2 Chainz!!!

   Pretty sure the Surgeon General would recommend against the amount of twerking I saw tonight!  #2chainz

I'm different 私は違う

3 Chainz?!?!

   And if only I had known about all this earlier, I would have gotten into sports a long time ago!  http://deadspin.com/the-sports-careers-of-rappers-ranked-1496662701?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Love the Drake

Ryland, my yoga buddy & fellow music aficionado, went with me

   This review will be short & sweet, just like Drake's show. He played a scant 1 hour 20 minutes, and 20 minutes of that was a tedious stunt in the middle where he set out to individually recognize every person in the audience. ("You in the red shirt, I see you! You three with the I love Drake sign, I see you! All you in section 225, I see you!") that space could have been occupied by 4-5 more songs, which would have been perfect, given that he inexplicably neglected to play a few of his biggest hits (Fancy, Up all night, Best I ever had, Find Your Love.) What the what?!?! He only has TWO albums!

   He is a solid talent and one of my favorite artists, which is why I expected more for my $54 ticket plus $25 service charge (Ticketmaster can go to hell, btw.) The last show I saw, Kanye & Jay-Z, felt like a bargain at $125 due to the incredible performances, showmanship, lights & video. This ticket was cheaper, but felt overpriced... Drake didn't even play one song in its entirety, but took a page out of Diddy's book & hit the highlights, with a healthy portion of ore-recorded content. With that, & underwhelming visuals, this left me wanting more.
   Drake was more wrapped up in presenting himself than his talent, and at the end if the day, he is handsome & charming, but I care about the music much more than the man. The best shows pump you up and connect with you on an emotional level, and this one didn't for me; I'd give it a B-. And a D for the sound quality inside Sprint Center.

   His set list included my favorite song to snowboard to, The Motto, as well as Headlines, Miss Me, Take Care, Lord Knows, & I'm on One, Over, She Will, Shot for Me, We'll be Fine/Round of Applause, Forever, Marvin's Room, Cameras, Uptown, All Night Long, Look What You've Done, Make me Proud, Practice, HYFR, & Underground Kings. Chase Cashe, ASAP rocky, and Kendrick lamar opened.

Updated post for "Monsters of Rap"

   Added photos and video clips from the concert back in August, featuring Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross, Lloyd, Keri Hilson, & Far East Movement.

Happy Birthday to me from...

My favorite rap stars!

Salt Lake City morning

   I'm here! Now on to the next one, as Jay-Z would say. (And I KNOW he would, because I just saw him in Tuesday night. Aww, yeah!!!)

Watch the Throne

   Well, my compact camera died recently, and my non-compact camera is too big to drag in to a concert, so I put the Blackberry cam through its paces. And while the quality is poor, at least these images give you a sense of the production value of this show, and it will help me recall how amazing it was!

   More details to come... it was an odd and awesome night, that started with a chance meeting of a woman who is basically ME at age 60+, the equally mind-blowingly good show, and the "after-party", which for me, meant being involved in a car accident. Quite a night! 

   In short, this was one of the best shows I've seen, and though their joint album hasn't been my favorite, this show helped me see how great it really is, and their solo work was extremely enjoyable, accompanied by vibrant and haunting video of vicious dogs, sharks on the hunt, big cats on the prowl, raptors soaring through the heavens, and more! Two smaller cubical stages opposite each other rose unexpectedly from the floor, and video was projected on all sides of them, as well as on the main screen. They were used to full effect for complimentary and mirrored images, often synched with the sound. Enjoy some Jay-Z and Kanye love:

Playlist (as much as I can remember!):

H.a.m.

I can't stop (sharks)

Jesus Walks

Welcome to the Jungle (tigers, lions, panthers)

Power

Flashing Lights

Run This Town

Monster

Made in America

Empire State of Mind

Flashing Lights

On to the Next One

Heartless

Runaway

All falls down

Dirt off your Shoulder

I just wanna love you

Monster

Diamonds from Sierra Leone

New day

Hard knock life

Izzo (H.O.V.A.)

