Jay-Z, Kanye West Make Hip-Hop Tours Relevant Business
New York, NY (May 30, 2008) – From Rolling Stone:
…Jay-Z and West have transcended this issue by broadening their shows from the "two turntables and a microphone" concept to large live bands, big sound, pyrotechnics and showmanship. West, for example — who audaciously spends most of his time onstage alone (with the band in an orchestra pit below) — is the star of a space opera complete with crashed spaceships, vast video-screen galaxies and a spot-on cover of Journey’s "Don’t Stop Believing." And Jay-Z spent two weeks in Miami rehearsals working on sonics and pacing with his 12-piece band. "Jay-Z’s whole philosophy is, 180 seconds cannot go by without some sort of event," says Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, musical director for Jay-Z’s tour and informal creative consultant for West’s.
Hip-hop still hustlin. RS goes on to mention the artist’s showmanship, and how it impacts the overall concert experience, too. I’m glad they do, because showmanship is definitely something that has been overlooked by fans for years in regards to hip-hop. For a long time, it was just rapper shows up, rapper raps, audience applauds; as music consumption and listener choice expands with the web, I think fans are becoming smarter about who they devote time to and it’s required emcees to ACTUALLY become entertainers, not just parrots reciting radio hits. Another link in the evolutionary chain…
May 31st, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I think that this is very necessary for top level performers to provide a well planned show… if Kylie or Michael Jackson just got on stage and sang during a major tour the audience would be totally disgusted. Even bands like Simply Red have excellent dancers to add to the quality of the show. Everything is maximum impact…look at the extent of the action thriller ehich is generally un-believable. People expect to employ all of their senses so visual is vital and also with increased up-loads and de-creasing CD sales the artist will need to fill all of their shows so vocal simply will not cut it in the future. Rap is main stream music these days and needs to up its game! Congrats to Jay-z and West for being ahead of the game…as usual! Finally it emphasizes the importance of the business mind in all sectors of this industry.