Mos Def lit up the stage of Patten Gym on Tuesday night with therhymes, beats and vocal flair that have made him a cornerstone ofthe hip-hop community.
“Part of what makes Mos so good is that on top of being anawesome lyricist and emcee, he’s got a great personality,” saidTodd Lewis, a Weinberg freshman. “He’s down to earth — he neverlet stardom get to his head.”
Mos Def, best known for his lyrics about life in urban America,performed for more than an hour, mixing some of his popular hits,including “Umi Says,” “Ms. Fat Booty,” and “New World Water,” withimprovised slam poetry, freestyling and chats with theaudience.
“I’m gonna show you where the pain and poetry is. Life is a testand we all got to answer,” he said, before launching intoverse.
No topic was off-limits for Mos Def who talked about drugs,violence, women and current politics.
“I got some shit on my mind that I want to say,” he announced inone of the best-received lines of his slam poetry session.”Primetime TV causing national hysteria. George W., I ain’t scaredof ya.”
Mos Def swayed to the music throughout his set and interactedheavily with the crowd. When he asked “You having a good timeChicago?” the crowd’s response was deafening.
The show was the first of the year for A&O Productions, whosold more than 1,100 tickets although the concert was the samenight as the opening game of the Cubs-Marlins series.
Rappers Anwar Superstar. Mos Def’s younger brother, and Filthopened the show with a 20-minute set. After a lengthy pause, MosDef took the stage, joined by DJ Maseo of De La Soul, who spunbackground tracks for the rapper.
“We had some real hip-hop heavy hitters tonight,” said BrianBockrath, McCormick junior and A&O’s director of concerts.”(Mos Def) is an amazing artist and entertainer.”
A&O showed their commitment to improving student offeringsby renting a better stage and superior lighting equipment than forprevious concerts. The stage was at the north end of the gym, as itwas when A&O brought hip-hop group Jurassic 5 to campus lastyear. A&O also installed a set of stairs at the south exit ofPatten to qualify the back doors as a fire exit and allow as manystudents as possible to attend the concert.
Patten has long been a frustration for concert organizers andstudents because of its limited capacity and problems with firecodes. At a Queens of the Stone Age concert in April 2003, the firemarshal refused some 50 students entry to the concert, citing firesafety concerns.
“This year we’re trying to step up the whole experience with abigger capacity and a better set,” said Weinberg sophomore FrankMyers of A&O.
While in Chicago, Mos Def also performed two shows at the Metroin Wrigleyville and spoke at the Hip Hop and Social ChangeConference at the Field Museum with his rap partner from the groupBlack Star, Talib Kweli. Weinberg junior Kimberly Schultz attendedthe conference.
“Mos Def was articulate,” she said, praising the star’s socialconsciousness. “He said people blame hip hop for the problems ofthe black community, but that the problems were there before themusic.”
Yuliya Neyman contributed to this report.
