Kanye West - Golddigger (Beethoven Remix)

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Jay-Z - Dope Boy Fresh

The Blueprint 3 is official!  Leaked track from Jay’s next album, produced by Kanye West!  Full track here.

Yes We Can!

Just watched the Chicago 2016 rally on CNN.com.  Now that Chicago is an official finalist (along with Rio De Janiero, Madrid, and Tokyo), I could not be more excited for the olympics to come here.  During the rally, Mayor Daley riled up the crowd and then introduced Presidential Candidate Barack Obama to give a short speech.  He stated that, in 2016 “when I am wrapping up my second term as President, I would like for nothing more than to march up Washington Park and announce ‘Let The Games Begin!’”.  Wow!

In the past three years or so of my life, I have fallen in love with Chicago.  It has always been my home, but only recently have I learned to appreciate and understand the character of the city.  Yes, some people hate it when people who grew up in the suburbs (like me) say that they are from Chicago.  I say, BIG DEAL!  Your home town is not what area code you grew up in, but rather where you identify yourself with.  So yes, I am from Chicago.  Deal with it.

I have found myself being lured to musicians for the simple fact that they are from Chicago, like Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Wilco, (and yes, even Fall Out Boy).  I am immediately biased towards any public figure who is from Chicago.  I enjoy the fact that they, too, like to walk down Michigan Avenue, sit in Grant Park on a summer night, experience the Cubs at Wrigley Field, get lost on the L trying to get across town, and be in the city for no reason at all.  Sure, everyone has some connections to their home town, but I think there is something special about Chicago.  In my mind, there is no question that Chicago is the greatest city in the world!  I hope that in 2016, the whole world gets to see that.

HOMECOMING from Kanye West on Vimeo.

Flashing Lights (From Last Night)

Welcome To The Good Life

Last night, I attended Kanye West’s Glow In The Dark tour at the United Center.  To say the concert was awesome would be an understatement.  As soon as the tour was announced, I was extremely excited to attend, but reluctant to pay the high ticket price.  Luckily, Mr. Joe “Coolest Guy In The World” O’Neil managed to grab 5 front row tickets, at no charge to my friends and I.  Very very nice of him, once again.

Supporting Kanye was Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D. and Rihanna.  I am a huge fan of Lupe Fiasco and was ecstatic he was on the bill.  Being from Chicago, Lupe knew how to get the crowd riled up.

He did not dissapoint - none of the supporting acts did.  N.E.R.D. put on a very energetic show as well.  Pop-princess-type music isn’t my favorite, but Rihanna surprised me with her great performance.  I really enjoyed all 3 acts much more than I thought I would.  After Rihanna finished, the crowd started to buzz, knowing Kanye would be up soon.  Watching his stage being set up was very exciting.  Knowing all of the great things that have been said about his performance on this tour, I had extremely high expectations.  To say my mind was blown would be an understatement.

Rising from below the stage, Kanye West began a 90 minute explosion of sound, lights, smoke, fire, and enough energy to fill the sun.  Song after song, Kanye rocked and the crowd, myself included, exploded.  It was incredible! Going in, I knew there would be between 15 and 20 songs.  At some point, I made myself stop counting.  I didn’t want it to end.  When it was all over, I realized that my friends had I had just seen a performance of a lifetime!  P. Diddy said that Kanye’s performance made him fall in love with hip-hop again.  I couldn’t have said it better myself.  Any fan of hip-hop should see this concert, no matter the cost.  Thank you Kanye West!

(More pictures can be seen below)

Chi-city!