drake tour merch cost

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

• The Rickey Smiley Morning Show
• Midday’s With Tambra
• The D.L. Hughley Show
• Chandra Wise
• DJ Kool Laid
• DJ Scrap Dirty
• The Nasty Sho
• The Beat Digital

Here Is The Drake Merch Available At The ‘It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What?’

Drake already held his It’s All A Blur Tour with 21 Savage last year. Bras flew , and Drake continually teased For All The Dogs until its October 6 release. The album houses “ First Person Shooter ” featuring J. Cole, which inspired It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What? , an adjacent co-headlining tour with Drake and J. Cole.

The new trek began on Friday, February 2, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The setlist is extensive , but as with everything Drake does, It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What? offers much more than music.

Here Is The Drake Merch Available At The It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What?

The popular Drake fan account on X (formerly Twitter) Word On Road (@WordOnRd) posted a video showing the merch table on Friday. There are a few predominantly Drake-related options, as listed below.

• A black hoodie reading (in white, yellow, and red lettering), “DRAKE AND J. COLE ON TOUR 2024 BIG AS THE WHAT? IT’S ALL A BLUR”
• $85 reversible basketball jerseys: a No. 11 black one for Drake, with the OVO owl on the front and “THE BOY” on the back; a No. 15 one for J. Cole, with the Dreamville logo on the front and “COLE” on the back.
• $40 white-and-black Nike hats — still available from Drake’s initial It’s All A Blur Tour run
• $45 graphic tees (cream-colored with the OVO owl or black with For All The Dogs artwork)

Merch tonight in Tampa. #IAABTour pic.twitter.com/4e41hHrY1s — Word On Road (@WordOnRd) February 3, 2024

A look at all the merch from the J. Cole & Drake tour pic.twitter.com/kQmzYU7UNq — Team DREAMVILLE (@TeamDreamville) February 3, 2024

Additionally, a Reddit user posted a blue hoodie featuring the For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition artwork, but you’d have to shell out $220 for it, and other people on X circulated a J. Cole graphic tee that might or might not tease his next releases.

J. Cole teases ‘It’s A Boy’ on the merch from his joint tour with Drake pic.twitter.com/bWgMfW2PBm — Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) February 3, 2024

J. Cole’s ‘The Fall Off’ era being teased in new merch from his tour with Drake • It’s A Boy • The Fall Off pic.twitter.com/53CmgJDgsK — NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) February 3, 2024

DRAKE x COLE MERCH ITS A BOYYYYYY pic.twitter.com/mZvnWnUVp1 — t.o.n.y (@tonysHIPHOP) February 3, 2024

J. Cole merch for the tour with Drake “It’s A Boy” is still on the way?! pic.twitter.com/U4LzOyO2zb — Team DREAMVILLE (@TeamDreamville) February 3, 2024

J. Cole’s merch from the “Big As The What” tour teases upcoming “It’s A Boy” project Could this be a Drake x J. Cole album? pic.twitter.com/8mPWyLitf2 — Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) February 3, 2024

See all of Drake and J. Cole’s remaining dates here .

Drake Related

The cart is empty

AIR DRAKE HOODED ROBE

Barbie bitch t-shirt pink, f&f nike heart puffer black, fatd hoodie.

Drake Showed Off Some Of The Minimalistic Merch From The ‘It’s All A Blur Tour’ With 21 Savage

Drake and 21 Savage kicked off the It’s All A Blur Tour last night (June 29) in Memphis. It’ll go through Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, and more major cities over the next few months, bringing their collaborative 2022 album Her Loss to stages.

It looks like Drake teased some merchandise on his Instagram Story. The photo only partially shows two black and neon yellow T-shirts with the text “It’s All A Blur Tour” over the heart. It also bears his signature OVO owl.

IT’S ALL A BLUR TOUR 🦉 pic.twitter.com/j5EwJ3b0Mq — Word On Road (@WordOnRd) June 30, 2023

Meanwhile, Drake just published his new book Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream Of Consciousness , co-authored with Kenza Samir. Its reception was not great , especially New York Times bestselling author Hanif Abdurraqib’s review. “Some of these are so absurd that they’re actually funny,” he wrote. “But it’s hard to tell if he also understands that they’re bending into absurdist humor, and understands that there will be people who find it profound. Or if he’s convinced himself of the profundity. Really, it’s kind of just a book of puns. Silly lil’ jokes. It is a struggle for me to tell how in on the joke he is… I’m not personally offended by anything that masquerades as poetry, because it happens so often in every possible arena of entertainment and consumption, but this is essentially a coffee table book of one-line jokes.”

• pop Culture
• Facebook Navigation Icon
• Twitter Navigation Icon
• WhatsApp icon
• Instagram Navigation Icon
• Youtube Navigation Icon
• Snapchat Navigation Icon
• TikTok Navigation Icon
• pigeons & planes
• newsletters
• Youtube logo nav bar 0 youtube
• Instagram Navigation Icon instagram
• Twitter Navigation Icon x
• Facebook logo facebook
• TikTok Navigation Icon tiktok
• Snapchat Navigation Icon snapchat
• Apple logo apple news
• Flipboard logo nav bar 1 flipboard
• Instagram Navigation Icon google news
• WhatsApp icon whatsapp
• RSS feed icon rss feed

Complex Global

• united states
• united kingdom
• netherlands
• philippines
• complex chinese

Work with us

terms of use

privacy policy

cookie settings

california privacy

public notice

accessibility statement

COMPLEX participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means COMPLEX gets paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. Our editorial content is not influenced by any commissions we receive.

© Complex Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Complex.com is a part of

A History of Drake’s Merch, ‘Summer Sixteen’ to ‘Certified Lover Boy’

With all the hype surrounding the release of ‘Certified Lover Boy’ album, we’re taking a look back at Drake’s most memorable tour merch from over the years.

Image via Complex Original

When it comes to style, Drake might not be the first name that comes to mind for some people. But when you’re the biggest rapper on planet Earth, you eventually find your lane. Drake has certainly been able to up his game in recent years, with a love for custom Tom Ford and Stone Island becoming signatures from his wardrobe. 

If Drizzy isn’t sitting courtside flexing Visvim grails or stepping out with $1 million fits in London , he’s got that owl on him. What started out as an imprint early in his career responsible for a handful of merch items has grown into a full-fledged brand on its own. Of course it will always be linked to Drake, but the OVO brand is more than some fan merch now. It boasts flagships in major cities like Toronto, New York, Tokyo, and London. It has collaborated with names like Canada Goose , Clarks, DSquared2 , Takashi Murakami , and Jordan Brand. That golden owl can really be a uniform for you, if you want it to be. 

But that hasn’t stopped Drake from producing some great merch along the way as well. Whether it’s a Toronto Raptors giveaway, official collabs with Nike, or a new round of goods on display at the arena stand during his world tours, there have been a vast array of items for his fans to choose from.

