into when they announced the themes. Friday was clearly RnB — you want hard rap, you should’ve come Saturday.

Originally written by our Reddit friend u/Intrepid_Coffee_1432