One man, one mic
A sea of hands waved in the air as passionate voices sang the words, ‘we’ll walk right up to the sun, hand in hand,’ into the microphone Nas held out to the audience.
The hip hop superstar’s grin, while looking around the auditorium at a crowd of students, appeared to be a dead giveaway that even he could still be humbled by that type of audience response. ‘If I Ruled the World,’ was a song that produced the most moving response and demonstrated the ‘unity’ part of the National Panhellenic Council’s Greek Unity Fest.
The event brought rapper Nas and acts including two-time Def Comedy Jam performer Tony Roberts, local hip hop/funk band The Kid Fresh and the House Party and MO CHIPS band from Washington, D.C., to Goldstein Auditorium on Friday night.
When Nas finally took the stage about two hours into the show, the crowd immediately showed its appreciation. Not one person was sitting down throughout the buzzing audience; even the balcony was on its feet. Nas performed favorites such as ‘Made You Look,’ ‘Nastradamus’ and ‘Hate Me Now.’
Since his 1994 debut album ‘Illmatic,’ Nas has been hailed as one of the hip-hop world’s top minds – spawning top Billboard hits such as ‘One Mic’ and gaining a legion of fans. The rapper is scheduled to release his ninth album, ‘N****r,’ (except spelled out) this Tuesday.
Between songs, Nas voiced several social and political views such as, ‘If he ruled the world, he would give everyone George W. Bush’s head on a platter.’
‘The ticket was great,’ said Brian Henry, a senior real estate and metro development major at Le Moyne College. ‘(Kid) Fresh threw down, the D.C. guys were great, and of course there was Nas, which goes without any explanation.’
The highly anticipated event sold out about four hours after tickets went on sale – and that enthusiasm for Nas’s appearance carried over to Friday’s show. Excitement and anticipation enveloped the venue, bringing together a large group of students from various backgrounds under the common theme – Nas’s smooth beats.
Alvin Kumar, a sophomore biology student, sat on the floor in the Schine Atrium outside Goldstein Auditorium for about two and a half hours listening to his iPod, waiting for an indication that they were ready to let people inside.
Outside and down the steps from Kumar, Chrissy Jacobs, a sophomore information studies and African American studies major, stood behind a steel barricade itching to get her promised floor seat and possibly even an autograph.
‘I love the diverse turnout,’ said Cassandra Medard, parliamentarian for the National Panhellenic Council and junior bioengineering major. ‘When an artist is able to pull people from all different backgrounds, that’s great.’
The concert started with comedian Roberts. With his foul language, there wasn’t one button that Roberts didn’t push during his act. He made fun of gender, race and periodically broke out into freestyle raps, where he talked about anything from his gangster grandmother to paternity tests on the Maury Povich show.
His material that seemed to draw the most laughs was when he made fun of those in attendance and put some hecklers antsy for Nas in their place.
The Kid Fresh and the House Party gave a highly energetic performance next with its hip-hop/reggae/funk style that resembled Sublime superimposed with rap lyrics. The band members looked like they were having the time of their lives on stage, especially the two guitarists who played amazing solos during the set. D.C.-based MO CHIPS followed, and got everybody loose and dancing in preparation for the main act.
The star, of course, was Nas. During his performance, the audience members rushed to the front of the stage and stood on chairs to move closer to the rap luminary. At one point, the rapper threw his shirt into the audience, and several hands popped up frantically swiping for the once-in-a-lifetime souvenir.
‘(The turnout of the concert) shows how hip-hop unites people,’ Henry said. ‘Whole different races, religions and creeds can appreciate the power of words as long as they’re using positive words.’
Published on April 20, 2008 at 12:00 pm
