Drake to Headline Wireless Festival for All Three Nights
#image_title

Drake to Headline Wireless Festival for All Three Nights


Share this post

Rapper Drake has been announced as the headliner for all three nights of this year's Wireless festival.

It will be his first UK performance in six years, with the One Dance hitmaker due to play a bespoke set on each night.

Wireless is celebrating 20 years and returns to Finsbury Park, London, between 11 and 13 July.

Other artists confirmed to be playing across the weekend are Burna Boy, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Summer Walker and Vybz Kartel.

Drake has most recently been embroiled in a rap beef with Super Bowl headliner Kendrick Lamar.

The spotlight will again be on the pair, as Kendrick has his own UK tour dates lined up for July, including playing in Birmingham the night before Drake's first performance.

Despite the origins of the feud going back a decade, the past year has seen it ignite again with Kendrick's Not Like Us takedown of Drake winning a Grammy - but also the subject of an ongoing legal case by the Canadian.

Drake first headlined Wireless in 2012, with the festival saying he holds the title "for the audience's most requested artist".

He recently released Some Sexy Songs 4 U, a joint album with fellow Canadian artist PARTYNEXTDOOR who will be performing on the Friday.

The same day will see R&B star Summer Walker on stage, who made waves with her previous performance at Finsbury Park in 2022.

Sunday will see Afrobeats icon Burna Boy making his Wireless debut, with dancehall star Vybz Kartel also performing on that day.

The Jamaican artist was freed from prison last year after having a murder conviction overturned.

Where are the UK acts?

The prospect of three nights of Drake has led to a mixed reaction from fans.

While some are excited to see "history" being made think his back catalogue is deep enough to make each night sound different, others have criticised the lack of UK artists.

"I don't think there needs to be three days," music fan Rehea Shillingford tells BBC Newsbeat, adding she's "not against Drake".

"There's other British artists that could have been headlining," she says, naming the likes of Dave and J Hus who have previously topped the bill.

But she is excited that Vybz Kartel will be performing, and feels he could "have been headlining".

Megaman, from garage and hip-hop collective So Solid Crew, says while Drake is "the biggest artist in the world", it's wrong to announce Wireless "without a UK artist".

"It's a UK brand, so I would always love to see a top UK artist as part of the first run of promo," he told 1Xtra Breakfast's Nadia Jae.

"We have so many big artists in the culture, there's no harm putting any on there."

"We love [Drake] for what he does. But we hope he's on-side and says: 'I have to put a UK act on the lineup'."

The festival has promised more acts for the weekend will be announced later.

Last year saw the likes Nicki Minaj, 21 Savage, J Hus and Doja Cat perform.

About 50,000 rap, R&B and hip-hop fans head to the event each day.

In 2023, Wireless signed a five-year deal with Haringey Council for the festival to be held in Finsbury Park every summer until at least 2027.


Share this post
Comments

Be the first to know

Join our community and get notified about upcoming stories

Subscribing...
You've been subscribed!
Something went wrong
Bad Bunny, Big Stage

Bad Bunny, Big Stage

Bad Bunny is scheduled to headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8, 2026. He was officially announced as the headliner on September 28, 2025, during the halftime of an NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast, in partnership with the NFL, Apple Music, and Roc Nation. In a brief statement released with the announcement, he described the opportunity as being “for my people, my culture, and our history,” referring to his Puerto Ri


Binta B Phatty

A Few Big Titles, The Whole Conversation

A Few Big Titles, The Whole Conversation

Awards season in 2026 is already shaped by a small cluster of titles that appear across most major ballots. One Battle After Another and Sinners are central in the film categories, while The White Lotus is prominent on the TV side, and the Golden Globes on January 11 are the first major ceremony where all three are in contention. In film, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another leads the 2026 Golden Globe nominations, while Ryan Coogler’s Sinners receives the highest number of nominatio


Binta B Phatty

What the Sean Combs Netflix Documentary Actually Covers

What the Sean Combs Netflix Documentary Actually Covers

A four‑part series from Netflix, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, traces the music mogul’s rise and the decades of allegations that later followed. Directed by Alexandria Stapleton and executive‑produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, it combines archival footage with new interviews to trace Combs’ rise in the music industry and the parallel history of accusations from former partners, employees, and associates. Across its episodes, the series centers the accounts of people who say they experienced vio


Binta B Phatty

Camp Flog Gnaw 2025 Turned a Rain Delay Into a Headliner

Camp Flog Gnaw 2025 Turned a Rain Delay Into a Headliner

Camp Flog Gnaw 2025 ended up feeling less like just another stop on the festival calendar and more like Tyler, the Creator’s yearly home game. Even with rain and delays, the two‑day carnival at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles kept its mix of roller coasters, food stands, and deeply online lineups that make it feel like a very specific corner of the internet turned into a real‑world weekend. Onstage, the lineup leaned into that balance between headliners and cult favorites. Tyler closed one night


Binta B Phatty