With  Certified Lover Boy finally here and a new round of Nike T-shirts displaying some signature Drake quotables being used to promote the project getting released at wedding chapels across the country as we speak, we decided to take a look back at some of Drake’s most memorable tour merch. Check out the list below. — Mike DeStefano

View this photo on Instagram

In 2013, Drake’s OVO label released an exclusive collaboration with Cash Money Records. The collaboration highlighted the Young Money Cash Money Records label, which gave Drake his start in the rap game. The collaboration with Cash Money consisted of long sleeve shirts, Cash Money logo T-shirts, beanies and more.  All this apparel was sold for just one day at pop-ups in several cities throughout the United States. One of the most memorable items from this drop was a long sleeve T-shirt that featured a reprint of Jonathan Mannion’s iconic photo of the Cash Money crew, which was the cover of XXL in 1999. — Lei Takanashi

One of Drake's biggest merch drops was for his 2013 album Nothing Was The Same . Three pop-ups in Los Angeles, Toronto and New York gave away free merch for just one day. The merch featured the title of the album on the front and the release date on the back. In New York, the pop-up held at Alife got particularly rowdy. The line  stretched for three blocks and Drizzy fans reportedly camped out overnight for the merch. However, it was eventually shut down by the New York Police Department after one fan tried to cut the line and was met with a girl holding a box cutter. Days later, Drake performed in Alife’s backyard for one of the streetwear store’s most memorable  Alife Session concerts. — Lei Takanashi

Drake vs. Lil Wayne

When Drake and Lil Wayne teamed up for a co-headlining tour in 2014, they collaborated with Capcom to emphasize the competitive theme. The merch reflected the name of the tour with T-shirts, hoodies, caps, and other apparel decorated with graphics inspired by Capcom’s Street Fighter video game series.— Lei Takanashi

By now, everyone knows how big of a Toronto Raptors fan Drake is. From his countless courtside antics to his infamous “We created this” speech outside in the streets of Toronto during the Raptors 2019 NBA championship run, his love for The North’s squad runs deep. The team even has a black and gold OVO-themed alternate jersey. Since 2014, fans have even been treated to Drake Night, which promises everything from Drizzy player introductions to inebriated jubilation when Fred Van Vleet hits a late game three pointer. It also promises some pretty cool merch waiting for fans at their seats . The first offering was some of the best, a black long sleeve T-shirt with a gold Raptors logo on the chest, a Canadian leaf and Toronto area code on the left sleeve, and the signature OVO owl on the back. Plenty of iterations have followed since. The merch giveaway has even evolved into full blown capsule collections between the OVO brand and Mitchell and Ness. There’s also been some more trivial items like an OVO lint roller inspired by Drake’s infamous courtside fit cleanup. But if you want the rarest item, you need to track down that OG long sleeve. — Mike DeStefano

Houston Appreciation Week

Throughout his career, Drake has made it very clear how much Houston means to him. It’s where his first sold out concert took place. More importantly, it is also where he met Lil Wayne  for the first time before he would sign to Young Money, which kickstarted his path to global superstardom. To show his gratitude, Drake began Houston Appreciation Week in 2014, a weekend of festivities in H-Town that included pop-ups and concerts. The inaugural merch capsule is particularly rare and featured special graphics inspired by the city’s legends like Pimp C, DJ Screw, and J. Prince. — Mike DeStefano

1-800-HOTLINEBLING

The success of the 2015 single "Hotline Bling" was ridiculous. Originally a loosey thrown onto Soundcloud, the record skyrocketed in popularity after its release. It was blessed with an absolutely legendary, and endlessly memed music video , and is arguably the biggest mainstream hit that Drake has ever had. So, of course there was some merch involved. While plenty of unofficial versions would be sold at various retailers, OVO also dropped its own official dad caps mimicking the pink and white cover art for the massively popular hit record. — Mike DeStefano

A week before Drake was set to drop his fourth album Views in 2016, he suddenly sent a tweet telling his New York City fans to go out to 135 Bowery Street. What ensued was a pop-up line that stretched around the block. Fans who waited it out were awarded with a Views T-shirt and wristband. The T-shirts featured a Comme des Garçons Play inspired logo and were later sold at various stops on the Summer Sixteen tour a few months later. — Lei Takanashi

Boy Meets World

Drake’s fifth headlining tour in 2017 supported the release of his 2016 project Views and his 2017 mixtape More Life . The merch for Boy Meets World was heavily inspired by the work of Andy Warhol. Long sleeve T-shirts featured monochrome portraits of Drake screenprinted back to back, while others featured neon flowers that were also reminiscent of Warhol’s paintings. Arc logo hoodies that read “More Life” were also up for grabs. Since the tour only touched down in Europe and Australia, this merch is rarer for Drizzy’s North American fanbase. Furthermore, with More Life featuring a slew of Grime artists such as Giggs and Skepta, you already know Drake had to get exclusive Stone Island merch made. Along with an iced out  Stone Island compass chain by Ben Baller , Drake was seen wearing pieces that were not available for concertgoers. Screenshots from his Oliver El-Khatib’s Instagram story suggest that the merch was produced in highly limited numbers— as little as 23 pieces for select items. Recently, a Boy Meets World x Stone Island face mask  surfaced on Grailed and quickly sold for $120.— Lei Takanashi

OVO Fest is yet another yearly event hosted by Drake. Since 2010, OVO Fest has been Toronto's premier annual music event and has hosted memorable performances from some of rap’s biggest acts including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, and more. While the event has provided attendees with the usual merch to mark the occasion over the years, the best example is arguably the items created for OVO Fest 2019. To cater to the throwback theme that featured acts like Ying Yang Twins, B2K, and Chingy, there were T-shirts displaying designs inspired by Pen and Pixel and Now That’s What I Call Music cover art that ruled the ‘90s and early 2000s when copping CDs was still commonplace. — Mike DeStefano

Summer Sixteen

In the middle of the merch craze catapulted by Kanye West a few years ago, Drake sold this collection throughout his co-headlining Summer Sixteen  tour with Future. The most recognizable items were black based T-shirts, hoodies, and baseball jerseys with block orange and yellow “Revenge” lettering arching across the chest, a nod to the “Looking for revenge” line in his track “Summer Sixteen.” Other versions followed the same formula like a pink long sleeve with green text reading “Controlla” or “One Dance” alluding to two memorable cuts from Views . — Mike DeStefano

A Day Party With Drake and Virgil Abloh

Before Virgil Abloh customized a Patek Philippe and designed a cloud-covered private jet for Drake, the two came together for exclusive merch. T-shirt were released to mark the one-night-only "Day Party With Drake and Virgil Abloh" at the Brooklyn Mirage in August 2018. Each had a small logo on the chest with the orange colorway featuring a $1 billion check that read "Check Over Stripes" as a nod to Drizzy's infamous line in Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode" on the back. The white option had feature film-esque credits. — Mike DeStefano

Aubrey & The Three Migos

One of Drake’s most expansive lines of album and tour merch was for his 2018 project Scorpion and his Aubrey and The Three Amigos tour. Customizable satin tour jackets, hoodies, long sleeves, T-shirts, shorts, socks, and hats were offered at pop-ups and online. However, select pieces have become full blown grails. A small run of Scorpion hoodies embroidered by Matthew Burgess go for high resale prices on the secondary market today. A leather jacket that commemorates Drake’s joint tour with the Migos is also a rare and pricey piece of Drake merch resold on Grailed.— Lei Takanashi

