Drake to Receive Key to the City to Kick off NBA All-Star Weekend

As far as Toronto exports go, they don’t get much bigger than Drake.

The homegrown rapper has always been an advocate and an ambassador for his hometown and now his city is ready to return the love. (Again.)

Mayor John Tory announced that he’ll be presenting the rapper with the Key to the City at tonight’s NBA all-star celebrity match, the first key of Tory’s term in office.

“The key to the city is the highest honour we can give,” the mayor said in a video statement. “I believe the key should go to individuals who make people across the city feel good about themselves and about their city.”

The pair met at the mayors office last week and they discussed Drake’s role in the city and everything he has contributed. Their meeting initiated the start of a long collaboration between the two of them, the Toronto Star reports.

Mayor Tory shared the big news in a series of tweets in which he praises the OVO rapper and claims he’s an example of Toronto doing “great things.”

The tweets started with: “I knew his name, I knew his face and I knew his music. And we wanted the chance to get to know one another, and talk about the city we love.”

In a following tweet: “In our conversations, he told me how he feels about Toronto. He told me what it means to him to be from here, and the role he wants to play.”And it turns out receiving this great honour has been on the rapper’s mind for awhile, because on his latest track ‘Summer Sixteen‘ (from his forthcoming Views from the 6),  he talks about receiving the key to Toronto. “I might get a key to the city and give it to Wayne / Or give it to one of the young boys to carry the wave.” But it’s not just the mayor that respects Drake. Norm Kelly a Toronto City Councillor has been a main supporter for the rapper, especially during Drizzy’s beef with Philly rapper Meek Mill.

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