Lupe Fiasco At Loyola College - Review

10-11-2008
Baltimore, MD - Loyola College

Review by Teach Baltimore

It was my first hip-hop concert, and I didn't know exactly what to expect. Like a lot of hip-hop performers, Lupe has guest vocalists and samples in his songs, and I wasn't sure how that was going to be replicated on stage. I also didn't much know what the crowd was going to be like. I stupidly put my plans to go on facebook, so many of my students, current and former, knew I was going, so much so that I got a call in the afternoon asking if I needed extra seats. I went, hoping I wouldn't run into any of them. Can you imagine if I got caught dancing? Ugh.

I ended up seeing a few students, but don't think I was seen, which is good. But, really, I barely thought about it. See, Lupe pretty much had me in the palm of his hand throughout the night. The kid slayed me. What a performer. Jumping and dancing all around the stage, pouring 110% into every song, often shouting his lyrics - it was transcendent.

Songs that I think are kind of silly on CD - like "Go Go Gadget Flow" - took on a new life onstage; that song turned into an epic ode to the midwest and to, um, flow.

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My favorite song of his, "Daydreamin'", was introduced with a pithy political speech punctuated by the repeated call for the audience, and the world, to "Wake... the fuck... up" and the performance thereafter was extremely moving, with the lyrics shouted through the roar of Jill Scott's pre-recorded vocals and the lead electric guitarist, who had a pretty damn good voice himself. Other highlights included "Hip Hop Saved My Life," which sent shivers up my spine, and his hit "Superstar," which he started with with a seemingly improvised repeated beat and mantra "I love you. Because you are who you say you are" that went on for about two minutes before the band got into the hook.
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