Drake made a ton of merch to coincide with the release of Scorpion in 2018. But none of it was as unexpected as the official capsule paying homage to Atlanta’s iconic Magic City strip club. Items included T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatpants with raining red dollar bill graphics accompanied by the phrase “Glad Gang Sweeping Up Since ‘85” and “Magic City All Star.” — Mike DeStefano

The European leg of Drake’ tour for Scorpion was titled Assassination Vacation. To go along with the name change, there was also plenty of special merch created that was exclusive to each tour stop and the Tour Life web store. Various neon-colored T-shirts and hoodies were available sporting a logo of a Scorpion in crosshairs to play off of the name. The standout pieces gave a nod to cult classic film franchise Austin Powers with official imagery and a psychedelic logo to match. — Mike DeStefano

This merch from the Scorpion era was released to commemorate the single “Mob Ties.” The crew neck featured the song’s title printed in the same font as the title of the classic mafia film "The Godfather." The back also featured a Rap-A-Lot Records logo, which was a subtle nod to Drake’s mentor J. Prince, and apurple devil emoji, which Drake constantly used on social media at the time to tease Kanye West  during Drizzy’s beef with G.O.O.D. Music.— Lei Takanashi

Certified Lover Boy

Despite a formidable history of album and tour merch, none of it had as much anticipation as the upcoming  Certified Lover Boy collection with Nike . Fans first got a preview of the new apparel in the “Only You Freestyle” video when various people were rocking a black hoodie with the yellow “CLB” logo. The “Laugh Now Cry Later” video followed that and gave fans the first look at a pink varsity jacket covered in quilted hearts. The sneak previews haven’t stopped since. There’s Nike socks with red hearts, a cap with red lips, a graphic of Cupid in a ski mask, and a T-shirt bearing a portrait of the Lejonhjärta twins . And Nike's sending all of Drake’s close friends and collaborators early packs. Maybe I’m falling victim to some recency bias, but whenever fans can actually get the chance to cop some of this stuff and not just look at it on famous people's IG Stories, it’s going to be tough to acquire. Say what you want about Drake’s personal style, but how many celebrities have official album merch with Nike accompanied by a video on its Beaverton campus? Nobody else. Just him. — Mike DeStefano

pic.twitter.com/dlq3ciooK0 — Elliott Wilson (@ElliottWilson) September 2, 2021

It’s become a meme of sorts. But one thing we can guarantee whenever new Drake music drops is the plethora of Instagram captions using his lyrics that will follow. It seems that Drake has taken his awareness of this phenomenon to a new level with his most recent batch of Certified Lover Boy merch . The front is simple enough, a small Nike Swoosh intertwined with a pink rose placed at the center of the chest. The back of each black T-shirt is home to various one-liners we can only assume are pulled from tracks on the album. Admittedly, and probably intentionally, they’re pretty corny too. “Should’ve Said You Loved Me Today Because Tomorrow Is A New Day” and “I Don’t Miss…Let Alone Miss You” are some examples of the phrases that are also currently plastered on giant billboards in Toronto. Flexing his official Nike partnership, there is even a design that repurposes the logo of Nike athlete and NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo (aka the Greek Freak) to read “I Need a Freak.” 

The pop-ups that have been dishing out the merch lean into the “Lover Boy” demeanor even further by taking place at shoddy wedding chapels across the country. On Wednesday, for example, the T-shirts were available at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. It’s the type of merch that no normal person can really wear in public without looking silly. But these phrases are peak Drake-isms and definitely set the tone for the type of album we are about to hear. — Mike  DeStefano

SHARE THIS STORY

Sign up for the

Complex Newsletter

Your leading source for what’s now and what’s next in Music, Style, Sports, and Pop Culture.

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our

Latest in Style

| BY TRACE WILLIAM COWEN

Usher Says 'Yeah!' to Really Big Hat, Internet Says No

| BY JOE PRICE

The 'Four Lads in Jeans' Finally Upgraded to Wide-Leg Pants That Fit

The North Face Unveils Official Sport Climbing Competition Uniforms for Paris 2024 Olympics

| BY JAELANI TURNER-WILLIAMS

DDG Flexes $250,000 Diamond-Encrusted Tooth

| BY MIKE DESTEFANO

Best Style Releases: Palace x Evisu, Supreme x Nike, and More

| BY TARA MAHADEVAN

Metro Boomin and Nav Link up at Guess Jeans Compound Party

Kim Kardashian Crowns North West 'Stylist of the Year'

Palace and Evisu Team Up Once Again for Spring 2024 Collaboration

| BY MARK ELIBERT

Legendary Designer Roberto Cavalli, Known for His Collaborations With Music Icons, Dies at 83

| BY JOSE MARTINEZ

Rap Fans Want Drake, Kendrick, and J. Cole to Weaponize Their Wild 'GQ' Photoshoots Against Each Other

• Products search

No products in the cart.

Return to shop

Halloween Gift Ideas

Pick up your favorite items

Gift for Christmas

Here are a few options to consider

• Bedding Set
• Poster & Canvas
• 3D Clothing
• 2D Clothing
• Hawaiian Shirt
• Ugly Sweater
• Track your order

Drake J. Cole It’s All A Blur Tour 2024 Big As The What Shirt

$ 20.95

• Centimeters

• 5.3-ounce, 100% cotton (99/1 cotton/poly (Ash) & 90/10 cotton/poly (Sport Grey)
• Heavyweight classic unisex tee
• Taped neck and shoulders; Tearaway label
• Decoration type: Digital Print

• 100% preshrunk cotton; Ash Grey 99% cotton, 1% polyester
• Feminine 1/2 inch rib mid scoop neck; sideseamed with slightly tapered Missy fit
• Double-needle stitching throughout; seamless rib at neck
• Decoration Type: Digital Print

• 8 oz; 55% cotton/45% polyester
• Air jet yarn for a softer feel and no pilling
• 1x1 athletic rib cuffs and waistband with spandex; Double-needle stitching
• Care: Machine wash cold; Tumble dry low

• 4 oz, 60% combed ring-spun cotton/40% polyester jersey
• Fabric laundered for reduced shrinkage; Runs small, we suggest ordering up

• 7.75-ounce, 50% cotton, 50% polyester
• No drawcord on kids' hoodies
• We suggest ordering one or two sizes up for a fuller fit; Please refer to size chart for actual garment measurements

Products are fulfilled and shipping from the

Apr 19 - Apr 23

Apr 25 - May 02

• Description
• Shipping & Manufacturing Info

Step into the rhythm and soul with the exclusive Drake J. Cole It’s All A Blur Tour 2024 Big As The What Shirt ! Immerse yourself in a world where music and fashion collide, offering you a piece of the iconic tour.

Unleash the Vibe: Drake J. Cole It’s All A Blur Tour 2024 Big As The What Shirt!

Quality & comfort:.

Wrap yourself in superior comfort with this meticulously crafted shirt made from premium quality fabric that ensures breathability and a soft touch against your skin. Every stitch, every line, resonates with the energy of the unforgettable It’s All A Blur Tour.

Exclusive Design:

This limited-edition shirt boasts an intricate design featuring Drake and J. Cole immersed in their element. The vivid graphics echo the electrifying performances that left millions in awe, making it not just apparel but a piece of history.

