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bbno$ at the Drake Underground in Toronto as part of Billboard Canada THE STAGE at NXNE 2026.
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How the Drake Underground is Continuing Queen West’s Arts Legacy
With the support of Interac, Billboard Canada is telling the story of this long-running Toronto institution and its support of the local music community.
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The Drake Hotel has been embedded in the arts scene for nearly 60 years. Its history stretches back over a century, but strengthened its commitment with its dedicated music venue, the Drake Underground, which has served as a springboard for breakthrough artists globally and locally for over 20 years.
The Drake first opened as Small’s Hotel in the 1890s, serving as a primary hub for the Canadian Pacific Railway. It became the Drake Hotel in the 1950s and later transformed itself into a den for punk shows and raves in the ‘80s and ‘90s. After being repurchased in the early 2000s and reinvented as a boutique hotel, the Drake opened the Underground in 2004, its basement venue that has remained a centrepiece of the creatively vital Queen West neighbourhood’s arts scene.
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Fast forward to 2026 and the music venue remains a one-stop shop for local DJs and rising musicians to play pivotal early Toronto shows and build buzz.
Kiki van Duin, the Drake Hotel’s arts & culture manager and programmer, attributes the success to the community’s embrace.
“People need to keep showing up, seeing shows, having dinner, coming in, having a drink, getting to know some of our local DJs that we bring in,” she says. “It’s [about] taking chances on local artists, opening the Underground up to more independent [musicians], new music labels and new managers to make sure that the community has a full voice and making it accessible so our prices don't gouge. They really cover our costs so that artists have an opportunity.”
The Drake Underground has spent the last year doubling down on its commitment. The venue is already booking daily shows through 2027, making it an essential stop for artists’ tours and a place for them to be discovered and have their voice heard for the first time.
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This year, The Drake Underground was an official venue at NXNE, the ultimate festival for music discovery. The venue hosted three full nights of lineups over the festival weekend including viral Canadian rapper Loviet, Desiire and bbno$, who played one of the highlights of the festival.
After playing the venue in 2018 as an up-and-comer in his first Toronto show, the viral rapper returned for a special Billboard Canada THE STAGE intimate event just a week after playing for 16,000 fans at his biggest ever headlining show at RBC Amphitheatre. He delivered an electric one-off set whose energy could barely be contained within the 200-person space, a performance van Duin describes as “crazy” and “so much fun.” It’s the kind of intimate underplay from an established name that leaves fans with the memory of an unforgettable night, and the Underground is looking to create more of them.
Interac understands the importance of moments like those. Through a joint initiative aimed at supporting the small businesses powering Canada's music scene, Interac, NXNE and Billboard Canada set out to spotlight the independent businesses at the heart of local music scenes. The Drake Underground was one of the venues that recorded the most Interac Debit transactions throughout the festival this year, allowing the business to save on transaction fees while supporting the arts.
"At Interac, we're committed to supporting the small businesses that help drive Canada forward,” said Chris Lee, Head, Payments at Interac. “Through our collaboration with Billboard Canada and NXNE, we're proud to highlight venues like The Drake that are creating opportunities for local artists and strengthening Canada's music community."
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The Drake Underground continues to honour its storied history, maintaining the venue’s classic ethos while keeping its immersive concert experience intact and current with top-of-the-line audio quality and speakers. By working more with local talent and emerging promoters, its goal is to continue writing its legacy into the next several decades, at a time where smaller-sized, local venues are struggling to keep their doors open in Toronto. The Underground’s doors remain open to all genres of music, and even more so to the communities who have dealt with venue closures.
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“Community, discovery and longevity, they’re all connected,” says van Duin. “I feel like people in Toronto are very fickle about things that have been around for a while, but the old things are really where you can dig in. They really care about you and they have that history there. The heart of a community is making sure that there are those cultural community centers and third spaces that you can enter, feel safe and be comfortable.”
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Published by ARTSHOUSE MEDIA GROUP (AMG) under license from Billboard Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation.
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