From Studio One at London’s Abbey Road Studios, last night Kanye West invited a select audience of celebrities, industry executives and guests to journey through his ‘College Dropout’ and ‘Late Registration’ soundscapes. Although somewhat academically themed, rest assured that no school assembly has ever been comparable to Kanye‘s live performance.
Dressed in a white shirt and trousers, black jacket finished with red handkerchief in pocket, red rose on lapel and standing in tan loafers, West was every-inch the Louis Vuitton Don. GQ would have certainly taken note that a potential suitor to Jay-Z‘s recent GQ International Man of the Year title was officially in the building. Nonetheless, West quickly clarified that this was no bougie fashion parade and commanded the audience to throw up their diamonds and feel the music.
West carried his captive audience on a journey through his ‘Late Registration’ and ‘College Dropout’ albums; the magnitude of his music catalogue becoming more apparent than ever. The accompanying orchestra’s rich and emotive strings lifted West‘s compositions to astral heights, particularly on tracks including ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone’ and ‘Workout Plan’. Their recital of the string arrangement from Curtis Mayfield‘s ‘Move On Up’ featured on ‘Touch The Sky’ would have made even the legend himself smile.
Kanye‘s Good Music imprint entourage were in attendance with Lupe Fiasco sharing the stage to elevate ‘Touch The Sky’, John Legend slaying the keys on ‘Heard ‘Em Say’, GLC riding-out on ‘Drive Slow’ and finally Consequence adding weight to ‘Gone’. John Legend also delivered an exquisite performance of ‘Ordinary People’ to raptuous applause.
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Canada’s DJ A-Track (1997 DMC World Mixing Champion) expertly interlaced precision cuts and scratches, even weaving accapella lines and hooks from Paul Wall and Maroon 5‘s Adam Levine into Kanye‘s performance to honour the spirit of the original studio recordings.
For almost 90 minutes, Abbey Road Studios became a window to Kanye‘s soul. With Jay-Z and Beyoncé watching from the studio’s balcony and an audience partying in awe, Kanye appropriately delivered ‘Celebration’ and concluded a historic evening not just for Hip Hop but for music itself.
Kanye also revealed on the night that he intends to release the performance on DVD, so stay logged-on to Def Jam UK for the exclusive on its release date!
Visit http://www.defjam.co.uk/news_details.php?content_id=301 to watch Kanye‘s performance in Real Player, or to listen to the show broadcast on Radio 1‘s Zane Lowe show.
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With thanks to Def Jam UK… http://www.defjam.co.uk.
