hiphop is alive | Teen Ink

hiphop is alive

March 19, 2009
By julien paul BRONZE, Cambridge, Massachusetts
julien paul BRONZE, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

I'm a fan of hip-hop. A huge fan. I love real hip-hop. I love all music, in fact I would claim that music is my life. Which is exactly why I shouldn't be allowed at a Lil Wayne concert. I need to keep an open mind, and not focus on one of the greatest artists to ever bless the mic. Last night I attended the Lil Wayne concert in Providence, Rhode Island and it ethered any concert I've ever been too in my life. From start to finish I was in a completely different universe. Let me start at the top (but keep in mind I am not a journalist, and am just gonna do my best to recite some of the details accurately):

I left Boston around 5:00, leaving 2 hours of time in case of traffic. I arrived to providence around 6:00, which was great, because I was able to get great parking. Me any my boy went into the Dunkin Donuts center, after failing to find any food around the venue and decided to purchase some extremely overpriced food inside the stadium. We then went to our seats, which were a disappointment to say the least. They were floor seats, but in the very back and to the right of all the lighting equipment. The stage was visible, but barely. For $85 tickets, this was NOT acceptable. We then proceeded to move into the section right at the front of the stage, and thankfully succeeded. These seats were absolutely incredible, and I suddenly regretted not bringing my camera. At around 7:45 the concert began...

First came Tay Dizm. Now if I could find one other person in that entire stadium who first of all knew who was performing, or even knew who Tay Dizm was I would have been incredibly surprised. People got hyped as soon as they heard the hook from T-Pain on the song "Beam Me Up" but as soon as Tay Dizm started rapping, the enthusiasm drastically increased. I personally would have much rather heard some Gorilla Zoe. Tay Dizm then went into his Akon assisted second single, "Dream Girl". Once again, as soon as Tay Dizm started rapping, he lost the crowds support. Thankfully, that's where the set ended.

Next came the new group Electrik Red. This confused me, because I have no idea as to why they opened up after Tay Dizm. They are even less known than him! Now because Kingz over at YK2 speaks so highly of this group, I had pretty high expectations, and I cant lie, but they really let me down. Bad choreography was a common theme throughout there entire performance. They performed songs such as "Drink In My Cup", "Friend Lover", "We "F" You", and their lead single "So Good". Going back and listening to these songs, they're not bad by any means, but live Electrik Red is horrendous.

Next came the talented Keri Hilson. She is a great talent, ill give her that. Her album is being released on the 24th of March, so make sure everyone goes out and supports her. Remembering all her songs -- though it's gonna be a struggle. Anyway, Miss Keri prevailed on her first single "Energy". My boy looked at me at one point and said she's lip sinking because of how great she sounded, but I knew otherwise -- which is what made her performance of "Energy" so great. You need to have a great voice to perform that track. She also went off on her future single, "Knock You Down". She slowed things down and went into her track, "Slow Dance". She ended with of course the very popular track, "Turnin Me On" and Wayne was nowhere to be found. She still ripped it though. Keri had incredible swag, energy, and a great voice. The one negative thing I have to say is that she needs to get back on that long haired status. In the video for "Energy" she looks soooo much better than she does now. Please Keri?

This is when the show truly began. As i'm still sitting in my incredible seats, the Gym Class Heroes banner hung from the back drop. A live band then appeared on stage. Absolutely incredible set. Remembering these songs are gonna be tough to remember but let me try. The song that had me the most excited was "Live A Little" that doesnt even have Travis McCoy in it, but is an incredible song that they absolutely ripped. Anyways, he opened the show with "Peace Sign/Index Down" and he had everyone on their feet. Then came "Guilty as Charged". He then went into a little speech about if anyones ever been in love before. He explained how he took cupid and beat him. Then you could hear the ever popular "Cupid's Chokehold" blazing through the speakers. The set ended with the popular single "Cookie Jar". Overall this was an incredible set, and if he headlined a tour, id be there in a heartbeat. Everyone support Gym Class Heroes, cause there not going ANYWHERE.

