LuminoMagazine.com - Weezy is Music

Weezy is Music - T-Pain is laughable

Written by DAN HYMAN / Photos by ROB GRABOWSKI

Monday, 13 April 2009

With his tour eloquently titled the “I Am Music” tour, it’s obvious that modesty isn’t rolled in Lil’ Wayne’s proverbial blunt these days. The pint-sized ganja smoking hit-maker, whose tattooed face graced the most recent edition of Rolling Stone, brought his swagger and unchecked ego to the Sears Centre Friday night. The modern day master of the hook and fellow Auto Tune cohort, T-Pain, prepped the crowd for his “big brother” Weezy, as the combo of T-Wayne proved that not only is the “hit single” still around in the pop game, it’s burning up the charts.

T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne

Entertainment

Art

Sears Centre
Hoffman Estates, IL
April 10, 2009

The dreadlocked Florida boy known as T-Pain shuffled his way onstage as the arena lights fell to black and a barrage of purple lights blinded the audience. Pain often likes to refer to himself as the “ringleader of his own circus” and was sure to mention this appropriate title several times throughout his performance. One would be hard pressed however, to say they have attended a circus performance where the ringleader made his grand entrance in a pimped-out green oversized hummer golf cart with silver-plated spinning rims to match. T-Pain evidently took one look at the financial section in the past month’s Wall Street Journal and chuckled as he sped away in his obnoxious vehicle that probably runs on burnt hundred dollar bills.

To say T-Pain is a good performer is a loaded statement. The Auto-Tuned R & B sound that Faheem Rasheed Najm, as T-Pain is actually named, lives by, would be nearly impossible to replicate in concert. So what does Pain do while performing if he can’t make his voice sound like it does on his records? Simple. He dances around like the clown he is and lip-synchs into his silver plated microphone while the studio track plays in the background. Would it be fair to think that at a concert for a silky smooth sounding R & B artist you might actually get to hear him sing? Hey, sometimes you can’t get greedy!

After two-stepping with his freak show collection of booty shaking women, masked male dancers paid to repeatedly do the worm, and midgets side stepping to the pulsating beats, T-Pain finally decided it was time to sing an actual note. Never mind the fact that it was now 20 minutes into his half-hour long performance. Pain had already “performed” hits off his debut album Epiphany including last summer’s hit “Buy you a Drank (Shawty Snappin’),” “Bartender” and his catchy verse from Flo-Rida’s hit single “Low.” The time was right for him to sing since most of the singles were out of the way.

Clad in a pink graffiti-style shirt with black designer shades covering his eyes, Pain took a seat next to an acoustic guitar player and unleashed his powerful voice on a slow love song he dedicated to his family. Pain sidestepped his way to the back of the stage where a keyboard had remained vacant throughout the show. He sat down and began to play an oddly different yet beautiful rendition of “Can’t Believe It,” a hit single off his new album Thr33 Ringz. Was I becoming delusional or did T-Pain actually have musical talent?

T-Pain then proceeded to sit down at a set of electronic drums doing his best John Bonham impersonation culminating in a rather weak drum solo that would have made Robert Plant cringe. While his performance behind the kit was mediocre and forced, it was a nice change of pace from his booty shakin' and lip-synching endeavors minutes earlier. For someone who had seemingly tried to fool the audience at the beginning of his performance into thinking he was talented, T-Pain ended his show on a high note by proving he actually has the musical chops to stay relevant in the game.

After a short break, the main act, Lil’ Wayne, burst onstage by wasting no time ripping into his hard-hitting tune “Mr. Carter” off the 2008 Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III. Wayne’s stage setup was elaborate. Multi-level platforms on both sides of the stage served as housed Wayne’s backup band. Having been to a good number of rap concerts this was an unbelievably refreshing sight: a rapper using live musicians? Maybe Weezy is music after all.

Taking a page from the book of fashionista Kanye West, Weezy dressed like a bonafide superstar. A black leather jacket to match a pair of freshly polished Jordan sneakers gave Wayne his thug-like appearance. Opening licks of “Got Money” and “Sky is the Limit” blazed with passion and swagger as did the appropriately titled collaboration “Swagger Like Us.” T-Pain joined Weezy onstage for “Swagger” and “Got Money” as thousands of suburbanites threw their bows in approving fashion with the hoarse-voiced midget of a rapper. Drawing from his early years with the Cash Money Millionaires, Wayne busted out old hits such as “Back that Azz Up” and “Fireman,” a logical choice of song for the massive display of pyrotechnics behind the now bare-chested and fully-tattooedd rapper.

Wayne’s voice, a cross between a dying frog and an automated telemarketer, is distinct and fresh. In an era where hip-hop and rap are overrun with no-talent ass clowns, Lil’ Wayne knows he’s got the goods and proceeds to run away from the competition. “I’m the best rapper alive,” Weezy proclaimed during his set. Best rapper alive? That is quite the bold statement. Is Weezy far and way the most relevant and talented rapper in quite some time? No doubt. Taking a short break for a wardrobe change, Wayne let his DJ and fellow rap group Young Money take a shot at keeping the crowd energized. Young Money, which consists of several unknown rappers including a 13 and 16-year-old, had no chance to keep up with Wayne’s intensity. When Weezy finally joined them onstage minutes later, now clad in a flannel shirt and librarian-style spectacles, the crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief at the reemergence of the well-dressed hit-maker.

Lil’ Wane, in perhaps a risky move, will be releasing a rock album “Rebirth” on June 9th of this year. Nevertheless, he pleased the crowd with his performance of the album’s single “Prom Queen.” With electric guitar in hand Weezy was only able to strum a few simple chords on the high-E string, yet his versatility and ability to harmonize over different types of melodies was quite impressive.

Ending the show in a black sport coat and a loosened red necktie, the superstar tore down the house with fist-pumping renditions of Tha Carter III’s “Phone Home” “Lollipop” and “A Milli” before doing a unique take on Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”

As the lights went dark, Lil’ Wayne stared up into the nosebleeds and flashed his million-dollar diamond encrusted grill of a smile before exiting the stage. “I got three things to say to y’all before I go,” said Wayne. “First, I believe in God. Second, I ain’t shit without all you. And third, I ain’t shit without all you.”

While it is true that “hip-pop” artists like Lil’ Wayne and T-Pain would be nothing without their fans, Weezy should actually hold off on the overflow of modesty For a hard-nosed hit-maker that brazenly proclaims he “is music,” there’s certainly no good time to start going soft on us.

Comments

lil cici
Written by Guest on 2009-04-13 14:58:28

T-Pain is amazinggg!! I didnt even like him before the concert. He can really sing!!! I was amazed and he playes the piano and drums. I just found out he produced all of his albums himself. Hes a genius. Why does everyone hate on him?? No one produces and writes everything themselves anymore. This guy is going to be around for a long time and im honored to have seen him perform. I went for Lil wayne but he sucked compared to T-Pain. He got a new fan out of me. Im still in shock

hmm
Written by Guest on 2009-04-13 19:29:33

wayne cant suck. sorry. Tpain doesnt either..he's just a lil crazy lol

Written by Guest on 2009-04-14 19:51:08