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From Guantanamo Bay

21

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Semi-Pro

Rambo

National Treasure 2:

Book of Secrets

Nas was in the building Saturday night at the Kool Haus in Toronto

“I love Toronto, you guys know what the f*** is up not to mention you guys got the craziest weed out there.  I love coming back here, smoke some of that Canadian chronic and eat some Jamaican food, this shit feels like home,” Nasir Jones, the man known to a legion of loyal fans as Nasty Nas while he finally took the stage after a more than 2 hour wait at Kool Haus on Saturday, May 24, 2008.

After being called one of the greatest rappers of all time and being part in of one of the biggest battles of all time, Nas has garnished a name for himself not only as a Hip-Hop heavy weight but as a teacher or story teller of sorts.  As the anxious Toronto crowd waited for the show to start, chronic and the sounds of DJ Premier, Wu-Tang Clan and Boogie Down Productions also filled the air making it a night to remember for those who still have the brain cells left to do so that is.

Toronto home grown rapper, Famous took the stage and after one too many unnecessary costume changes and a handful of decent rhymes later, the crowd first boo’d and then started in unison a “We want Nas!” chant.  Despite the extremely long intermission as Nas was scheduled to perform after 10:00 pm, he didnt hit the stage till almost 12:30 am. However he gave the people what they wanted and waited for.

He performed a slew of hits from his own now legendary tracks (It Ain’t Hard to Tell, Represent, Nas is Like and Street Dreams) to his popular hits that have reached the masses (One Mic, Got Yourself a Gun, Oochie Wally, and Hate Me Now, just to name a few) and he even surprised the crowd by touching upon his guest appearance verses one being ladies anthem, “Hot Boys”.  However it wasn’t until he performed “If I Ruled the World” that sent the pleased audience in an uproar, taking them down a walk on memory lane to a time when Hip hop was genuine and so good you could almost taste it.

“This feels like medicine right now, I grew up on Nas (and) New York rap, so right now I’m in heaven ,” said the3XGP.com reader, Christian Martinez who was in attendance for the show and undeniably knew the words to every one of Esco’s tracks like the majority of the crowd did.

Every song a longtime fan would want to hear, Nas performed it but when he made the mistake of asking the audience what they wanted to hear,

It was the historical beef track, “Ether” the audience wanted to hear.  Nasty just laughed it off and didn’t fulfill the request for obvious reasons, “That song went down in history for emcee battles but it’s never going away is it?” he laughed with the crowd before breaking into another beat.  He even dispelled all rumours that his upcoming album isn’t going to be called “Nas” but is sticking with the original controversial name, Nigger.

“We gotta set people straight on the history and meaning of that word, that’s what the album is gonna do,” he told the crowd before chucking up a peace sign after his hour and a half long set. Nas also mentioned how Hip hop as a culture is vital in the world of politics, ” You know Bill Clinton was down with rap, he had to be.  Barack, you know he probably get’s down, but Hillary…naw not unless Bill put her onto it but McCain?” He smirked before a dramatic sigh, “Yeah right.”

With of without a controversial album name, political opinions or superstar marriage, Nas’ rhymes carried the show making it seem way too short. Nas didn’t have anything on his stage but one mic, a DJ and his skills because quite frankly that’s all an emcee of such caliber needs.

Make sure to peep the exclusive video of Nas performing in Toronto right here on the3XGP.com

Concert Footage (Felicia Mancini)

Even in freezing rain, thousands (mostly covered in their very finest Kanye inspired outfits) filled the Molson Amphitheatre to capacity as the Glow In the Dark tour made it’s stop in Toronto.  Despite bone chilling temperatures and seemingly long intermission all was well the minute Mr. Kanye West took the stage which is utterly breathtaking to say the least. The always coolly conscious, Lupe Fiasco performed a rather short set but only set the mood for N.E.R.D which brought an array of fans (two males one of which resembled Mc Lovin and a huge posse of ladies). The Bathing Ape clad crew including two drummers, Pharrell, Chad and Shay owned the simply set stage but managed to set the soaked crowd into hysteria as one of the dancers on stage was revealed to be Rhianna’s beau, Chris Brown.

Rhianna with her pixie cut (rat tail included) took the stage performing a handful of hits (including covers of Lauryn Hill and Beanie Man tunes) she wore outfits that managed to take away from her actual performances which were average at best especially when she brought the overall mood down of the show with a few of her ballads. Overall Rhianna managed to bring the audience back up to speed when she finally performed Umbrella in which the crowd waved their umbrellas highly in the air.

It wasn’t until another lengthy intermission in which Kanye took the stage when he truly put his money where his mouth is and delivered an astonishing performance from start to finish on Planet Kanye where a spaceship was the only other thing on the stage besides him. Even with the eccentric and interactive stage props (which would have even been more effective if the concert took place in doors) Kanye remained to be confident and captivating with his one man show performing hit after hit. Even after bringing to life his heavily radio rotated songs with stage props and utter brilliance as a true lyricist (he sounded better live than on record on several songs he performed. Mr. West entered the ranks of Michael Jackson and Madonna in regards to his abilities as a performer making the most out of his stage and his songs. However it wasn’t until he performed “Hey Mama” a tribute to his mother where Kanye really got to show the 416 his true talent not only as a rapper but as a true entertainer with his honesty and rarely shown vulnerability.

Call him arrogant, boisterous, cocky, whatever you want to call it but he can back it all up. From having parents throwing diamonds in the sky to Police Officers in attendance dancing unabashedly to his songs, Kanye set the bar not only for Hip hop as a genre and culture but for all performers. It was well worth the endless hours in the wet freezing cold because after the obvious effort and consideration he put into this tour, hey it’s the least we could do.

I give this tour a perfect rating, 4 out of 4.

 
Felicia J. Barclay of AllHipHop reviews the new Bun B solo disc.

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