Collectible Value:

Each shirt is adorned with signature imprints by Drake and J.Cole, amplifying its value as a collectible. Owning this masterpiece is akin to holding a fragment of music history, echoing tales of rhythms, lyrics, lights, and ecstatic crowds.

Versatility & Style:

Tailored to perfection for fans who value style and comfort; this shirt transcends occasions. Whether it’s a casual outing or fan gatherings, stepping out in this iconic piece ensures you’re not just seen but remembered.

SHIPPING POLICY

Shipping cost.

The shipping cost within the U.S. is: 5.99 USD + 2 USD per additional item

For international shipping: from 11 USD + 6 USD per additional item

WHERE DO WE DELIVER?

We provide worldwide shipping.

Shipping time

US Regions :

Other Countries:

Handling time (Mon-Fri) : 2-9 days

Shipping time ( Mon-Fri ) : 15-30 days.

Note : The public holidays, destination countries and couriers will be affected the shipping time too.

Total delivery time= Handling time + Shipping time

HAPPY CUSTOMERS, HAPPY US

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “Drake J. Cole It’s All A Blur Tour 2024 Big As The What Shirt”

Your review  *

Name  *

Email  *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Track order
• Christmas Gifts
• Halloween Gifts
• Thanksgiving Gifts
• Valentine’s Day
• Veterans Day
• Independence Day
• LGBT Community
• Memorial Day
• St. Patrick’s Day

Username or email address  *

Password  *

Remember me Log in

Lost your password?

Drake previews “It’s All A Blur” Tour merch [PHOTOS]

Drake and 21 Savage’s It’s All A Blur Tour merch revealed 

Drake’s highly anticipated “ It’s All A Blur” Tour with 21 Savage officially kicks off next week, with two straight shows in Chicago. Those will be held inside of the iconic United Center.

Meanwhile, the official merchandise for the It’s All A Blur Tour are now getting a close look. Images from the shirts are surfacing on social media. One of these is a black shirt which displays Drake’s gold OVO owl logo, along with the “ It’s All A Blu r” Tour wording. A yellow shirt was also unveiled, as a red owl is shown, along with black wording.

Drake and 21’s It’s All A Blur Tour will run until October 9, where it concludes in Columbus, OH. Prior to that show, two consecutive shows will be held in Drake’s hometown of Toronto.

Furthermore, Drake and 21 have also been fans’ new favorite duo. The two dropped a collab album last November as well, which was “ Her Loss .” That project went on to debut atop the Billboard 200 chart, and was led by hits such as “ Jimmy Cooks ” and “ Spin Bout U.”

Check out a preview of Drake and 21 Savage’s merch for their upcoming It’s All A Blur Tour, below.

Where to buy Drake tickets for the It's All a Blur tour with J. Cole

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

Drake continues his It's All a Blur Tour throughout 2024, with plenty of tickets still available for prospective concertgoers. While the 2023 leg of the It's All a Blur Tour saw Drake co-headline with rapper 21 Savage, he'll be joined by J. Cole for his shows this year. When looking for the latest on where to buy Drake tickets, there are a few avenues to score seats for his upcoming shows.

The It's All a Blur Tour kicked off its first leg throughout North America in July 2023, largely supporting Drake's 2022 album with 21 Savage, "Her Loss," and his 2023 solo album, "For All the Dogs." Serving as Drake's first domestic tour in five years, the first leg of the concert series concluded on October 23 after 50 shows across 22 cities.

• See also: Adele tickets | U2 Sphere tickets | Olivia Rodrigo tickets  | Taylor Swift tickets (international) | Super Bowl tickets | Nicki Minaj tickets

The 2024 leg of the tour begins on February 2, which will see Drake and J. Cole perform 32 shows across 18 cities in North America. Drake's 2024 concert series is titled It's All a Blur Tour – Big as the What?, which is expected to feature the rapper and J. Cole performing their hit collaborations like "First Person Shooter," "Jodeci Freestyle," and "Evil Ways." The two Grammy-winning rappers will take the final bow of their 2024 tour on April 16.

If you're looking for tickets to Drake and J. Cole's It's All a Blur – Big as the What? tour, we've got you covered. Here's our breakdown of Drake's tour schedule, purchasing details, and original and resale ticket prices. You can also browse the available tickets for sale on StubHub and Vivid Seats at your leisure.

Drake 2024 tour schedule

Drake and J. Cole kick off the tour's second leg on February 2 in Tampa, Florida. Most cities will have two performances each before the rappers head to the next location, with their 32nd and final show of the series taking place on April 16 in Denver, Colorado. All show times are listed in local time zones.

Where to buy tickets for Drake's 2024 concert tour

Original tickets for Drake's 2024 tour are available for purchase on Ticketmaster . The ticket vendor still has standard and premium tickets for sale on most concert dates, though there are no VIP packages for Drake's It's All a Blur – Big as the What? tour available on the platform. The quantity of original tickets remaining for each 2024 Drake show is limited.

You may have better luck with verified resale ticket vendors like StubHub and Vivid Seats . Ticket prices tend to be less expensive on resale platforms, though quantity and availability vary by date and location.

How much are Drake tickets?

The cost of original standard tickets for Drake's 2024 concert tour varies depending on the date, location, and demand for each show. For instance, tickets to his St. Louis, Missouri show on March 2 start at $345 on Ticketmaster , whereas the lowest price for standard tickets to the New Orleans, Louisiana performance on March 6 is only $99 before taxes and fees.

Prices are generally less expensive for Drake's tour on verified resale sites. However, like on Ticketmaster, the cheapest prices on resale platforms change depending on where and when the concert occurs.

The lowest prices for tickets to Drake and J. Cole's It's All a Blur – Big as the What? tour on StubHub range from $68 (New Orleans on March 6) to $254 (Elmont on April 5). However, the cheapest price for resale tickets generally falls in the $100–200 range. Meanwhile, prices for Drake tickets on Vivid Seats start between $66 (New Orleans on March 6) and $242 (Elmont on April 5).

Who is opening for Drake's tour?

Drake has yet to announce additional opening acts besides supporting performer J. Cole for his 2024 concert tour.

The 2023 leg of the It's All a Blur tour with 21 Savage included opening acts such as Lil Yachty, Zack Bia, Sexyy Redd, Skillibeng, and Central Cee.

Will there be international tour dates?

Drake's It's All a Blur Tour was announced as a concert series for North America. So far, Drake has yet to reveal whether he will add any international dates in areas like Europe or South America.

Drake's concert dates so far are only set in the US, as his Canada performances were included in the 2023 leg of his tour.

You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here . Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at [email protected] .

• Main content

Drake Reveals New Merch From 21 Savage Tour

Drake teased fans with a picture of some merch from his upcoming tour.

Drake and 21 Savage dropped one of the most popular albums of last year with Her Loss . Now the pair are taking the record on the road with a massive summer tour. After a few delays they are finally getting underway. The tour starts next week with back to back shows at Chicago's United Center. They'll follow it up with 55 more shows over the next four months. The tour will conclude in Columbous on October 9th.

Now, Drake has posted a tease of some of the merch fans can expect to see at tour stops. The two shirts he showed off have the same design in yellow and black. The minimalist logo features the name of the tour "It's All A Blur" in plain text backed by the OVO owl. It's unclear if this motif will carry on through all the merch or if there will be more designs on sale. When fans are let into the Chicago show next week pictures of the merch are likely to make their way online quickly.

