Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Not That Exciting...
A couple weeks ago I mentioned that Snoop Dogg and The Game would be performing at my school to celebrate the last day of classes. Now that I have some time on my hands, I thought I'd let you know how it went.
Like previous years, this was serious. And since I lived in a dorm looking up on the slope, I got a close view of it all unfolding. In the days leading up to the party they fenced off the whole slope. They shut down the road right in front of my dorm, and they set up a huge stage. They also brought in some trailers for the celebrities to chill in before and after their shows.
All right, so after I attended my morning class I was pretty excited to hit the slope. It's not just music and celebrities. It's also people-watching, freedom, and a cause for celebration. I got there with some friends of mine right when The Game took the stage. As we made our way to the slope, a guy with big muscles wearing a tight T-shirt with some Greek letters on it shouted at me, "The Game is on!"
"I know!" I smiled.
"He's rap's MVP!" He shouted again and stumbled closer to me. "He's not going no where!"
I smelled the heavy alcohol on his breath. He was walking so tipsy that I was surprised he hadn't smashed his head open on the concrete sidewalk yet.
We passed the ID check at the entrance and headed toward the stage. The closer we got, the louder the music became, and the more densely packed the crowd. My friend was eager to get up close to the stage. She tried to dress up hotter than Beyonce: sleek sunglasses, hair done up, and skimply classy clothes. We fought the crowd as we made our way to the first row so she could live out her dream of being spotted. With ever inch closer, the the people were sweatier and the squishing more intense. The smell of alcohol got stronger, the wiffs of pot-smoke more and more obvious.
We got about as close as ten rows away from the stage at which point we really couldn't fight our way closer. It was just too damn insane and too packed to squeeze between anymore people. So ten rows from the stage we tried to look cool, waiting for a good beat to bob our bodies to. But it's tough to look cool when you're sober and drunk and high people are bumbing into you and grinding each other like this was their last chance to have sex. From ten rows away we couldn't even see The Game! After five minutes in the ant pile I decided I had enough. I bid my friends goodbye and headed up the slope where there view was better and the people were less and calmer.
But that situation is pretty characteristic of all such celebrations. Nutty group behavior takes over, people let down their guard, too many lose control. But how was the music?
I was disappointed. The shows were so rehearsed, staged and a little too raw. There were the small things. When game was on stage at 2pm, him and his screw shouted things like, "How are y'all tonight?" Tonight?! Do you realize that the day has just begun for many college students who just woke up an hour ago?!?! And Snoop and The Game's crew shouted at us things like, "How's everyone in the building?" In da building?! Hello, it was an open-air concert. There was a stage and lots of people outside. There was no building! LOL, okay but that's all silly little stuff. I have no clue why they would have said it, but whatever.
Before getting into his song "Dreams" The Game gave a little introduction. The song is a well-intentioned song, a dedication to all the rappers and musicians who were murdered or died in the last decade or so. The Game gave props to Aaliyah, Left Eye, Biggie, and Tupac among others. But here's the thing. After shouting, "Who misses Tupac?" a slew of loud gun shot sounds went off. And then again after Biggie. I was shocked to hear those gun shots in and of themselves. But also, they went off after talking about two guys who were SHOT dead! Woha, some respect! And the gun shots were a motif for the rest of The Game's act... Dang, isn't that cutting-edge.
And Snoop. "Jump mothafucka, jump mothafucka, jump!" Everyone Snoop addressed us, it was "How are you mothafuckas?" So we pay how much to hear you call us mothafuckas all the time? Oh, it's just a figure of speech? Right...
I saw a Snoop video on TV yesterday and the contrast between that and the live show helped me understand my disappointed. The video was so polished. The beats were smooth and harmonious. It was clean, most of the profanities just somehow not there, and it didn't matter. Are these songs with catchy choruses what made Snoop so popular in the last few years? The live show was full of cussing. Almost every other word. The smooth choruses and catchy tunes just weren't really there. It was hard rapping. The show was stripped and I just couldn't get over the shock value.
