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Kanye Wows fans at Release Party

Thursday, 12 February 2004

| Written by Dave

Backpackers and ballers alike congregated together this Tuesday night to support Kanye West's debut album release concert at New York's Webster Hall.

Countless Hip-Hop notables including M1 of dead prez, DJ Scratch and Drag On were on hand to show love to the man of the hour. Just minutes before Kanye took the stage, Roc-A-Fella artists Rell treated Webster visitors to a solo version of "No Better Love" and Memphis Bleek quickly ran through verses from past hits, including "Round Here" and "Is That Your Chick." Yet, veteran Doug E. Fresh stole the pre-show with a brief rendition of his classic oral percussion pieces. Moments later, Kanye arrived on stage donned in Polo gear which he modeled for the crowd. The new Roc-A-Fella royalty was preceded by Louis Vutton luggage carriers and dancers throwing rose petals in a scene reminiscent of the Eddie Murphy movie, "Coming To America."

Assisted by John Legend on the keyboard, West kicked off the show with a sample of his lyrical prowess on top of beats he produced, reciting choruses from Jay-Z's "Takeover" and Ludacris' "Stand Up." The Chicago multi-talent then broke into "Two Words" accompanied by Miri Ben Ari. Just as he finished his verse, Mos Def entered the stage to a rousing response from the crowd. The Louis Vutton Don then instructed ladies on how to get fit with his off-beat track, "The New Work Out Plan" and brought Common out for "Get Em High" before once again breaking with a mix of last year's biggest hits including "Get By," "Encore" and "Lucifer."

Moments later, Kanye mysteriously disappeared backstage to everyone's confusion. Less then a minute later, Kanye's mascot, Dropout Bear, popped out for an entertaining and frenzied stage dance. To the puzzled crowd's delight, it was comedian Dave Chappelle who emerged from beneath the costume.

Kanye wrapped it up running through favorites like "Jesus Walks," "All Falls Down" and "Slow Jamz" on which the crowd rhymed the majority of his verse as well as new album cuts like "Spaceship" and the comical unreleased "18 years." Damon Dash, Common, Consequence and GLC then joined West on stage as he performed "Through The Wire." Following a good 40-minute run, K, obviously wanted to extend his set. "I don't want to leave ya'll," Kanye told the crowd before going into "Slow Jamz" one last time.

If The College Dropout's sales in any way mirror's Webster Hall's reception, Kanye should definitely stand among the year's top sellers as expected. According to reports from national accounts The College Dropout is poised to sell as many as 450
Source: SOHH