Drake Teases It's All A Blur Merch

Earlier this year, Drake returned with his new single "Search & Rescue." The song debuted at number 2 on the Hot 100 and has racked up over 150 million streams since its release. Drake has popped up on two other new singles so far this year as well. He made an appearance on Popcaan 's "We Caa Dance" back in January and on J Hus' "Who Told You" earlier this month. He also appears on two tracks' from Young Thug 's newly released album Business Is Business . Drake was seen in Memphis the other day shooting a music video for the record.

Music isn't the only way Drake is getting his writing to fans. Last week he announced the release of a new poetry book called Titles Ruin Everything . The book received quite a bit of criticism from various fans and critics online after it was dropped. What do you think of the merch from Drake and 21 Savage's tour merch? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: Drake Responds To Poetry Book Criticism While Paying Tribute To Canada’s Sex Educator Sue Johanson

• Link Copied to Clipboard! Copy URL

Drake Tour Merch: It's All in One Place

Mar 30, 2024 by Radhika Takei

Ever since Travis Scott made history by selling over $1 million in tour merch in a single night , the era of music icons' merch has attracted loyal fans eager to snag limited-edition merch of their favorite artists.

Drake It's All a Blur Tour Merch i s now hot and selling as fans scatter and scan all over the country to get their hands on those swagger hoodies, graphic tees, and just about everything.

🧢 Drake & 21 Savage Detroit Merch 👕

If you're heading to one of his shows, be prepared to splurge on Drake's tour merch and the cheapest Tour tickets, now available on TicketX .

🔥 Drake Tickets ✨

Here's the deal: We help you elevate your experience at the tour and have pieced together top merch-selling places that'll make you the envy of every Drake fan, letting you flaunt your fandom with flair.

In general, there's a wide selection of graphic tees. Additionally, Drake's poetry book is up for grabs. You'll also find Nike hats featuring Drizzy's branding , along with bucket hats and socks.

Team DREAMVILLE dropped a sneak peek on X, and let's say it's got us all hyped up.

🧢 Drake & J. Cole Nashville Merch 👕

We've got the head-turner: a slick black hoodie shouting aloud, "DRAKE AND 21 Savage ON TOUR BIG AS THE WHAT? IT'S ALL A BLUR." Trust us, you'll want to snag this one for the ultimate flex at $85 .

Don't forget the graphic tees , going for $45 a pop. Whether you're feeling the cream-colored tee with the OVO owl or the sleek black tee showcasing For All The Dogs artwork, you're bound to turn heads.

There's more! Cop one of those fresh white-and-black Nike hats for $40, straight from Drake's original It's All A Blur Tour lineup. These bad boys are still up for grabs and guaranteed to elevate any fit.

🧢 Drake & 21 Savage Chicago Merch 👕

Then, there's the reversible basketball jerseys for $85 . Picture this: a No. 11 black jersey for Drake, repping the iconic OVO owl on the front and "THE BOY" on the back. And for all Dreamville fans, there's a No. 15 jersey for J. Cole, featuring the Dreamville logo up front and " COLE " on the flip side.

A Reddit user showcased a $220 blue hoodie featuring the For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition artwork. Meanwhile, chatter on X revolves around a J. Cole graphic tee , possibly hinting at his next releases.

J. Cole teases 'It's A Boy' on the merch from his joint tour with Drake pic.twitter.com/bWgMfW2PBm — Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) February 3, 2024

Check out this newly released - DRAKE x GRUPPO VAVA Tour Merch First Look 👀

As you weigh your options to buy cool merch, check with yourself if you do Know your Drake and Read on TicketX Magazine our top How-To-Buy guides to book the tickets of the hottest artists on tour this year, be it Nicky Minaj , J Cole and, many others.

While on it, don't forget to Score Major Savings: TicketX Promo Codes to get the most bang for your buck!

About TicketX

TicketX is America's newest secondary ticket market, which debuted in July 2023. TicketX's mission is to provide the best ticket-selling and ticket-buying experience for American users. Thanks to our solid foundation built by TicketJam , the largest secondary ticket marketplace in Asia , TicketX promises to bring long-term support as well as world-class customer experience to the American audience. By leveraging the expertise and success of TicketJam as well as its Magazine , TicketX is poised to set new standards and redefine expectations in the dynamic world of resale ticket markets within America.

Game by Game: Inter Miami Schedule in the 2024 Season

Discover the Inter Miami CF schedule for 2024, featuring star players like Lionel Messi and a star-studded squad. Learn about their standings, where to watch, and who owns this MLS team. Don't miss a moment of the action!

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

Hype Alone Won’t Sell Musicians’ Merch—They Need Fashion Cred Too

By Steff Yotka

Musical merch mania has hit an all-time high. Every mononym star— Kanye , Justin , Future , Rihanna —has a line of clothing and accessories touting an album or tour, and most have also hosted pop-up shops to build buzz around their collections. Today, Drake’s Summer Sixteen tour opened the doors to its pop-up shop at 208 Bowery in New York. But unlike the vibe at West’s or Bieber’s stores, the mood chez Drizzy was more subdued, with a shorter line and less of a police presence to keep the crowd in order. That might be because the majority of shoppers were in their late teens, not 20-somethings looking to strike gold on the secondary market.

“I literally just want to buy a hat,” said one 21-year-old girl in a Metallica T-shirt. “Drake’s all right. I’m just chilling. I had nothing else to do today. I’ll wait another 30 minutes and I’m out.” She stood in a line that was being hyped by a series of teens that were given the merch in advance and were trying to build crowd excitement as they zipped by on skateboards. Another girl in line, who bought tickets to tonight’s Drake concert at Madison Square Garden and Saturday’s after-party at Space Ibiza, was trying to cut a deal with a 17-year-old hype man to buy the shirt off his back. “I just want to buy one shirt. I’m going to keep it for myself,” said one of her friends, aged 16.

Drake’s Views pop-up in April of this year may have killed some buzz—fans waited in line for hours to meet the artist, but instead of finding him inside were gifted with free tees. But I’d venture the real difference between Drake’s merch and that of West and Bieber is that Drake’s lacks much of a fashion or art world tie-in. For his The Life of Pablo album drop, West collaborated with California artist Cali Thornhill DeWitt on a range of items that featured DeWitt’s signature gothic font in highly designed patterns. Prior to the Kanye collab, DeWitt was already well known inside the fashion and streetwear worlds through his collaboration with Berlin-based culture magazine 032C . Bieber collaborated with Fear of God designer Jerry Lorenzo on his merch, which bears a striking resemblance to the ready-to-wear of Paris label Vetements with its Security tees and penchant for bold lettering running down the arms of long-sleeved shirts.

While West sells his items exclusively through his e-shop and pop-ups around the world, Bieber’s first pop-up was at VFiles and his pieces today are carried in Urban Outfitters. Bieber also collaborated with Barneys New York on an exclusive capsule collection of Purpose tour items. Rihanna recently opened a pop-up at the concept shop Colette in Paris to sell her Anti tour march, as well as items from her collaborations with Dior , Puma , Stance , and Manolo Blahnik . Not only did the regular Colette crowd turn out, but so did the Rihanna stans, hoping to get a glimpse of the lady herself inside.

