Drake brought out his 'real-life brother' Lil Uzi Vert to perform in New York and called him 'one of the greatest artists of this time'

• Drake performed the second of two shows at Harlem's historic Apollo Theater on Sunday.
• He brought out Lil Uzi Vert for a surprise performance of "Just Wanna Rock" and "XO Tour Llif3."
• Drake heaped praise on his fellow rapper, calling Uzi "one of the greatest artists of this time."

Drake welcomed Lil Uzi Vert as a surprise guest at his concert on Sunday, the second of two intimate shows sponsored by SiriusXM.

Uzi took the stage at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York to perform his two biggest hits: "Just Wanna Rock" and "XO Tour Llif3."

"This is a family show. Make some noise for my actual, real-life brother," Drake told the crowd, which included Insider's music team. "He goes by the name of Lil Uzi Vert. I love this guy so much."

"Anytime I feel down or whatever it is, I always get a message from him checking in. Never asking for nothing, just checking," he continued. "So I wanna let you know, if you ever wanna do well and go far in life, you gotta check on your people."

Drake continued to heap praise on Uzi, calling him "one of the greatest artists of this time" and "a fucking real one."

"I'm so excited to exist at the same time as you, how experimental you get, how genius you are," he said, addressing Uzi directly and giving him a hug.

"OK, bye," Uzi replied before exiting the stage.

—Callie Ahlgrim (@callieahlgrim) January 23, 2023

Later in the evening, Drake brought out his "Her Loss" collaborator 21 Savage, as well as Harlem icons Cam'ron and Dipset, whom he thanked for influencing his style.

"My dream for doing the Apollo would be to share the stage with these legendary, legendary guys," he said. "First of all, we wouldn't be here, but we wouldn't have talked the same, dressed the same, walked the same. You guys influenced me and my brothers so much."