Church in the wild

Gotta have it

Who gon stop me

Good Life

Touch the sky

All of the lights (restarted 3x due to technical problems; Kanye said, "Wait, wait. Hol'up! I said ALL of the lights! I just want everyone to get what they paid for!"

Big Pimpin'

Gold Digger

99 Problems

Louie armstrong's What a Wonderful World (juxtaposed with disturbing video footage, which made it very creepy! Young child in KKK uniform surrounded by proud adults, burning crosses, people donning gas masks, dogs fighting, and a mushroom cloud, among others)


And the encore: N***** in Paris, which they played about 7 times! (I know that sounds tedious, but it wasn't: they raised the energy in the arena successively and it got better & better!)

Monsters of Rap Tour

  Actually, the tour is called "I am still music" but my idea would have worked too. I was at the Sprint Center last night for an incredible lineup of performers: Lloyd, Far East Movement, Keri Hilson, RIck Ross, and Lil' Wayne, featuring Birdman.

  In front of the Sprint Center, good ol' 95.7 The Vibe had a tent and a game to win a free CD. I walked up and won the new Britney CD on a single roll of the dice! (We all have our guilty pleasures. It was either that, or Gaga, so it was an easy choice.) They also gave out a ridiculously star-studded, 37-track DJ mix CD with all my favorite artists. The night was already looking good...

  Lloyd kicked off the night with an all-too-short set. (Leave 'em wanting more, I guess, huh?) He performed all of his biggest singles, like "Cupid" and "Lay it Down."

  Then Far East Movement came on strong "So What?"—essentially the Beastie Boys' "What'cha Want"... and maybe better than the Beasties! These guys could really rap! Of course, "Like a G6" got everybody moving. FEM was the best surprise of the night for me. They were the one act I wasn't as excited about, but they turned out to be my favorite!

  Lloyd helped out with the high notes in "Rocketeer" and the guys remixed their own songs, putting a new spin on them. Another short set, but a surprising & great one.

  When Keri Hilson came out I started noticing how low the production values were for the whole show: each performer had a banner with their name behind them, and that was about it. (FEM's said "Free Wired World," Keri's said "No Boys Allowed," Rick's said "God forgives - I don't.") The upside to this was that the spareness allowed them to change performers very quickly with little downtime.

  The problem was that they also cut corners that affected the show: too much was recorded: no background vocals, they didn't do many crossover songs—and seriously, why would you get this group together and not have them perform together onstage? And even the headliners sang for only a fraction of the time they were onstage. I guess that's the downside to a genre that relies on vocoders and samples; even if the performers have great talent (and I believe these all do), the production overshadows the artistry.

  Rick Ross sounded great when he was singing--which unfortunately was very little of his show. Someone needs to tell his DJ to lay off the MacBook and reduce the horn/glass breaking/"Maybach Music" sounds. He played them so frequently that the whole set became a joke. The so-called Bo$$ has an incredible voice, and I would have vastly preferred to hear more of it.

  Lil' Wayne was Lil' Wayne: racous, irreverent, profane, arrogant, and with the talent to back it up. In the KC Star, Bill Brownlee called him "the most consistently compelling pop star of the past decade," and cited "his lyrical and musical inventiveness and ferocious work ethic." During the show, Lil' Wayne proclaimed himself to be "the best rapper alive." Honestly after seeing him perform, I agree that he's right up there.

   But my opinion wavered as he talked between songs. I began to get more disturbed as he continued to swear for no good reason and make misogynistic comments, like joking about f***ing a girl on her period. Really? Is that what we paid to hear? I looked around me and most in the audience were much younger than me. Girls as young as 15, I'd say. Shame on their parents for allowing them to attend (the ones around me were apparently without chaperone; and some were drunk, some were smoking pot...)  And shame on Lil' Wayne. He is only 29, and a self-made millionaire, as he himself proclaimed. He recently was released from prison. Clearly he has not had a normal life, so I'll give him a pass on some of his immaturity. But he's playing a very influential role in our society, and he NEEDS to take it more seriously.