I didn’t travel to Paris to shop with Rih, but speaking with shoppers in line at both ’Ye’s and Biebs’s shops, I got the sense that they had lined up for hours for the chance to buy into something bigger, something that one shopper at West’s store called “art.” The buildup around Drake’s shop lacked the cultish spirit that fashion cred can cultivate.

drake tour merchandise

It’s worth noting two things about Drake’s relationship to the fashion world. One is that he runs his own fashion brand with Oliver El-Khatib, October’s Very Own (aka OVO), which moves a lot of its owl-print products online. (At least three Vogue staffers requested OVO items from the pop-up, only to be disheartened when they learned they weren’t stocked there.) The other point is that unlike West and Bieber, Drake is not associated with Bravado, a merchandise company and subsidiary of Universal Music Group that has gained its long roster of artists entrée to fashion’s inner sanctums. Case in point: Guns N’ Roses, a Bravado client, recently hosted a pop-up at John Varvatos ’s store.

By Leah Faye Cooper

By Hannah Coates

By Erik Morse

What Drake should do, rather than following in West, Bieber, and Rihanna’s pseudo-skater-cum-metal wake, is translate his own brand of offbeat athleisure into his merch. Think about it: Drake’s personal style can veer into areas untested by other contemporary pop stars—show me another globally renowned rapper who could pull off a pink Juventus jersey and matching sunglasses, or a single soul who would’ve rocked a gray turtleneck sweater and red Moncler puffa jacket before he did in his “ Hotline Bling ” video. That Moncler jacket sold out instantly online after the video was released. If Drake cashed in on his own tastes and interests instead of adhering to the West-made hype model and filled his pop-up with red puffas, gray turtlenecks, and rose gold iPhones, I imagine the turnout today would’ve been quite different. I, for one, would certainly buy a Drake dancing sweater—and I can , just not from the artist himself.

Vogue Runway

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Vogue. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Drake Announces ‘It’s All a Blur’ 2023 Tour Dates

By Jem Aswad

Executive Editor, Music

• Spotify’s Music-Audiobook Bundle Means a Lower Royalty Rate for U.S. Songwriters, but Company Promises Record Payouts 2 hours ago
• ‘Linda Perry: Let It Die Here’ Documentary to Premiere at Tribeca Film Fest — Watch the Trailer (EXCLUSIVE) 5 hours ago
• Hipgnosis Songs Fund Agrees to $1.4 Billion Takeover by Concord 5 hours ago

Drake  has announced dates for his 2023 “It’s All a Blur” tour presented by Cash App, Visa and Sprite. Produced by Live Nation, Drake and 21 Savage will be going on a 29-date arena run with stops including Chicago, Boston, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and more before wrapping up in Glendale, AZ at Desert Diamond Arena on Tuesday, September 5.

Popular on Variety

CASH APP CARD PRESALE : For all US shows, the first tickets to the ‘It’s All A Blur’ Tour will be available for Cash App Card customers via an exclusive ticket presale presented by Cash App and Visa.

      •    Beginning Wednesday, March 15 starting at 12pm local time through Thursday, March 16 at 10pm local time, Cash App Card holders can unlock the earliest access to ‘It’s All A Blur’ tickets by using the first 9 digits of their Cash App Card to access the presale and then completing the purchase using their Cash App Card.

      •    Presale start times vary by market, check your local listings at drakerelated.com for more information. For more information on the Cash App Card presale, please visit  cash.app/drake-presale.

SPRITE PRESALE: Sprite is the official beverage sponsor for the ‘It’s All A Blur Tour,’ his first in North America since 2018. This marks a natural progression of their partnership since Sprite executed his first worldwide brand deal in 2010. Fans can look for updates on Sprite.com and sign up for Sprite emails to gain access to Drake’s presale experience.

DRAKE: ‘IT’S ALL A BLUR’ 2023 TOUR DATES:

Fri Jun 16 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center

Mon Jun 19 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

Wed Jun 21 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center

Sat Jun 24 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center

Wed Jun 28 – Miami, FL – Miami-Dade Arena

Sat Jul 01 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena

Sun Jul 02 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena

Wed Jul 05 – Chicago, IL – United Center

Thu Jul 06 – Chicago, IL – United Center

Sat Jul 08 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena

Tue Jul 11 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

Wed Jul 12 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

Fri Jul 14 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre

Mon Jul 17 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center

Tue Jul 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center

Tue Jul 25 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden

Wed Jul 26 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden

Fri Jul 28 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena

Mon Jul 31 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center

Sat Aug 12 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum

Sun Aug 13 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum

Fri Aug 18 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center

Mon Aug 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena

Tue Aug 22 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena

Fri Aug 25 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena

Mon Aug 28 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena

Fri Sep 01 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena

Tue Sep 05 – Glendale, AZ – Desert Diamond Arena

*Additional shows including Toronto to be announced at a later date.

More From Our Brands

Bryan kohberger’s legal team says he was hiking ‘and/or’ stargazing the night of the iowa murders, this new electric rib cruised for 40 miles without emissions during its sea trials, caitlin clark reportedly nearing eight-figure contract with nike, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, survivor recap: tribal council explodes into sheer madness, verify it's you, please log in.

• Share full article

For more audio journalism and storytelling, download New York Times Audio , a new iOS app available for news subscribers.

Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?

The environmental protection agency says “forever chemicals” must be removed from tap water. but they lurk in much more of what we eat, drink and use..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. And this is “The Daily.”

[THEME MUSIC]

This month for the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency began to regulate a class of synthetic chemicals, known as forever chemicals, in America’s drinking water. But the chemicals, which have been linked to liver disease and other serious health problems, are in far more than just our water supply. Today, my colleague Kim Tingley explains.

It’s Wednesday, April 17.

So Kim, any time the EPA announces a regulation, I think we all sort of take notice because implicit in it is this idea that we have been exposed to something — something bad, potentially, lead or asbestos. And recently, the EPA is regulating a type of chemical known as PFAS So for those who don’t know, what are PFAS chemicals

Yeah, so PFAS stands for per and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They’re often called forever chemicals just because they persist so long in the environment and they don’t easily break down. And for that reason, we also use them in a ton of consumer products. They’re in makeup. They’re in carpet. They’re in nonstick cookware. They’re in food packaging, all sorts of things.

Yeah, I feel like I’ve been hearing about these chemicals actually for a very long time. I mean, nonstick pans, Teflon — that’s the thing that’s in my mind when I think PFAS.

Absolutely. Yeah, this class of chemicals has been around for decades. And what’s really important about this is that the EPA has decided, for the first time, to regulate them in drinking water. And that’s a ruling that stands to affect tens of millions of people.

So, help me understand where these things came from and how it’s taken so long to get to the point where we’re actually regulating them.

So, they really actually came about a long time ago. In 1938, DuPont, the people who eventually got us to Teflon, they were actually looking for a more stable kind of refrigerant. And they came upon this kind of chemical, PFAS. The thing that all PFAS chemicals have is a really strong bond between carbon atoms and fluorine atoms. This particular pairing is super strong and super durable.

