BALTIMORE � Fans got more than they bargained for at this weekend's Virgin Mobile Festival � more Kanye, anyway.
Not depicted object to close out the two-day festival with his headlining Sunday slot, Mr. West stormed the stage earlier in the day, joining Lil Wayne for a meeting of hip-hop's hottest. Maybe 'Ye was pulling doubled duty to outshine the legends (Bob Dylan, Iggy and the Stooges), heavy rock veterans (Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Offspring), and upstarts (Paramore, Jack Johnson, Duffy) wHO took the Virgin stage over the weekend at Pimlico Race Course.
Rocking a Louis Vuitton backpack, West joined Weezy on Sunday afternoon to spit his verse from the "Lollipop" remix without skipping a beat. The collabo was the high-energy point of a blistery, better-late-than-never performance. Showing up a 30 minutes late for an hourlong set would be a cardinal hell for almost artists, merely Weezy more than made up for it. The crowd chanted his identify and even booed in short while waiting for his set, simply it was all making love once Lil Wayne hit the stage. Wayne came with a mix of old-school, new-school and a lot of gratitude. "How many of y'all got Tha Carter III?" he asked. "I f---in' appreciate you."
He even took time to honor Static Major, asking for a minute of silence for the late rapper and songster before jumping into the song that catapulted Wayne from an underground mixtaper to an undeniable mainstream superstar. After welcoming Kanye up for "Lollipop," Wayne wrapped his set with even more than gratitude and some laughs, lip-syncing to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" earlier leaving the stage.
While Wayne's day was done, Kanye was simply getting started. He returned to the stage later that night like a hurricane, shrouded in flashing lights and fog. Fans threw up their Roc-A-Fella diamonds early and held them high all night. No irony was disoriented on 'Ye, who made it a point to prove his authenticity in front jumping into "Diamonds From Sierra Leone."
"I work real hard at this rapping sh--," he said. "This is real rap."
Kanye dove into a set spanning his entire career, from his most recent verse from Young Jeezy's "Put On" to his humble beginnings on "All Comes Down," asking fans to "scream so loud I can't see the music" if they knew the song.
And, of course, 'Ye talked, touch on everything from his mother's last to Barack Obama's nomination to criminal offence in the festival's host city of Baltimore. He freestyled as well, expressing his gratitude for fame and his frustration that comes along with it. The in the raw emotion was undeniable. "I lost my mama/ I went through so lots drama/ I went through so much drama/ I'm for Obama," he rapped. He then described his journey over to Pimlico Race Course, noting the flashing blasphemous lights supra cameras stationed throughout the 'hood and being content with the fact that even though many Baltimore natives couldn't afford to attend the concert, they could still see and hear the show from the parking lot outside the bill Gates. He as well shouted taboo MySpace, the Internet and Lil Wayne before beginning "Touch the Sky."
West took a bit of a jab at the festival's schedule, specifically the choice concertgoers had to make between his performance and one from Nine Inch Nails happening at the same clock time at the other end of the park (a dilemma faced by fans at Chicago's Lollapalooza a week to begin with). "It's not a black-or-white thing, it's not a rap-or-rock-and-roll thing," he exclaimed. "It's a good-music thing. We jam about good things from the heart. How can you cull between me and Trent Reznor?"
But at the end of the day, Kanye's focus all came back down to his fans. Again freestyling, 'Ye expressed his zeal to please those wHO came out to support him. "I hope you had a good time ... f--- that, the time of your life!" And with diamonds high in the sky and screams that could be heard around the block, the crowd's enthusiasm matched Kanye's (no easy feat).
The solar day before, it was up to West's fellow Chi-Town native Lupe Fiasco, wHO had fans bobbing their heads and singing on to "Superstar" and "Kick, Push." Despite technical difficulties, Lupe aimed to please, shouting subsequently his mike problem was resolved, "Let's hype this bitch back up, all right?" Given the measure of crowd-surfing during his set and the loudness of fans chanting his name when he left the stage, he seemed to succeed.
But the weekend wasn't all about hip-hop. The Foos, the Stooges, Paramore and NIN brought the rock, but the guitar heroes of the day power have been Stone Temple Pilots. Taking the microscope stage later than expected (thanks, Weezy), STP seemed to be the picture of reunification. The band was completely in sync thanks to its current 65-date tour. The focus wasn't mainly on themselves, though. Scott Weiland shared the love, cheering out those sharing the bill. "What a great day of f---ing music!," he gushed. "How about Iggy and the Stooges? And Nine Inch Nails are approach up!" He also had love for the crowd. "What a sea of energy," he exclaimed scarcely before the crowd american ginseng and bobbed along to every eminence of the band's breakthrough hit "Plush."
For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, retard out MTV News Tour Reports. And send your own concert pics, videos and reviews to MTV News You R Here!
More info