Like previous years, this was serious. And since I lived in a dorm looking up on the slope, I got a close view of it all unfolding. In the days leading up to the party they fenced off the whole slope. They shut down the road right in front of my dorm, and they set up a huge stage. They also brought in some trailers for the celebrities to chill in before and after their shows.
All right, so after I attended my morning class I was pretty excited to hit the slope. It's not just music and celebrities. It's also people-watching, freedom, and a cause for celebration. I got there with some friends of mine right when The Game took the stage. As we made our way to the slope, a guy with big muscles wearing a tight T-shirt with some Greek letters on it shouted at me, "The Game is on!"
"I know!" I smiled.
"He's rap's MVP!" He shouted again and stumbled closer to me. "He's not going no where!"
I smelled the heavy alcohol on his breath. He was walking so tipsy that I was surprised he hadn't smashed his head open on the concrete sidewalk yet.
We passed the ID check at the entrance and headed toward the stage. The closer we got, the louder the music became, and the more densely packed the crowd. My friend was eager to get up close to the stage. She tried to dress up hotter than Beyonce: sleek sunglasses, hair done up, and skimply classy clothes. We fought the crowd as we made our way to the first row so she could live out her dream of being spotted. With ever inch closer, the the people were sweatier and the squishing more intense. The smell of alcohol got stronger, the wiffs of pot-smoke more and more obvious.
We got about as close as ten rows away from the stage at which point we really couldn't fight our way closer. It was just too damn insane and too packed to squeeze between anymore people. So ten rows from the stage we tried to look cool, waiting for a good beat to bob our bodies to. But it's tough to look cool when you're sober and drunk and high people are bumbing into you and grinding each other like this was their last chance to have sex. From ten rows away we couldn't even see The Game! After five minutes in the ant pile I decided I had enough. I bid my friends goodbye and headed up the slope where there view was better and the people were less and calmer.
But that situation is pretty characteristic of all such celebrations. Nutty group behavior takes over, people let down their guard, too many lose control. But how was the music?
I was disappointed. The shows were so rehearsed, staged and a little too raw. There were the small things. When game was on stage at 2pm, him and his screw shouted things like, "How are y'all tonight?" Tonight?! Do you realize that the day has just begun for many college students who just woke up an hour ago?!?! And Snoop and The Game's crew shouted at us things like, "How's everyone in the building?" In da building?! Hello, it was an open-air concert. There was a stage and lots of people outside. There was no building! LOL, okay but that's all silly little stuff. I have no clue why they would have said it, but whatever.
Before getting into his song "Dreams" The Game gave a little introduction. The song is a well-intentioned song, a dedication to all the rappers and musicians who were murdered or died in the last decade or so. The Game gave props to Aaliyah, Left Eye, Biggie, and Tupac among others. But here's the thing. After shouting, "Who misses Tupac?" a slew of loud gun shot sounds went off. And then again after Biggie. I was shocked to hear those gun shots in and of themselves. But also, they went off after talking about two guys who were SHOT dead! Woha, some respect! And the gun shots were a motif for the rest of The Game's act... Dang, isn't that cutting-edge.
And Snoop. "Jump mothafucka, jump mothafucka, jump!" Everyone Snoop addressed us, it was "How are you mothafuckas?" So we pay how much to hear you call us mothafuckas all the time? Oh, it's just a figure of speech? Right...
I saw a Snoop video on TV yesterday and the contrast between that and the live show helped me understand my disappointed. The video was so polished. The beats were smooth and harmonious. It was clean, most of the profanities just somehow not there, and it didn't matter. Are these songs with catchy choruses what made Snoop so popular in the last few years? The live show was full of cussing. Almost every other word. The smooth choruses and catchy tunes just weren't really there. It was hard rapping. The show was stripped and I just couldn't get over the shock value.
