Lil’ Wayne: I Am Music II

Lil' Wayne

Last week, popular rapper, Lil’ Wayne, announced the dates for his spring North American tour, I Am Music II. The tour kicks off in Buffalo, N.Y. on March 18th, and wraps up in East Rutherford, N.J. on May 1st. Two Canadian cities, Edmonton and Vancouver, are scheduled in April.

A sequel to Lil’ Wayne’s 2008-2009 outing, the I Am Music II tour will support Tha Carter IV, an album to be released in April, 2011. Opening acts will include Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, and Mix Master Mike with Travis Barker. Read More

Lil’ Wayne headlines “America’s Most Wanted Music” tour

Multi-Award winning rapper Lil’ Wayne is set to headline the “Young Money Presents: America’s Most Wanted Music Festival” tour, scheduled for shows throughout July and August, supported by acts such as Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy and Drake.

The first performance is scheduled to take place on July 24th at the Uptown nightclub in Oakland, CA, and the itinerary will see the tour continue across North America, making three Canadian stops, before finishing off on August 23rd in Dallas, TX at the Superpages.com Center, totalling at 19 shows.

Lil’ Wayne, although having been in the music industry since his days with The Hot Boys in 1997, has only recently seen a surge in success and notoriety due to his most recent studio release Tha Carter III, which surfaced in 2008. Tha Carter III has garnered Lil’ Wayne a number of awards, including four grammy wins and five nominations, and he continues to ride the success as he prepares to release his next studio outing Rebirth, which will be more rock oriented than his previous rap albums.

Lil’ Wayne Tickets for the tour have already gone on sale since June 20th, so act fast to get yours today!

Canadian Lil’ Wayne Tour Dates
Toronto Lil’ Wayne Tickets: Aug 4 – Molson Amphitheatre – Toronto, ON
Vancouver Lil’ Wayne Tickets: Aug 17 – General Motors Place – Vancouver, BC
Edmonton Lil’ Wayne Tickets: Aug 18 – Rexall Place – Edmonton, AB

American Lil’ Wayne Tour Dates
Jul 24 – The Uptown Nightclub – Oakland, CA
Jul 27 – Toyota Pavillion at Montage Mountain – Scranton, PA
Jul 29 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga Springs, NY
Jul 30 – Post Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake – Pittsburgh, PA
Jul 31 – Susquehanna Bank Center – Camden, NJ
Aug 1 – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY
Aug 2 – Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater – Virginia Beach, VA
Aug 6 – Blossom Music Center – Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Aug 7 – Nissan Pavilion – Bristow, VA
Aug 8 – Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek – Raleigh, NC
Aug 13 – Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk – Universal City, CA
Aug 14 – Honda Center – Anaheim, CA
Aug 15 – Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord – Concord, CA
Aug 20 – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre – Englewood, CO
Aug 22 – Woodlands Pavilion – Woodlands, TX
Aug 23 – Superpages.com Center – Dallas, TX

I guess live Hip Hop isn’t always bad Hip Hop

As a Nas fanatic, I found myself extremely excited to find out that the hip-hop artist was planning on coming back to my city of Vancouver. The concert was scheduled to be held at Plush Nightclub, with general admission entry. Plush, located downtown next to the Edgewater Casino, is one of the city’s biggest and most visited nightclubs and as such, is often a popular venue for smaller concerts, namely Rap and R&B shows. Though I’m not a fan of general admission entry (i.e. I prefer NOT being squished in between a bunch of sweaty people) and have always been a critic of live rap (from what I’ve seen, it involves a lot of crotch-grabbing and yelling out gibberish), I decided that seeing my favorite rapper live was a once in a lifetime opportunity. So, I grabbed a few buddies who felt the same way and headed out to Plush to see Nas perform.

The show began much later than was initially announced (as is typical with rap concerts). Through entry into the club began at 9 PM, the opening act did not take to the stage until 11:15 PM or so. This opening act was Canablis, a local Fijian rap duo, whose band name is similar to their um…preferred choice of leisure activities. Overall, Canablis were okay…I suppose. Their music is reminiscent of 1990’s G-Funk hip-hop, which features a mellow, synth-heavy sound and lyrics about lowriders and bandanas and such. While I’m not exactly a fan of the genre, I must admit, the beats were quite catchy. The problem is that the beats were also quite loud, to the point where I couldn’t hear a thing the group were saying. However, Canablis are still rookies and overall, did a great job of interacting with the crowd and getting them hyped up for the main act. As well, I appreciated the fact that the chosen opening act was an up and coming local group from Vancouver and I wish them all the best in the future (although I won’t be purchasing any Canablis albums anytime soon).

