Why Drake fans behave the way they do after 'genuinely dystopian' concert photo goes viral

A crowd of fans hold up their signs and placards, each of them pleading for money from the man on stage in the hopes he'll pick them out and choose them to be the lucky recipient.

Among them are requests to 'help pay off my mum's mortgage', 'fly us out to Greece', 'give my father a break' and 'help me buy an engagement ring'.

This isn't a low-tech version of GoFundMe, it's the sight you'll see at many a Drake concert from his fans hoping that he'll bless them with his attention.

You might have seen a recent picture of this which went viral, and a lot of people wondering why Drake's concerts have got a whole load of people there behaving as if they're just there to beg for money.

There's a very good reason for that, and that's because there's actually a chance that he will make their dreams come true.

Back in the day some Roman emperors would throw pieces of gold and silver into crowds of people or give away lavish gifts to people who would turn up for them, though not everyone would come away with what they hoped for.

It doesn't seem too dissimilar that people are going to Drake concerts with their signs in the hope that they will be the ones chosen, and there is something quite something that he can seemingly gift what to other people would be a significant amount of money on a regular basis.

At his show in Sydney yesterday (19 February) Drake was filmed telling a fan holding a sign saying she was 20 weeks pregnant to get out of the mosh pit, he then gave her VIP tickets and $30,000.

The signs on Drake’s tour in AUS 👀 pic.twitter.com/meiPpXHsVW

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) February 20, 2025

"Get your a** out of the pit. Are you 20 weeks pregnant? Get out of the pit, get out of there," Drake said before telling staff to 'get the camera on her' as he told her she was getting a valuable gift.

It's nowhere near the first time he's done this, as last year he picked out a fan who completed chemotherapy for cancer and said she would be given $100,000.

At other times he's given people $20,000 to clear their student debts, gifted a fan with $30,000 for driving 10 hours to see his show and promising to pay for someone else's upcoming surgery.

On another occasion he said he'd pay off another fan's mortgage on the house they'd inherited after their mother had died.

While the money he's handed over is certainly welcome to the people who are chosen to receive it, some people seeing the image of a crowd of people hoping they'll be the next recipient of Drake's generosity still think it's 'one of the most genuinely dystopian photographs they've seen in recent months'.

Also, if you were wondering why Drake threw a shoe at a drone recently, that all appears to have been staged for a gambling advert.