Drake gives away $45k to two fans at first Melbourne concerts at Rod Laver Arena

Canadian rapper Drake cemented his reputation as a hip hop philanthropist at his first Melbourne show, showering $45,000 on two fans including one who caught his attention for holding a sign with his son’s name, Adonis.

Hip hop philanthropist Drake continued his concert cash splash by gifting $45,000 to two women at his Melbourne show on Sunday night.

Drake’s random handouts, which saw him give away $40,000 to two couples in Perth last week, resumed at the first of his four shows at Rod Laver Arena.

The Canadian superstar awarded $25,000 to a woman holding a sign which acknowledged the rapper’s 7-year-old son, Adonis.

“You’re showing a lot of love to my son,” Drake told the fan.

“On behalf of me and my son, we’re going to give you 25-grand.”

Drake at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. Picture: Nui Te Koha

Drake gave one fan $25,000 and another $20,000. Picture: Nui Te Koha

He then gave $20,000 to a woman with a placard asking for a birthday kiss.

“It’s a tough read on the kiss,” Drake said.

“But what I am gonna do is, give you 20-grand, and I will pay for a birthday dinner for you and your friends tomorrow night.”

Drake added: “Australia, I love y’all. Melbourne, this is real love.”

It sure was — on both sides.

Drake worked the room to fever pitch, from every angle, for 90-plus minutes, in a career-spanning set of multi-billion streamers, certified bangers and deep cuts.

The 43-song set included God’s Plan (2.7 billion streams), Hotline Bling (1.4 billion), Nice For What (1.3 billion), In My Feelings (1.4 billion), Passionfruit (1.7 billion) and One Dance (3.5 billion).

Drake’s Spotify numbers, to date, are a staggering 108 billion.

For context, Taylor Swift has 99 billion streams.

Drake performs at Rod Laver Arena.on February 9, 2025. Picture: Nui Te Koha

Drake’s concert production, with a floating catwalk stage that ran the length and breadth of Rod Laver Arena, redefined the parameters of being up close and personal with a headline act.

Drake opened his ‘Anita Max Win Tour’ by walking down the stairs, through the crowd, from the upper level of the arena, and prowled the floating stage (to delight of those in lower level seats and the mosh pit below) for most of the show.

He also performed a club set, alongside a DJ, on a landing between the upper and lower seating zones.

Drake was here, there and everywhere; energised, relentless.

He slowed down only to pay tribute to the sold-out room.

“There’s 15,000 people in there tonight. It’s never lost on me because … I’m sure you’ve got a job, or a hustle, or something that you do,” Drake said.

“It really touches my heart that you take your hard earned money, and you spend some of that money on tickets to this show to see that kid from Canada get up here.”

His parting shot was a pep talk.

“You’ve got to start raising your standards for yourself,” he said at the end of the show.

“Are you listening to me? If (there are) things you really want in life, you’ve got to start raising your standards for yourself. You’ve got to stop settling for bulls---.”

Drake returns to the pulpit at Rod Laver Arena on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Tickets are available at livenation.com.au.