Drake almost got beaned with a copy of his own book.
The Canadian rap superstar was playing a concert at San Francisco’s Chase Center when a member of the audience threw a copy of his poetry collection, Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness, co-written with his songwriting collaborator Kenza Samir, at him, Billboard reports.
A video posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, shows the incident. “And I’ll tell you right now, it means the world—” the rapper said to the crowd, stopping to quickly catch the hurled book.
He pointed at an audience member and said, “You’re lucky I’m quick. Would have had to beat your ass if that hit me in the face.”
Drake, whose given name is Aubrey Drake Graham, announced news of his book in June, surprising his fans. His publisher, Phaidon, wrote of the book, “Flowing across 168 pages, the provocative musings translate Graham’s wit and talent for wordplay into potent stanzas. Together, these meditations on fame, romance, and relationships offer an unfiltered view of the artist’s inner world.”
The San Francisco incident is the latest in a bizarre string of music fans throwing objects at performing musicians. The singer Bebe Rexha was hit in the face by a hurled cell phone during a concert; a man arrested in connection with the assault said he thought it would be “funny.”
And late last month, Cardi B threw a microphone at an audience member who threw a drink at her during a Las Vegas concert. Police in the city cleared the rapper of any possible charges in the incident.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
