Kanye West proved himself to be a capable emcee, adding rapper and writer to his job title of producer.
The Chicago native released his highly anticipated debut album “The College Dropout” on Tuesday, Feb. 10 and garnished critical acclaim as well as commercial success. According to Robert De Garcia, of Allhiphop.com “‘The College Dropout,’ is an album that leaps marginally beyond distinction in its endeavors at innovation; new pathways are now possible for both the conscious and street corner heads that previously didn’t know where this rap game was headed.”
Who could disagree with this? With 21 tracks, each song has something different to offer the audience. His album is entertaining and thought-provoking, something that cannot be said for many albums in stores now.
Naturally, in the business world, West would strike when the iron was hot and take his show on the road, which is how a majority of artists make their money. So on March 16 he launched his “School Spirit” tour which, on the first leg, featured artist Young Gunz and later featured LA-based band, Dilated Peoples.
On a brisk, spring evening thousands of students gathered outside of Rhode Island College’s Roberts Hall to see Kanye West. After about an hour, the sold out crowd was like sardines in a can in the packed auditorium. People were becoming well acquainted whether or not they wanted to. As scheduled Dilated Peoples took the stage at 7 p.m., singing hits from former albums like “Worst Come to Worst” and “Live on Stage.” They also performed songs from their new album “Neighborhood Watch,” which features their new single with Kanye West “This Way” and “Marathon.” Dilated tried their best to get the crowd into their performance, but from the few fans that were bobbing their heads, waving their hands and jumping up and down it was clear that most of the fans were there to see Mr. West. After 45 minutes Dilated cleared the stage for the headliner.
After seeing the opening act, the adrenaline began to rush, the deejay, who resembled Fat Joe, screamed into the microphone, “Are you ready for Kanye West?” The crowd responded with a resounding “Yeah!”
With club songs like “Tipsy” and “Give it to Me (I Just Wanna Love Ya)” coming from the turntables, the crowd was ready. However, we waited and waited and waited a little bit more. Until finally at 9:30, West took the stage. He performed almost all the songs from his album including “We Don’t Care,” “Spaceship,” “Slow Jamz,” “Two Words,” “The Workout Plan” and a slew of others. However, I wasn’t feeling the performance. The whole time he seemed like he didn’t want to be there, then he forgot the lyrics to “The Workout Plan.” He also continued to take break after break as he sipped on a Tropicana Fruit Punch drink. Maybe if he were drinking water, he wouldn’t have felt as drained. The best part of his performance was the fact that he had Mary “the hip-hop violinist” accompany him on stage. She was definitely the highlight of the night. She played songs like “Tipsy” and “One More Chance,” on her violin.
When I left at the end of the night I felt unfulfilled and ripped off. I spent my hard-earned $25 on a ticket. That’s one CR shift, five meals, a shirt and 20 rides on the T. You get the picture — for a monetary challenged person like myself, that’s a lot of money. I pick and choose my concerts very carefully. I usually don’t have to pay to go to concerts; in fact, I was on the guest list for the West concert, but this only happened after I purchased my ticket. Needless to say it has to be important for me to spend my money. Usually I have criteria before I’m willing to support an artist. First, I have to figure out the individual’s entertainment content. Meaning I’m not going to be bored. I don’t expect every artist to be in P. Diddy’s caliber with back-up dancers and pyrotechnics, but I do expect that they are energized and connect with the crowd. Also, how familiar I am with the group’s music and lastly ticket prices play a part.
Well this time I learned the hard way. Next time I’ll have to be more careful.
— Camila Crews can be reached at