   One of the things I love about rap and hip hop are the personas the performers create, the characters they play; the fantasy of a rich, profanely excessive, normally-unattainable lifestyle full of confidence & swagger; having all the women, money, power, anything they want. The problem is, hearing Wayne's comments, I began to realize that it wasn't a fantasy... this is how he thinks of himself; how he behaves and how he lives his life. It's his reality. I felt a little sick.

   So while I'll continue to enjoy the music I enjoy, mostly the upbeat stuff with irresistible hooks that keep me churning while I'm running or working out, I will be grateful to shut out any thoughts about the lifestyle that may or may not be behind the artists. Good music and good living aren't one and the same.

Lil' Wayne's set list included (among others): Bill Gates, Go DJ, 6 Foot 7 Foot, Prom Queen, Motivation, Lollipop, Nightmares of the Bottom, and Mr. Carter. Rick Ross's set included: B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast), MC Hammer, (Larry Hoover Hallelujah One nation under god), Aston Martin Music

Gary + Pitbull + Me =

   This morning as I arrived at my desk, I was met by my work-neighbor and fellow rap afficianado, Gary, and he had a big grin on his face. He held up the new Pitbull album, waved it, and said, "Have you heard 'Shake, Senora? You've gotta listen to Track 7."

   So I handed him my Nano so he could enjoy some Flo Rida as I was transported to the a land of awesomely rude lyrics and catchy hooks. Nice.

   After I finished that song (and sampled the rest), he said, "You should just call me 'Mr. Worldwide' from now on."

   And that got me thinking about what my rap name would be. A quick Google search turned up a rap name generator and a myriad of choices, each funnier than the last.

J Jenny Money   
Crazy J Trip   
J Blush a.k.a. Audacious Brat   
Jenny J Sugar Honey   
Humble Jenny Nugget   
Sista Jenny R Mystique a.k.a. Ms. Bump   
Delicious Jenny Grind   
J Face   
Jenny J Bomb   
Jenny Beat

Special J

MC J Curves

I Am Still Music

    When I returned from Alaska, I found my ticket for the upcoming Lil' Wayne concert, with guests Rick Ross, Keri Hilson, Far East Movement and Lloyd. SO. SUPER. EXCITED. The only one I've seen live before is Lloyd, and he puts on an amazing show. What a coup to get all these names together!

C+C Produce Factory

    Drove into work behind this truck today, and just couldn't help myself. "Let the Produce Take Control... Let the Rhythm Mooove You..."

Torture!!!

   My mom just called me to torture me. She's going to see Usher tonight. So. Not. Fair.

   Now it's got me thinking about driving up to Omaha to see him this Sunday. Crazy? Maybe. But it IS Usher, after all....

Live in SF: Diddy Dirty Money with Tyga & Lloyd

   First off, let me just say that I hadn't heard the opening acts until I arrived at the Warfield Theater, and was THRILLED that Lloyd was performing! He has an incredible voice (which I sometimes confuse with Ne-yo; and they both sound a lot like Michael Jackson) and I'm a big fan. Lucky me.
   Both Tyga and Lloyd were working it onstage in a way that I haven't witnessed since I saw Ludacris a year ago, when he opened for the Black Eyed Peas. I mean, these guys were ripping their shirts off and pulling their pants down, exposing their six-packs and their tattoos, as well as their boxers or Calvin Klein tighty-whities. And rightfully so, they both looked pretty hot!  ;)

Lloyd, workin' it

   But the crowd really went wild when Diddy showed up. To the best of my memory, I don't think he performed a single song from the new album in its entirety: the whole show as a bunch of montages as well as excerpts from his other projects, plus a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls. (Whose name always makes me smile because in college, Stew McK & Dave G used to call me The Notorious J.E.N.

