Tuesday Night the J. Cole World Tour touched down in Albuquerque giving true Hip Hop fans a taste of new artist J. Cole. He came by himself, no opening acts no hype man just him and the DJ. this was pretty impressive to me because the doors were opened at 7pm and he did not go on until around 9:30 yet there was still hundreds of hip hop heads lined up outside the door waiting to get in only to wait patiently for hours inside listening to a radio DJ play the same old jams instead of any type of opening act. I think it would have been nice to have some local opening acts that could get exposure but unfortunately promoting is not my department i’m just here to give you the low down on another epic concert in the 505.
For those of you who don’t know J. Cole’s hip hop story he is a 26 year old rapper who is just starting out what should be a long career of great music. His mix-tape’s have only been circulating the internet for a year or so now, but he is already obtained international fame and his debut album drops this Tueday 9/27. What I like about his music is that he is part of a new breed of conscious rappers who is a little more relatable to the average person than the previous (cars, clothes, jewelry) generation that has given Hip Hop a bad name. J. Cole is from fayettville North Carolina, but moved to New York to go to St. Johns while he perfected his hip hip talents. While going to school and having no idea what he was going to do with his degree he made songs, made beats, and studied the rap game in order to come out the right way. He wraps about accomplishing dreams, putting your mind to it, not listening to what haters say, and basically just real life situations that we all have been through in some sort of way. his delivery comes in many different styles, from serenading a track, to story telling, to just straight up mind blowing lyricism and emotional delivery. he has the vast arsenal of songs that is the perfect combination of beats and rhymes that a wide fan base can relate to and enjoy.
The concert was pretty live from the start before I even walked in i could here the crowd getting pumped up in anticipation. The floor was packed, the bar was packed, and even in the second level there was no seats to be found. I didn’t realize that Cole had such a big following with the ladies, but there was beautiful girls everywhere and they made themselves heard everytime the crowd would yell I could here the screams of the ladies drowning out the rest. everyone knew all of his songs too, everywhere I looked people were lip singing and just vibing to the beat having a great time. Cole did a good job of keeping the crowd in it by kicking acapella rhymes, taking a break to tell his come up story, and having the crowd clap to his hit singles which have been circulating for the past couple years. Overall it was a great concert, J. Cole put it down!! kept the crowd live and showed his energy and love for hip hip in an emotional performance.
After the show many fans were swarming around his tour bus waiting to get an up close and personal meeting and sure enough he delivered. I went to go get some food and drinks at a bar down the street and came back about an hour later and he was still there. I walked up to the tour bus and found him still sitting out front of the bus signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. It was already 1am and the concert had been over for around an hour and a half already, he could have been doing many other things at this point but he chose to stick around and show love for the fans. he was signing everything from I-pods to sneakers, but he was wrapping up as i was walking up. I just threw my hand out and told him I just wanted a handshake and sure enough he looked me in the eyes and shook my hand. I wasn’t really that star struck, but it did blow me away that he was still out there with the fans so long after the concert had ended. I walked away with a smile wishing I was on the other side of that handshake, but also this made me realize that he was still just an average guy from a town probably smaller than Santa Fe that put in hard work and put himself in a position to make moves in his life and did it. This was a big concert for me not just entertainment wise, but it really cemented in my mind that my dreams (or anyone else’s) can be much closer than one might think. If you listen to J. Cole you will see how his music can be empowering, motivational, and uplifting, the way hip hip was meant to be.