I remained in my incredible seats, as some of my friends from school moved up into my section. The anticipation for Wayne was clearly building, as T-Pain's circus scenery appeared in the background. Well a little more of a wait, and Pain comes rolling up, on a green golf cart looking type of thing accompanied by green spinners. Next to him was his partner in crime, one of those freaky guys with paint all over his face. Pain did a lot more dancing during this set than singing which truly was not my thing. They put on a mix of many different songs, and T-Pain danced alongside his whole circus. The highlight of his dancing were the little kids who absolutely ran the stage. Then after about 30 minutes of this foolery, the songs started coming. He did many featured tracks such as, "The Boss", and his verse from "Green Light Remix" which I really hope he releases soon. He went into a set then where he showed his musical talents by playing both the piano and drums, and there is no doubt he's a talented guy. He then went back into singing and performed, "Freeze" which features Chris Brown. Right before going into the song T-Pain & his circus partner in crime went into a little fight scene (meaning Chris Brown & Rihanna, such a force). He went into songs like, "Chopped & Skrewed" & "Buy You A Drink". He then slowed it down and did the best song of his entire show by performing the song "Keep Going" dedicated to his kids. He did this alongside an acoustic guitar and absolutely murdered it, and showed that he can actually sing without a vocoder. This is when the staff guy came and kicked me out of the section, while my boy and my other friends remained. I stayed walking around as he performed his final song, "Can't Believe It". As soon as it ended, I was able to sneak back into the seats, as I eagerly awaited Wayne to come on stage. What I will say about Pain is that he needs to spend a lot more time singing and much less dancing. He has a good voice and I woulda preferred to hear him do songs such as, "I'm Sprung" & "Bartender" instead of dancing foolishly around the stage. Not terrible though. Probably the third best set of the night.

And here comes the main attraction. The president himself. Who absolutely destroyed this 2 hour set. He also had a live band on stage with him which was a very good look. They killed it. There was also a DJ sitting right in the middle. I was incredibly excited to see him perform, after having Wayne not show up for Monster Jam back in October, and not seeing him perform since last June at Summer Jam. His DJ then said, "Who's ready to see Lil Wayne!?!" Music started blazing out of the speakers as lights flashed from every direction. Suddenly there was a burst of flames and Wayne came jumping out onto the stage. The energy he exerts during his concerts is absolutely spectacular. He went straight into Mr. Carter, killing his verses, while the entire Dunkin Donuts Center rapped alongside him. When Jay's verse began Wayne motioned for everyone to throw up the Roc, and like a cult everyone quickly followed. He then brought out T-Pain again and they went into there little T-Wayne phase. Sadly, they didn't perform the new song, "Snap Ya Fingaz" which woulda been incredible, but they instead stayed talking to each other and performed the song, "He Raps, He Sings". This wasn't great because Pain did the majority of the rapping, but I have to say that it did sound so much better than the times I'd heard it on the internet. He then performed his very popular verse from the, "They Know Remix". Then Pain, Weezy, & Mack Maine performed, "Got Money (Remix)". Finally, T-Pain left and Weezy went into introducing his crew. This was the one disappointment of the show. As loyal fans to the site may know, I am a HUGE Drake fan and a pretty big Nicki Minaj fan as well, and sadly neither of them came out. This was really upsetting, because I was under the impression that Drake came out for every show, but I guess that's Mack Maine's job instead. Mack Maine came out and performed some song that I'm sure I have and just don't care about. He is really a terrible performer. Finally he ended & Weezy came back out. He then introduced Young Money (Lil Twist, Lil Chuckee, Gutta Gutta, T-Streets, & Jae Millz). They performed their new single "Filet Mignon" which is when I realized Drizzy Drake Rogers wouldn't be coming out, even though they still killed it. Young Money exited the stage, and the real music began. Where do I start? Performances of, "Money On My Mind", "Pop Bottles", "I'm Me" (crazy energy, even with everyone tired), "Phone Home", "Mrs. Officer", "Go DJ", "Shoot Me Down", "La La", "Skys The Limit" (he always murders that), & "Hustlerz Muzik". He then performed other crowd favorites, such as a CRAZY performance of "Fireman". He had fire everywhere as well as at one point he went behind some kind of flame thrower and pointed the flames towards the audience. Next came his little singing bit, where he took out his guitar and sang us some, "Prostitute" but still struggled with the guitar part of the performance. After that, he brought back out Ms. Keri Hilson for the incredibly popular "Turnin Me On" and she exited after telling the crowd, "Lil Wayne just isn't so little". Then came Ms. Shonelle who is the newest member of Young Money, and who came out to sing the hook for DontGetIt which was a nice part of the show. Then came the BANGERS. It started out with Wayne going in on his hugest single to date, "Lollipop". He sang this with the help of Shonelle as well. Next came, the Shonelle written, "Prom Queen" which featured Wayne in a suit, once again NOT playing the guitar. "Prom Queen" ended with Shontelle hooking up with Wayne (thoughts to his wife Nivea)??? Then the show closed out with Wayne performing his hugest street single too date, "A Milli" where he just to be quite frank went crazy. He thanked the fans, turned on some Whitney Houston, put on his robe, and exited through the bottom of the stage.

Wayne killed this performance. There's nothing more I can say. I've seen Hov perform, and this somehow beat it. It was absolutely sensational. He brought energy, and I thoroughly enjoyed the concert from start to finish. Best believe I will be attending again if he does ever come back out to Boston. Wayne, thank u for this experience, it was well worth the money. You have now officially confirmed my suspicions that you are currently the Best Rapper Alive. Goodnight.


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