Rick Ross, Lil Wayne + others made virtual appearances

And Diddy's son took the stage with Dad!

   All in all, it was an incredible show, and I'm SO glad I was able to catch it out here, since the KC show on 5/14 was cancelled. Gotta love serendipity! The only thing that was tough was that I had been hiking all day, and though I felt great when I arrived at the show, standing on concrete floors for 5 hours (yeah—the show was 9 pm 'til 2 am!), my dogs were barking.

   The crowd was pretty rowdy, too... not the least of whom being the gaggle of glamorous young women to my left. Their heads exploded in unison as soon as Diddy arrived onstage and they screamed like crazy. I've never been touched, bumped into, and had purses and elbows banged into me like that. I was on the second level, only about 20' in front of and on equal height as the stage, and was so glad I wasn't on the floor. Not only did I have a perfect view of the whole show, I avoided the huge punching match that erupted while the DJ was playing between Lloyd and Diddy. Yikes!

   So my photos were taken with my old, tiny, fit-in-my-purse camera rather than my good camera, so they're a bit blurry. But I got some video that has decent sound. Check it:

   ...And I found out that Usher & Akon are performing together in SF at the end of the month. Seriously tempted to return...
   After the show, I wasn't sure of the direction of my hotel and had to pull out a map on the sidewalk. A nice, young (and frankly, really good-looking) guy in a dark denim jacket with large spikes on the shoulders stopped to offer help, expressing concern about me being on the sidewalk with a map in my hands at 2 am. Awesome guy. He walked me back to the hotel for safety. Along the way, he talked about how one of the Dirty Money ladies was staring right at him for the whole show. And he was surprised and impressed when I told him that I was here from KC for the concert. He enjoyed it so much that he was thinking of driving to LA to catch it again. I, unfortunately, needed to get back to work rather than becoming a hip hop groupie. Sigh.

B.O.B. = WOW

   Recently I learned that B.O.B. & One Republic were going to be performing in KC on March 11. And then I found out that Bruno Mars and Janelle Monae were coming in May. Aaaaand so was Diddy - Dirty Money. And I learned all this in the same week!

Hmmmm... which one should I attend?

Yeah, duh. ALL OF THEM!

   So B.O.B. and One came to the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center on the UMKC campus tonight. Both were such big names that I wasn't sure who would be the headliner. (B.O.B. was, though I think OR is too good to be opening for anybody!)

Image from ULCollective

  One Republic's setlist included all their big hits: "All the Right Moves," "Secrets," "Stop and Stare," and an awesome medley of the classic "Stand By Me" with the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" and Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back."  WOW.

   Ryan Tedder has a completely amazing voice; the smoothness of Tom Chaplin of Keane, and the power of Paul Meany of Mutemath. They had great stage presence and I was completely wrapped up in them.

     And now for something almost completely different! B.O.B. commanded the stage with charisma, a great voice, and the ability to rap with incredible speed and intensity. You almost couldn't hear it fast enough—pretty sure he broke the speed of sound. I was stunned! He interacted with the crowd a lot, and made me wish I'd brought in my sunglasses to play along.

   I didn't keep track of his setlist, but he played pretty much everything from his latest album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray. Few rappers got anythin' on him.

  If I had any complaint about the show, it was that it was held in a gymnasium at UMKC—not the Performing Arts Center as had been stated, so the floors couldn't have been less comfortable to stand on for hours. And the bass was turned up SO high that I felt like I got a free, unnecessary defibrillator treatment out of the show. It literally left me a little breathless. The room was absolutely packed, and we were crammed up against the stage, but I never felt unsafe. A tall, thin guy next to me saw that I was having trouble seeing and moved me in front of him, and kind of protected me from accidental elbow blows to the face, so you've gotta love that. 

   Much to love at this concert. I'd see either or both of these acts again in a heartbeat!