FILE - Rapper Drake was feeling the Nashville vibe at one of his weekend concerts and gave a shout-out to Canadian country superstar Shania Twain. The Toronto-born "Hotline Bling" performer took a moment Sunday night to acknowledge the "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" singer, who was in the audience. Drake performs in concert as part of the Summer Sixteen Tour at Madison Square Garden, in New York, in an August 5, 2016, file photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Invision, Charles Sykes, File
August 16, 2016 - 9:18 AM
TORONTO - Rapper Drake was feeling the Nashville vibe at one of his weekend concerts and gave a shout-out to Canadian country superstar Shania Twain.
The Toronto-born "Hotline Bling" performer took a moment Sunday night to acknowledge the "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" singer, who was in the audience.
"I grew up a fan," he told the crowd at the Bridgestone Arena, according to local media outlet the Tennessean.
"I just want to say that, like, Shania Twain came to my show tonight, you know what I'm saying Nashville? So this next set, right here, I'm doing this for Shania. This is my love set for Shania, right here."
It was a rare moment when Drake recognized the country music genre — but his nod to Twain wasn't entirely surprising either. Drake has never been shy about his love for Twain.
Drake grew up in the peak era of the Timmins, Ont.-native's international fame, when she dominated the pop charts with hits like "Still the One" and "That Don't Impress Me Much."
While hosting the 2011 Juno Awards, he recognized her induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame with a little serenade.
"You worked at McDonald's, and I eat McDonald's," he sang as Chilly Gonzales accompanied him on piano.
"We should be together."
The rapper is now enjoying his own run of chart success with both his album and single "One Dance" dominating the key Billboard music rankings over the summer.
His album "Views" holds the six largest streaming weeks ever for an album's tracks, according to data from Billboard. He also raced past fellow Canadian Justin Bieber as the most-streamed artist on Spotify.
But the success apparently hasn't made Drake forget his roots.
He later posted a photo of himself and Twain backstage in Nashville and tagged it "WCW" or Woman Crush Wednesday.
"Even though it's Monday," he wrote. "Shania."
Twain retweeted the photo and added: "AMAZING show, such a wonderful guy!"
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News from © The Canadian Press, 2016