So it seems that hip hop is going through a bit of a rough stage at the moment. You’ve got arguably the biggest ego in music today Kanye West, someone’s who’s widely known for his trademark sampling on hip hop beats; he’s just released an album entirely without any samples, instead relying heavily on the Roland TR-808 drum machine and voice audio processing technology Auto Tune. It’s a far cry from his first three albums that featured an interesting and creative approach to using samples. Here he is, embarking on a solo tour-de-force known as the ‘Glow In The Dark Tour’, so it was anyone’s guess what kind of show he would come up with considering his refusal to continue on creating the same kind of hip hop/pop crossover tracks he became famous for. Along for the ride at Sydney’s Acer Arena was Nas, a legend of the scene who famously declared with his album in 2006 that Hip Hop Is Dead. So with that in mind, this reviewer wondered what to expect from this so-called ‘hip hop spectacular’.

Arriving at the venue a little later than expected, I made it just in time to catch Nas taking the stage. This is the first time the New York native had made it out to Australia, after a few previously canceled and postponed shows, so it was with great anticipation that I took my seat to hear him perform. The stage was set up so half of it was covered by a black curtain. I wondered what elaborate theatrics Kanye was going to get up to, but at the same time wondered why someone as important to hip hop as Nas didn’t get just as much room on stage. In hindsight, I realised that Nas is not the kind of artist who needs a huge stage to entertain the crowd. He’s more the type to let his lyrics do the talking, and he accomplished that feat with ridiculous ease.

Bursting onto the stage with his backing group, the 5-piece pop/rock/neo-soul band Mulatto, Nas wasted no time in getting down to business. Bouncing around the stage, he performed numerous tracks from his 17 year, nine-album career. Rather than take a short break in between tracks, Nas and his band played a few minutes from each song, and had a seamless transition from track to track, almost like a live mixtape. I was particularly impressed by this tactic, as much as I was with Nas’ rhyming ability live. His vocal dexterity was exactly the same as it sounds on his records, and his performance blew me away. Thanking the crowd as he was leaving the stage, he said, “Hip Hop Lives”, once again restoring my faith in the genre and giving me further hope for more of the same later on from the ‘Louis Vuitton Don’. It’s just a shame that the crowd didn’t really appreciate this hip hop icon and give him the respect he thoroughly deserves.

It was a short wait before the man most people had come to see, Kanye West, took to the stage. The raised curtains revealed an elevated platform with three visual panels that displayed bright colours and graphics. Then the man himself took to the stage with his 9 piece backing band (who were wearing strange welding masks), starting off with the solemn Welcome To Heartbreak. Kanye’s use of Auto Tune was to be a staple throughout the night, with the auto pitch correcting software changing his vocals to make them sound more robotic. I’m not going to lie, I’m really not a fan of the technique, but I’ll get to that a bit more later.

As is to be expected from Kanye West, an elaborate laser and light show accompanied his performance. Livening things up a little, he performed Through The Wire, Champion and I Wonder to the crowd who seemed to appreciate the more familiar songs. Following that was a slowed down version of Heard ‘Em Say that ended up with a rocked out ending, and my personal favourite West track Get ‘Em High. The latter, however, was extremely disappointing, as Kanye performed it using a vocal decoder to make himself sound almost like Darth Vader, as red strobe lights created a dizzying effect. If he hadn’t made it clear enough in the press following the release of his latest album 808’s & Heartbreak, he was making it pretty clear on stage; Kanye West seemed to be distancing himself from hip hop, the genre that made him incredibly famous.

After a slower version of the Young Jeezy track I Put On that Kanye features on, and Can’t Tell Me Nothin’, Kanye continues on. At first I couldn’t tell whether it was an actual track of his, or, as I believe it turned out to be, a tirade against the media. Running for about 10 minutes, he expressed his disdain for the press who bag him out for trying something different on his new album, claiming they collectively sent out a message to him, telling him that “…you can never change, you can never grow” and that he shouldn’t sing on his albums. It was a big “fuck you” to reporters and also included a reference to what the media did to Britney Spears to cause her highly publicised mental breakdown. I wasn’t sure what to make of this little rant of his. Kanye told the crowd he wouldn’t be fake but would “…tell [them] how [he] feels”.

My initial thought was that Kanye has lost it but in hindsight, I’m not so sure he has. His world has been rocked by some huge events over the past year; his mother’s death and the end of his 18 month engagement to fiancée Alexis Phifer. Clearly, the man has been through a lot, and 808’s was meant to be a reflection of his hurt, pain, anger and other emotions, so I think he deserves a bit of leeway here. It takes a strong person to go out there and continually receive criticism, but an even stronger person to go out there and keep going in the face of all that. I’m in two minds about whether Kanye should just grow up and shut his mouth or whether he is indeed just what music needs, an outspoken and talented (production-wise) ambassador.

What annoyed me about his concert though was that Kanye chose to perform some of his better tracks differently, such as the previously mentioned Get ‘Em High. Sure, they’re his tracks, and I can understand some artists performing them slightly different live, but to change them completely like he did with that particular track ruined it for me. The crowd reaction to some of his new songs was, in my opinion, quite mixed, with Auto Tune creating a really grating sound to the ears. Closing out the first part of his performance with an extended version of Touch The Sky, Gold Digger and The Good Life, it seemed a little underwhelming.

The first encore included a strong performance of Jesus Walks, as well as Stronger, and I thought I’d be calling it a night. But out he came again to perform American Boy. Then Kanye began the first single off his new album Love Lockdown about four different times, oblivious to the fact that quite a number of people started leaving during this 20 minute (over)extended version. Kanye’s a showman, there’s no doubt about that, but it just seemed a bit too overindulgent for my liking.

And finally the concert came to a close. After a staggering two hours on stage, it just felt incomplete and lost. Kanye definitely gave the punters a show, but it was unlike any show I was expecting, even after hearing 808s & Heartbreak prior to going in. I really hope that Kanye doesn’t completely leave hip hop behind, although recent interviews that I have read indicate that might be the case. He has plenty of detractors, but still does things his own way and while I don’t necessarily like the way he goes about it, I still have to respect that. Overall it was an interesting show, but one that didn’t do too much for this reviewer, with the night saved by Nas’ outstanding performance. What Kanye West does next is anyone’s guess.