They have water repellent properties. They’re stain resistant. They’re grease resistant. And they found a lot of uses for them initially in World War II. They were using them as part of their uranium enrichment process to do all these kinds of things. And then —

Well, good thing it’s Teflon.

In the 1950s is when they really started to come out as commercial products.

Even burned food won’t stick to Teflon. So it’s always easy to clean.

So, DuPont started using it in Teflon pans.

Cookware never needs scouring if it has DuPont Teflon.

And then another company, 3M also started using a kind of PFAS —

Scotchgard fabric protector. It keeps ordinary spills from becoming extraordinary stains.

— in one of their big products, Scotchgard. So you probably remember spraying that on your shoes if you want to make your shoes waterproof.

Use Scotchgard fabric protector and let your cup runneth over.

Right — miracle product, Scotchgard, Teflon. But of course, we’re talking about these chemicals because they’ve been found to pose health threats. When does that risk start to surface?

Yeah, so it’s pretty early on that DuPont and 3M start finding effects in animals in studies that they’re running in house.

Around the mid ‘60s, they start seeing that PFAS has an effect on rats. It’s increasing the liver and kidney weights of the rats. And so that seems problematic. And they keep running tests over the next decade and a half. And they try different things with different animals.

In one study, they gave monkeys really, really high levels of PFAS. And those monkeys died. And so they have a pretty strong sense that these chemicals could be dangerous. And then in 1979, they start to see that the workers that are in the plants manufacturing, working with these chemicals, that they’re starting to have higher rates of abnormal liver function. And in a Teflon plant, they had some pregnant workers that were working with these chemicals. And one of those workers in 1981 gave birth to a child who had some pretty severe birth defects.

And then by the mid 1980s, DuPont figures out that it’s not just their workers who are being exposed to these chemicals, but communities that are living in areas surrounding their Teflon plant, particularly the one in Parkersburg, West Virginia, that those communities have PFAS in their tap water.

Wow, so based on its own studies, DuPont knows its chemicals are making animals sick. They seem to be making workers sick. And now they found out that the chemicals have made their way into the water supply. What do they do with that information?

As far as we know, they didn’t do much. They certainly didn’t tell the residents of Parkersburg who were drinking that water that there was anything that they needed to be worried about.

How is that possible? I mean, setting aside the fact that DuPont is the one actually studying the health effects of its own chemicals, presumably to make sure they’re safe, we’ve seen these big, regulating agencies like the EPA and the FDA that exist in order to watch out for something exactly like this, a company that is producing something that may be harming Americans. Why weren’t they keeping a closer watch?

Yeah, so it goes kind of back to the way that we regulate chemicals in the US. It goes through an act called the Toxic Substances Control Act that’s administered by the EPA. And basically, it gives companies a lot of room to regulate themselves, in a sense. Under this act they have a responsibility to report to the EPA if they find these kinds of potential issues with a chemical. They have a responsibility to do their due diligence when they’re putting a chemical out into the environment.

But there’s really not a ton of oversight. The enforcement mechanism is that the EPA can find them. But this kind of thing can happen pretty easily where DuPont keeps going with something that they think might really be a problem and then the fine, by the time it plays out, is just a tiny fraction of what DuPont has earned from producing these chemicals. And so really, the incentive is for them to take the punishment at the end, rather than pull it out early.

So it seems like it’s just self-reporting, which is basically self-regulation in a way.

Yeah, I think that is the way a lot of advocacy groups and experts have characterized it to me, is that chemical companies are essentially regulating themselves.

So how did this danger eventually come to light? I mean, if this is in some kind of DuPont vault, what happened?

Well, there’s a couple different things that started to happen in the late ‘90s.

The community around Parkersburg, West Virginia, people had reported seeing really strange symptoms in their animals. Cows were losing their hair. They had lesions. They were behaving strangely. Some of their calves were dying. And a lot of people in the community felt like they were having health problems that just didn’t really have a good answer, mysterious sicknesses, and some cases of cancers.

And so they initiate a class action lawsuit against DuPont. As part of that class action lawsuit, DuPont, at a certain point, is forced to turn over all of their internal documentation. And so what was in the files was all of that research that we mentioned all of the studies about — animals, and workers, the birth defects. It was really the first time that the public saw what DuPont and 3M had already seen, which is the potential health harms of these chemicals.

So that seems pretty damning. I mean, what happened to the company?

So, DuPont and 3M are still able to say these were just a few workers. And they were working with high levels of the chemicals, more than a person would get drinking it in the water. And so there’s still an opportunity for this to be kind of correlation, but not causation. There’s not really a way to use that data to prove for sure that it was PFAS that caused these health problems.

In other words, the company is arguing, look, yes, these two things exist at the same time. But it doesn’t mean that one caused the other.

Exactly. And so one of the things that this class action lawsuit demands in the settlement that they eventually reach with DuPont is they want DuPont to fund a formal independent health study of the communities that are affected by this PFAS in their drinking water. And so they want DuPont to pay to figure out for sure, using the best available science, how many of these health problems are potentially related to their chemicals.

And so they ask them to pay for it. And they get together an independent group of researchers to undertake this study. And it ends up being the first — and it still might be the biggest — epidemiological study of PFAS in a community. They’ve got about 69,000 participants in this study.

Wow, that’s big.

It’s big, yeah. And what they ended up deciding was that they could confidently say that there was what they ended up calling a probable link. And so they were really confident that the chemical exposure that the study participants had experienced was linked to high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and pregnancy induced hypertension.

And so those were the conditions that they were able to say, with a good degree of certainty, were related to their chemical exposure. There were others that they just didn’t have the evidence to reach a strong conclusion.

So overall, pretty substantial health effects, and kind of vindicates the communities in West Virginia that were claiming that these chemicals were really affecting their health.

Absolutely. And as the years have gone on, that was sort of just the beginning of researchers starting to understand all the different kinds of health problems that these chemicals could potentially be causing. And so since the big DuPont class action study, there’s really just been like this building and building and building of different researchers coming out with these different pieces of evidence that have accumulated to a pretty alarming picture of what some of the potential health outcomes could be.

OK, so that really kind of brings us to the present moment, when, at last, it seems the EPA is saying enough is enough. We need to regulate these things.

Yeah, it seems like the EPA has been watching this preponderance of evidence accumulate. And they’re sort of deciding that it’s a real health problem, potentially, that they need to regulate.

So the EPA has identified six of these PFAS chemicals that it’s going to regulate. But the concern that I think a lot of experts have is that this particular regulation is not going to keep PFAS out of our bodies.

We’ll be right back.

So, Kim, you just said that these regulations probably won’t keep PFAS chemicals out of our bodies. What did you mean?

Well, the EPA is talking about regulating these six kinds of PFAS. But there are actually more than 10,000 different kinds of PFAS that are already being produced and out there in the environment.

And why those six, exactly? I mean, is it because those are the ones responsible for most of the harm?

Those are the ones that the EPA has seen enough evidence about that they are confident that they are probably causing harm. But it doesn’t mean that the other ones are not also doing something similar. It’s just sort of impossible for researchers to be able to test each individual chemical compound and try to link it to a health outcome.

I talked to a lot of researchers who were involved in this area and they said that they haven’t really seen a PFAS that doesn’t have a harm, but they just don’t have information on the vast majority of these compounds.

