Kanye Saves Hip Hop?

Yesterday, arrival at the Susequehanna Center for the Glow in the Dark Tour lead to the instant usual suspects. An overwhelming, slightly annoying myriad of young high schoolers at a concert(sometimes I think these venues should be 18 and older) tailgating in the parking lot and enthused fans buying $30 Kanye sunglasses. Now I must proceed with caution because I know that Kanye was miffed that Entertainment Weekly gave him a B+ which is impossible because when he tries he either passes or fails, lol.

Anyways I saw this video of Diddy bigging up the Glow in the Dark Tour and Kanye giving him back his appreciation of hip hop. Some may question that term as a poster on AllHipHop.com did showing Kanye acknowledgement but claiming he's much more "backpacker/other genre" than hip hop, but many would beg to differ, who's to say what's hip hop anymore.

Now next time I'll splurge for better seats, but the distance didn't take away from the dynamics of the impressive concert. Now, Lupe performed first with new talent muse, Nikki Jean who appeared on his "Hip Hop Saved Me" song(she also lended background vocals and filled in for Jill Scott on "Daydream" during the concert). Although I wish he would of performed more, unlike some rap acts his voice is clear, strong and amped up when he rhymes over the mic. There was no loss of movement as he hyped up the crowd with his gems like, "Superstar", "Paris Tokyo", etc. But the grand finale was his suprising performance of "Daydream" where he gave more life to the song than was ever present in the radio/album version, complete with strutting across stage and all. If you were daydreaming at that point that performance sure woke you up.

Next up was N.E.R.D, of course they know how to rock a concert doing their throwbacks, "She Likes to Move", "Lapdance", and the song that never fails, "Rockstar". And those little "hipsters" definitely can invoke energy with their sound full of swagger and genuine love for the music, it was great. And they did some of their new songs like, "Everybody Nose" and "Spaz".

I admit I didn't go to the concert for Rihanna, but I enjoyed her performance when she belted out hits like, "Pon de replay", "S.O.S", "Breakin' Dishes","Umbrella",and more. Although unfortunately, Kanye West claims Chris Brown was at the show, however unlike the Madison Square Garden performance where he went on stage the crowd at Camden got no glimpse of C. Breezy.

Last but better not be least! Was Kanye's act as hip hop thriving as Diddy claims? Well, it was pretty darn good besides featuring a great roster of acts that fit in with Kanye he brought his energy to the stage. The visuals, the scenery that took more than 30 minutes to set up was all work it. His act was a virtual/robotic/cinematic type of arrangement when his "robotic companion" cleverly setting up the mood for his next song performance with dialogue from the Chicago rapper. He did his recent songs off Graduation, and tons of throwbacks as well. His effort, his genuine desire to give the fans what they want was a refreshing diversion from the usual concerts rappers perform. Of course no Kanye concert would be one without several references to his greatness but he definitely inspired the audience with his success at giving everyone the show they paid for. He gave thanks, mad love to the crowd and leaves a lingering question of "Can Kanye ever top this tour".