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Kanye West Gives Crowd His All -- And Has Fun

By Danielle Scruggs

Photo credit: Kanyewest.com It was as though Kanye West, shown at a previous performance, squeezed a three-hour show into an hour and a half.

Neither radio nor television does justice to one of today's most prolific rappers/producers. To truly enjoy the Kanye West experience, one has to see him live.

Hundreds of students at the University of Maryland at College Park had their chance soon after his debut album, "The College Dropout," was released.

West and his opening acts deserved a better venue, since the acoustics in the Grand Ballroom left much to be desired. However, West overcame these technical difficulties and poured his heart and soul onto the stage for adoring fans.

Backed by a DJ and by Don Crawley Jr., an enchanting piano player in his own right, the Chicago native demonstrated why "The College Dropout" is such a success and why artists as diverse as Jay-Z, Mos Def and Alicia Keys flock to him for soulful beats and rhythms.

An hour and a half after the scheduled 7:30 p.m. start, West jumped onto the stage, wearing a backpack over a blue polo shirt and jeans. He launched into "Spaceship," a soulful lament about the harsh realities West faced trying to make it in the music industry. He was joined by Consequence and GLC, both of whom appeared on West's album.

Next came "The New Workout Plan," a song that could easily be considered offensive to women, with lyrics such as "Give head/stop, breathe/check your weave." But somehow West's sense of humor and his willingness to laugh at himself made the song that much more enjoyable. He also performed his major hits "Through the Wire" and "Slow Jamz," both of which gave piano player Legend a chance to shine and show off his beautiful soaring voice.

The highlight of the night was "Jesus Walks," a passionate ode to his spiritual side. It is refreshing to see a hip-hop figure unabashedly confront issues that affect the common man, such as religion and spirituality.

With his eyes closed tight, beads of sweat accumulating on his smooth, dark face and lyrics flowing out of his mouth a mile a minute, it was evident that the song was close to his heart: "I ain't here to argue about his facial features or to convert atheists into believers/I'm just trying to say the way school need teachers/the way Kathie Lee needed Regis/That's the way I need Jesus/ so here go my single/radio needs this/they say I could rap about anything except Jesus . . ."

West was treated to rousing applause and thanked the crowd for being so receptive to "Jesus Walks." "I want to be the first good rapper on God's side," he declared after his performance.

In addition to performing songs from "College Dropout," West also free-styled over the beats he created for Jay-Z ("Encore" and "Lucifer"), Talib Kweli ("Get By") and Keys ("You Don't Know My Name"). The last freestyle was a hilarious takeoff on the song he dubbed "I Still Don't Know Your Name," an ode to groupies and the pleasures they give musicians. Hearing West trying to sing was hysterical and demonstrated once more how unafraid he was to poke fun at himself, something sorely missing in hip-hop today.

West ended with "School Spirit," a soulful tribute to sororities and fraternities. The crowd, not wanting to see him leave, chanted "Kanye!" after he stepped off the stage.

It was as though he squeezed a three-hour show into an hour and a half. Even though West had to battle bad acoustics and a venue that was beneath a man of his talents, he gave the crowd his all. Most important, he seemed as if he was having fun, another element that has been lacking in hip hop.

If West keeps giving high-energy, magnetic performances like this Feb. 26 show at College Park, he has nowhere to go but up.

Danielle Scruggs, a student at Howard University, writes for The Hilltop.

Posted April 5, 2004