So in other words, we just haven’t studied the rest of them enough yet to even know how harmful they actually are, which is kind of alarming.

Yeah, that’s right. And there’s just new ones coming out all the time.

Right. OK, so of the six that the EPA is actually intending to regulate, though, are those new regulations strict enough to keep these chemicals out of our bodies?

So the regulations for those six chemicals really only cover getting them out of the drinking water. And drinking water only really accounts for about 20 percent of a person’s overall PFAS exposure.

So only a fifth of the total exposure.

Yeah. There are lots of other ways that you can come into contact with PFAS. We eat PFAS, we inhale PFAS. We rub it on our skin. It’s in so many different products. And sometimes those products are not ones that you would necessarily think of. They’re in carpets. They’re in furniture. They’re in dental floss, raincoats, vinyl flooring, artificial turf. All kinds of products that you want to be either waterproof or stain resistant or both have these chemicals in them.

So, the cities and towns are going to have to figure out how to test for and monitor for these six kinds of PFAS. And then they’re also going to have to figure out how to filter them out of the water supply. I think a lot of people are concerned that this is going to be just a really expensive endeavor, and it’s also not really going to take care of the entire problem.

Right. And if you step back and really look at the bigger problem, the companies are still making these things, right? I mean, we’re running around trying to regulate this stuff at the end stage. But these things are still being dumped into the environment.

Yeah. I think it’s a huge criticism of our regulatory policy. There’s a lot of onus put on the EPA to prove that a harm has happened once the chemicals are already out there and then to regulate the chemicals. And I think that there’s a criticism that we should do things the other way around, so tougher regulations on the front end before it goes out into the environment.

And that’s what the European Union has been doing. The European Chemicals Agency puts more of the burden on companies to prove that their products and their chemicals are safe. And the European Chemicals Agency is also, right now, considering just a ban on all PFAS products.

So is that a kind of model, perhaps, of what a tough regulation could look like in the US?

There’s two sides to that question. And the first side is that a lot of people feel like it would be better if these chemical companies had to meet a higher standard of proof in terms of demonstrating that their products or their chemicals are going to be safe once they’ve been put out in the environment.

The other side is that doing that kind of upfront research can be really expensive and could potentially limit companies who are trying to innovate in that space. In terms of PFAS, specifically, this is a really important chemical for us. And a lot of the things that we use it in, there’s not necessarily a great placement at the ready that we can just swap in. And so it’s used in all sorts of really important medical devices or renewable energy industries or firefighting foam.

And in some cases, there are alternatives that might be safer that companies can use. But in other cases, they just don’t have that yet. And so PFAS is still really important to our daily lives.

Right. And that kind of leaves us in a pickle because we know these things might be harming us. Yet, we’re kind of stuck with them, at least for now. So, let me just ask you this question, Kim, which I’ve been wanting to ask you since the beginning of this episode, which is, if you’re a person who is concerned about your exposure to PFAS, what do you do?

Yeah. So this is really tricky and I asked everybody this question who I talked to. And everybody has a little bit of a different answer based on their circumstance. For me what I ended up doing was getting rid of the things that I could sort of spot and get rid of. And so I got rid of some carpeting and I checked, when I was buying my son a raincoat, that it was made by a company that didn’t use PFAS.

It’s also expensive. And so if you can afford to get a raincoat from a place that doesn’t manufacture PFAS, it’s going to cost more than if you buy the budget raincoat. And so it’s kind of unfair to put the onus on consumers in that way. And it’s also just not necessarily clear where exactly your exposure is coming from.

So I talk to people who said, well, it’s in dust, so I vacuum a lot. Or it’s in my cleaning products, so I use natural cleaning products. And so I think it’s really sort of a scattershot approach that consumers can take. But I don’t think that there is a magic approach that gets you a PFAS-free life.

So Kim, this is pretty dark, I have to say. And I think what’s frustrating is that it feels like we have these government agencies that are supposed to be protecting our health. But when you drill down here, the guidance is really more like you’re on your own. I mean, it’s hard not to just throw up your hands and say, I give up.

Yeah. I think it’s really tricky to try to know what you do with all of this information as an individual. As much as you can, you can try to limit your individual exposure. But it seems to me as though it’s at a regulatory level that meaningful change would happen, and not so much throwing out your pots and pans and getting new ones.

One thing about PFAS is just that we’re in this stage still of trying to understand exactly what it’s doing inside of us. And so there’s a certain amount of research that has to happen in order to both convince people that there’s a real problem that needs to be solved, and clean up what we’ve put out there. And so I think that we’re sort of in the middle of that arc. And I think that that’s the point at which people start looking for solutions.

Kim, thank you.

Here’s what else you should know today. On Tuesday, in day two of jury selection for the historic hush money case against Donald Trump, lawyers succeeded in selecting 7 jurors out of the 12 that are required for the criminal trial after failing to pick a single juror on Monday.

Lawyers for Trump repeatedly sought to remove potential jurors whom they argued were biased against the president. Among the reasons they cited were social media posts expressing negative views of the former President and, in one case, a video posted by a potential juror of New Yorkers celebrating Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. Once a full jury is seated, which could come as early as Friday, the criminal trial is expected to last about six weeks.

Today’s episode was produced by Clare Toeniskoetter, Shannon Lin, Summer Thomad, Stella Tan, and Jessica Cheung, with help from Sydney Harper. It was edited by Devon Taylor, fact checked by Susan Lee, contains original music by Dan Powell, Elisheba Ittoop, and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Chris Wood.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for The Daily. I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you tomorrow.

• April 18, 2024   •   30:07 The Opening Days of Trump’s First Criminal Trial
• April 17, 2024   •   24:52 Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?
• April 16, 2024   •   29:29 A.I.’s Original Sin
• April 15, 2024   •   24:07 Iran’s Unprecedented Attack on Israel
• April 14, 2024   •   46:17 The Sunday Read: ‘What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise’
• April 12, 2024   •   34:23 How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam
• April 11, 2024   •   28:39 The Staggering Success of Trump’s Trial Delay Tactics
• April 10, 2024   •   22:49 Trump’s Abortion Dilemma
• April 9, 2024   •   30:48 How Tesla Planted the Seeds for Its Own Potential Downfall
• April 8, 2024   •   30:28 The Eclipse Chaser
• April 7, 2024 The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’
• April 5, 2024   •   29:11 An Engineering Experiment to Cool the Earth

Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise

Featuring Kim Tingley

Produced by Clare Toeniskoetter ,  Shannon M. Lin ,  Summer Thomad ,  Stella Tan and Jessica Cheung

With Sydney Harper

Edited by Devon Taylor

Original music by Dan Powell ,  Elisheba Ittoop and Marion Lozano

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

The Environmental Protection Agency has begun for the first time to regulate a class of synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” in America’s drinking water.

Kim Tingley, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, explains how these chemicals, which have been linked to liver disease and other serious health problems, came to be in the water supply — and in many more places.

On today’s episode

Kim Tingley , a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.

Background reading

“Forever chemicals” are everywhere. What are they doing to us?

The E.P.A. issued its rule about “forever chemicals” last week.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

Fact-checking by Susan Lee .

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Advertisement