Hip-hop with staying power
Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View was packed with fans of reggae, hip-hop, R&B and comedy Saturday night, Oct. 7. There were fans of each headliner, Nas, Lauryn Hill and special guest comedian Dave Chappelle, and fans of all three acts on the PowerNomics Tour — as well as fans of the purpose of the tour.
The PowerNomics Tour aims to embody the ideas of collective economics through community businesses for African Americans and lifting black culture by promoting health, education and agriculture. The tour lineup reflects the spirit of resistance and black success with headliners Nas and Hill. Both artists released acclaimed debut albums (“Illmatic” and “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”) that were instrumental in advancing hip-hop culture. Their catalogs of work offered introspective views into the pitfalls of street life, adolescence, being a black woman and relationships that reflect a level of consciousness often missing from today’s top rappers.
Smoking a cigarette and looking relaxed as ever, Chappelle announced that he just finished recording his Netflix special last weekend and called it a “goddamn masterpiece.” “If you think the trans community was mad over the last one, they may stab me over this,” he joked, referencing the backlash he received for some of the jokes in his first Netflix standup special.
He finished his set with a prayer for the transgender community and for victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting: “God, give us the strength to be who we want to be.” He urged the crowd to keep attending shows and concerts, no matter what.
It wasn’t long before fans were back on their feet cheering as Nas entered the stage shortly after to the sound of a booming orchestra over his “Black Republican” song. The MC of the Queensbridge genre rocked the stage effortlessly as he rapped “Halftime” off the “Illmatic” album. When it came time to perform “It Ain’t Hard to Tell,” Nas began with a Michael Jackson tribute, honoring the late King of Pop for helping clear the music rights for producer Large Professor to sample “Human Nature.”
Despite some minor technical issues and glares at the sound engineers, Hill soared through her reworked renditions of her 1998 “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” with the help of a passionate band of backup vocalists, along with an organ played with almost religious fervor. In previous years, Hill was notorious for arriving late to shows, often leading to abbreviated sets and disgruntled fans. It seems as if those issues are in the past for the former Fugees MC, who started promptly on time.
When Hill performed “Final Hour” and “Everything is Everything,” the crowd almost drowned her out with applause. Between songs, she explained that she likes to perform her songs out of order and reworked because it signifies where her mind is and lets her bring fresh energy to the performance. Many of the songs reflected a change in delivery, with fastpaced raps that at times were hard to follow over the sounds of the band. Other songs, like “Ex-Factor,” began with Hill singing the words “We do it for the most high” a cappella. The final song of the night, “If I Ruled the World” off Nas’ album “It was Written,” had the crowd cheering when he joined Hill onstage to perform it.