December 15, 2005
I drink a mousse for breakfast, and Ensure for dessert
On Sunday December 4, I made a quick trek to the UCSD campus to cross another act off on my Personal Pantheon list. My man Kanye made a stop here on his Touch the Sky tour. Since my last rambling post on Kanye, he has indeed become ubiquitous, winning a bunch of Grammy's, releasing a second mult-plat album (more on that later), landing on the cover of Time magazine, and causing a quite the stir with his now infamous "George Bush doesn't care about black people" comment on live TV. I'm happy to report that in concert, Kanye did not disappoint. The set and effects were relatively simple and never took away from the music. There were some lights, some videos, a few props and a fog machine, but nothing over the top. For most of the show it was just Kanye with a DJ, a couple of singers, some strings and a percussionist (Frankie Knuckles from The Roots) to back him up. It wasn't a "posse" hip-hop show with a bunch of hangers-on screaming lyrics intermittently into their mics, just Kanye and his music. He was engaging and energetic and often very funny (during "Gold Digga" he encouraged the crowd to sing along to the chorus, "White people! This is your only chance to say nigga!"). I love catching acts after only one or two albums because it means we get to hear all our favorite non-hits from the repertoire, and Kanye definitely accomodated. He played most of his latest, Late Registration , all of the singles from College Dropout as well as non-hit cuts such as, "Spaceship", "Get 'em High" and "We Don't Care".
(And since I don't have a good transition, I'll go into my thoughts on Late Registration . On the whole, it's a very good album. It takes the right steps forward for Kanye without losing too much of his essence. Most of the production has more of a pop sheen thanks to the work of Jon Brion, and I think that was a smart move on Kanye's part. That being said, I still think the CD lacks the same visceral impact of College Dropout , some of the hip-hop immediacy is missing. In concert, that feeling was restored to most of Late's songs thanks to Kanye's strong stage performance.)
Kanye was able to segue seamlessly from the gully, straight hip-hop numbers to the more glammed out Puffy-type songs like "Gold Digga" and "Jesus Walks". This, of course, speaks to his greatest asset which is to walk that fine line between art and entertainment, consciousness and club-bangin'. Overall I give the Kanye show an A+.
A couple of photos:
Kanye in front of a wall of light.
Kanye in his Puffy suit.
Kanye about to get jiggy.
A very brief (8 seconds) video clip of Kanye during my first and still favorite song, "Through the Wire" .
****
I'd be remiss if I didn't address Kanye's latest flap concerning this year's Grammy nominations. Kanye threatened to "have a real problem" if Late didn't win album of the year. He later backtracked a bit after the actual nominations came out (he got 8), but he didn't do much to change the perception that he's arrogant and egotistical. It also presented quite the problem for Kanye apologists (like me) who feel the need to defend him. Kanye shouldn't be faulted for wanting to make history and win Album of the Year ( Late would be the first all-rap album to do so), but he is continually hurting his credibility with statements like the above. Kanye, in his music, is usually just the opposite, self-assured, but also self-aware. He's open and funny about his flaws and I wish he would try to be just as humble in the press. He needs to relax and realize that everyone is not out to disrespect him. At first, the chip on his shoulder was a good thing. No one believed in him and he still went on to well-deserved success, and he brought that edge to his early work. Now, however, he's already widely respected and admired not just in hip-hop, but in all of music and it just seems like he's manufacturing slights to keep himself motivated.
****
"I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!!"
--Will Ferrell