Drake Says He "Fought" for Intimate College Tour

Drake's last album may have been called Thank Me Later, but he's still making an effort to thank you—his fans, that is. The Toronto MC recently revealed that he eschewed better-paying stadium gigs for his upcoming college tour, Club Paradise, in order to show his "day one" supporters some love.

"I fought for this tour, I fought really hard for this tour because, of course, they want me to go get the big bucks, go into the stadiums and cash out," Drake told MTV News. "But I was just like, 'I really made this album for the same people that supported me since day one.' "

The tour—which takes its name from the "Club Paradise" track that Drake dropped last month—was recently pushed back from late October to better align with his delayed album release (Take Care hits on November 15) as well as college schedules. "I'm moving it to January when everybody's back in school and so I can hit more places," Drake said.

Drizzy said he made a point of hitting Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, where he made his U.S. solo stage debut two years ago. "Things like that, I made sure I put on the schedule. I want to make sure I go see these people that supported me from day one," he said.

Drake also spoke about why he recruited newcomers Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky as opening acts for the tour rather than his Young Money labelmates. "I wanna bring Kendrick, I wanna bring A$AP—those are guys that I love. It has nothing to do with people on my label," he said. "Tyga's out, Nicki's working on an album, and everybody else is doing their thing on the road with Wayne or with Wayne in the studio, so I just sort of showcased the music that I happen to love right now, and those are the two guys that I'm bringing out."

However, although the guests and the venues may be low-key, Drake vows that his stage show on the Club Paradise tour will be stadium-sized. "I don't want to disclose too much, but I know what people usually bring to colleges, and I know that they usually try and scale it down when they go into college venues," he said. "I will probably do the opposite."

(Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall of Fame)