Lupe fiasco's headlining performance at the fall 2008 Lawnparties concert seems almost from a bygone era, one before the time of Gym Class Heroes and, well, nothing. The Chicago-based rapper, who was highly touted by Kanye West before releasing two brilliant albums, came to Princeton on the heels of massive media hype. By all accounts, he more than lived up to expectations.
"I remember being very excited when I first heard that [Lupe] was coming," Shihab Ali '11 said. "I was a little surprised that such a big artist would come to our relatively small venue, but I was definitely excited."
Taking the stage before Lupe was folk-rocker Matt Nathanson, who - while a gifted artist in his own right - bore the misfortune of having to open for a heavy crowd favorite.
"Everyone just wanted Lupe," said Sebastian Franco '12, who was in the front row at the event. "[Nathanson] had one really cool moment, though. Towards the end of his set, he took the huge fan on stage that was meant for him and turned it onto the crowd to cool us down. Then he put it back on himself and finished his set."
After Nathanson's acoustic set and an excruciatingly long wait, Lupe finally took the stage and gave the crowd what it was waiting for. In his breathless double-time flow, the famously nerdy hip-hopper launched into verses about skateboarding, comic books and hamburgers.
"His energy was really incredible," Franco said, "and he managed to keep it up for the entire set. [Lupe's] vibe was just amazing."
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Lupe performed at Quadrangle Club with a live backing band, a true rarity in modern rap music.
"It was kind of like a Roots-ish vibe," Franco said. "He had this keyboardist who actually got so amped that he jumped onto his keyboard and stayed in that pose for a full 10 seconds. Just unreal."
Lupe won the crowd over with a performance that saw him run through both his greatest hits - including "Superstar" and "Kick, Push" - and some of his more obscure songs. At one point, Lupe even rapped the swooning album track song "Sunshine" to a female audience member in the front row. The girl, needless to say, went crazy.
"[At one point] I remember looking around when he was performing ‘Superstar,' and it seemed like every single person was loving it," Ali said. "And I'm sure at least some of those people weren't huge Lupe fans."
By the end of Lupe's set, everyone in attendance had forgotten about the heat and humidity and was immersed in the music.
"Everyone was soaked [in sweat] from head to toe," Franco said.
Indeed, even Lupe himself was drenched: The musician's shirt was so wet that it stuck to his chest when he attempted to take it off. After some awkward struggling, the rapper gave up on going shirtless and got straight back into the music.
"Really," Franco said, "it was just an utter blast."
This is the second article in a series on the best concerts in Princeton history.
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