Posted on March 26, 2006
“Welcome to the world-famous Lupe Fiasco show,” the headliner at JMU’s Wilson Hall Auditorium announced at the beginning of his set Wednesday night. Fiasco’s performance at JMU was the musical equivalent of a breath of fresh air; it was the first large-scale hip-hop concert in almost four years at James Madison.
Director of center stage for the UPB, senior Chris Beach, cited other student organizations when asked about the event’s success.
“I consider it an honor to work with the Black Student Alliance, Center for Multi-cultural Student Services and Alpha Phi Alpha to bring these diverse organizations together and have a celebration of hip-hop culture,” he said. “It has always been a goal of mine to bring genuine hip-hop to this campus and I'm thankful that these organizations made that dream a reality.”
Alpha Phi Alpha special events chair, senior Ryan Griffin, echoed the positive sentiments.
“When booking the show we wanted an artist who could appeal to both the majority and minority, draw from both ends of the spectrum,” Griffin said. “Lupe Fiasco is that artist.”
After the successful turnout — early estimates of ticket sales exceeded1000 — Griffin sees no reason a show like this can’t happen every year.
DJ Kid Quest started the show off by spinning current rap and R&B hits to get the crowd on its feet. One of the early highlights of the evening came when Kid Quest solicited five women to dance onstage to the dismay of one UPB staff member who attempted to escort the ladies offstage unsuccessfully for several minutes to the tune of DJ UNK’s “Walk it Out” before they finally left. JMU seniors Ladaisha Ballard and Kayin Jeffers then took the stage to perform spoken word pieces that drew loud rounds of applause from the restless crowd. Afterward, the JMU Breakdancing Club gave a high-energy performance that saw nearly every member bust a move onstage to the delight of audience members.
“I came to see Lupe but the breakdancing club was awesome. I am definitely going to the Circles festival next weekend,” said freshman Mike Miesenzahl.
Anticipation for the show was reaching a boiling point by 9:20 p.m. The hour-and-a-half wait, compounded by the show’s prior delay because of traveling complications, had the audience anxious. A few minutes before 9:30 p.m., Fiasco finally hit the stage with a casual swagger to the crowd’s first of what would become many “LU-PE!” chants. The Grammy-nominated rapper and GQ breakout man of the year wasted no time in getting the show started, running through a quick gamut of songs from earlier mix tapes that few in the crowd seemed to recognize but grooved along to anyway.
One of Fiasco’s biggest appeals as an artist is his casualness. Here is a rapper who prefers the skateboard to the escalade, and cartoons over “Scarface.” His everyman persona translated well to the live stage as he carried himself with a laid-back vibe that was simultaneously calculating and charismatic. His interactions with hype-man Bishop were also a source of entertainment.
“I really liked the improvised bits Lupe did with his buddy,” said sophomore Mandy Johns. “This is the first hip-hop show I’ve been to, and Lupe definitely made a fan out of me after his performance.”
The show saw Fiasco coast through different sounds and styles of song one as convincingly as the next. He performed the majority of tracks from his CD, Food and Liquor, as well as his own freestyles over several well-known hits like the Gorillaz hit “Feel Good, Inc.”
He showcased his versatility through narratives of his own upbringing in the streets of Chicago, tongue-twisting verbal attacks and songs tackling terrorism and the conflict in Sierra Leone.
“American Terrorist’ really impressed me,” said junior Joshua Ginsburg. “His performance was intense — it was better in person than on his CD.”
He also had a strong rapport with the crowd, shouting out “J-Maddy” more than once, and calling upon the energetic crowd to fill in choruses while he used the microphone as a conducting wand onstage. After a solid performance that lasted well over an hour, Fiasco closed the show with a riveting rendition of current single “Daydreaming,” in which he bounced across the stage, even leaping on top of the speakers at one point. He thanked the audience for coming out in his casual manner, and retired backstage before reappearing moments later for a brief encore. Almost everyone in the audience left that evening with a little more rhythm inside them.
“I have to say, Lupe was a good show,” said sophomore Cooper Greene. “It took forever for the guy to come out, but when he did, he came out with enough energy to knock over a stadium. I loved hearing every great song from his album and throwing down dance moves to the live music.”