After another long wait, at approximately 12:20am, Nas finally took to the stage. Though the wait was excruciatingly long, painful and smelly, Nas’s performance, believe it or not, was well worth it. To my surprise, he performed quite a bit of his older material off of Illmatic, an album which hip hop critics consider to be the greatest of all time in the history of the genre. Though he began the show with his latest single “Hip Hop is Dead”, immediately afterwards he playfully asked the crowd if he can “bring it back” to his older stuff. As the crowd erupted in excitement, “N.Y State of Mind” came on and I began to realize that maybe live rap doesn’t ALWAYS suck.

Besides Illmatic, Nas covered a variety of his other older albums from 14+-year career. He did a lot of mainstream stuff off of It was Written, I Am…, God’s Son, Stillmatic and his latest release (at the time) Hip Hop is Dead. He also performed several of his lesser known fan favorites, including few selections off of Nastrodamous and The Firm’s mega-hit “Affirmative Action”. In between each song, Nas talked to the crowd and transitioned like a true veteran, tying each song to the next in a smooth and entertaining way. As well, after Nas finished his set and the crowd demanded an encore, Nas came out and did a solid 20 more minutes of additional material. While Nas did not perform his popular Jay-Z diss “Ether” (a smart move, considering Jay-Z is now his boss), overall, the song list was huge and chalk-full of great material, which appealed to both the mainstream and the not so mainstream listeners.

Though my overall Nas concert experience included a lot of waiting and standing around, I suppose this is the norm for rap shows. However, in terms of Nas’s performance in and of itself, the experience was nothing short of amazing. While I had my doubts about rappers’ abilities to effectively translate recorded material to a live setting, Nas proved me wrong. His performance was clear, exciting, entertaining and memorable: everything a great live show should be. Though I am still skeptical of live rap (namely the young up and comers), Nas taught me that live rap does not necessarily have to be bad rap.

The Secret Life of a Rock Snob

The time has come to finally reveal my secret…I’m a closet Rap and R&B fan. Every summer it slowly starts to seep out of me, but I usually keep it hidden away on my iPod or only listen to it when I am home alone and am sure the neighbors have gone out. The reason I am finally able to admit to it publicly was brought on by the announcement of Snoop Dogg’s West Fest with guests Warren G, Tha Dogg Pound, Westurn Union, Warzone, Mistah FAB.

I brought it up casually to a friend the other day who is a huge indie rock fan. I expected to be berated for even mentioning it…but to my utter astonishment and delight – she screamed in excitement! I ran to my bedroom and dug out the Warren G CD I keep hidden in a box under my bed, alongside a few other CD’s I’m not yet prepared to admit to. We sung (rapped I suppose is the correct term) to the CD and laughed hysterically at the fact that we both new every line and had never once admitted it to each other.

The most ridiculous part of it all is that this is a friend that knows everything about me. A friend I tell my dreams and crazy schemes too, who knows all the highs and lows from my past, yet doesn’t know that below my bed lies a box of CD’s I’m too ashamed to put out on the shelf.

Based solely on the fact that I judge people based on their musical tastes, I have never let on to my guilty pleasures, unless I feel I have a case to defend them to my fellow rock snobs. I can get away with artists like Elton John (usually singing a line or two from Tiny Dancer does the trick), or Phil Collins (the man is an amazing drummer and no one can deny that In the Air Tonight gives them chills), but when it comes to popular modern music I can’t find any viable defence.

So it is with that that I declare, I can sing along to 90% of whatever is on the Top 40 Charts at any given time and I am no longer hiding my Warren G CD in a box under my bed (there will, however, still remain a few secrets left in that box…but I will now have to find a new hiding spot for it).

Join me, Snoop Dogg, Warren G et al, June 19th at the Commodore Ballroom. General Admission tickets on sale Thursday, May 29th at 4:20PM (rolls-eyes) for $45+service fees.

Snoop Dogg’s West Fest
w/ Warren G, Tha Dogg Pound, Westurn Union, Warzone, Mistah FAB
June 14, 2008 – Ventura Theater – Ventura, CA
June 15, 2008 – The FillmoreSan Francisco, CA
June 16, 2008 – Senator Theater – Chico, CA
June 17, 2008 – Lithia Motors Amphitheater – Central Point, OR
June 18, 2008 – Showbox SodoSeattle, WA
June 19, 2008 – Commodore BallroomVancouver, BC
June 20, 2008 – Roseland TheaterPortland, OR
June 21, 2008 – The Big Easy Concert House – Spokane, WA
June 24, 2008 – Dodge TheaterPhoenix, AZ
June 25, 2008 – Star of the Desert ArenaLas Vegas, NV
June 26, 2008 – Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
June 27, 2008 – Cricket Wireless Amphitheater – Chula Vista, CA