Thursday, August 23, 2007
Screamfest at MSG
Went last night expecting the same ole', same ole' - ended up seeing probably the greatest moment in modern hip hop history ever. After a full night where T-Pain, Yung Joc, Ciara and Lloyd all put on serviceable and entertaining sets T.I. came on and made people almost forget that 4-5 years ago MSG was the house that Jay-Z built.
He started with Wyclef shredding the national anthem Hendrix-style as his entrance theme before launching into "You Know What it Is" and then running through most of his past hits but it was the ending that was the truly amazing: first Jay came on to do his joint with Tip then Kanye came on and did "Can't Tell Me Nuthin'." All of a sudden 50 (who had come on earlier with Ciara then tore the house down with "I Get Money") was on stage and so was Diddy (who was on earlier with Joc) and the place errupted. Then Jay went into "Encore" and it was almost like the Fade to Black era again with everyone on stage still, the whole room throwing up the Roc-style diamonds and 50 and Kanye even exchanging pounds (!). Swizzy then came and did "Money in the Bank" and T.I. ended the night with an electrifying version of "What You Know" accompanied by Ciara and backed by Diddy, Kanye and 50 arm-in-arm (pause... but see above).
Honestly my description above doesn't even really do this justice: Miss Info is better, Shaheem at MTV probabaly better still. This is one night where I really wished I'd had my digicam though. I'm still scouring YouTube to see if anyone cauught any of this on film. Bottom line though: if you missed it, you should just go kill yourself seriously 'cos it was that amazing.
Update:
Kanye West - "Can't Tell Me Nuthin' (live at Screamfest 2007)" (link spotted via RealTalkNY)
And after last night (or even before?), has the tide turned against 50?
Labels: 50 cent, Ciara, Diddy, Kanye West, Swizz Beats, T-Pain, T.I., Wyclef Jean, Yung Joc
