Last Wednesday, night I was lucky enough to be part of a packed
house at The Pageant to see the St. Louis stop of the Kanye
West/Dilated Peoples tour.

Young Guns also joined them, one of only a couple shows they did
on the tour. With a star-studded cast like this, the show was bound
to be a thriller.

Dilated Peoples was the opening act, if it’s fair to call them
that. They played a number of songs from their new album,
Neighborhood Watch, as well as several hits from their 2001 effort,
Expansion Team. Evidence, one of the two MCs in the group, put on a
great performance. He rapped a remixed version of “Live on Stage,”
which gave some humorous instructions on how to put on a good rap
show. During their set, DJ Babu put on a little clinic on the
turntables that was absolutely jaw dropping. By the time they left
the stage, the crowd was definitely hype.

Next came the Young Guns, also promoting a new album, Tough Luv,
which is a fine piece of work. It was impossible to stand still
while their tracks, heavily produced by beat master Just Blaze,
blasted through the speakers.

Smooth singer Rell came out and sang the hook on their single
“No Better Love,” and fellow Roc-a-Fella rapper Freeway made a
surprise appearance with two of his hits, “What We Do is Wrong” and
“Flipside.”

After these two performances it was possible to leave satisfied,
feeling as though you had just seen a full show. However, these
were just warm-up acts. The main attraction was yet to come.

After what seemed like the longest 15 minutes of my life, the
much-anticipated Kanye West stormed the stage. He stood at the
front of the stage and struck several poses before he started
rapping. Joining him on stage was John Legend, who played piano and
did vocals on much of West’s album, College Dropout. Aside from
playing almost every song from his album, West also played tracks
that he had produced for other people. He rapped Jay-Z’s verses
from “Encore” and “Lucifer,” both off of The Black Album.

He did a remixed verse to Ludacris’ “Stand Up,” as well as a
hilarious spoken-word type piece to Alicia Keys’ “You Don’t Know My
Name.”

Dilated Peoples came back onstage to do the hit “This Way”
featuring West. The place was absolutely rocking.

Kanye performed every single song like it was his first time. He
had energy like I’ve never seen in any live performance, and the
crowd could feel it. His talent as a producer is obvious in his
record sales and success on the charts, but hearing him live is a
completely different experience.

Whether you’re into the more old-school jams of Dilated Peoples,
the party-up bangers of Young Guns or the soulful masterpieces of
West, any hip-hop fan would be pleased by any or all of these
albums.

West is without a doubt revolutionizing the hip-hop game as we
know it, and I’m excited to see where he takes it.