Kanye West’s ‘Saint Pablo’ tour review
By Edward Lennon// Staff Writer
Kanye West. Millions of people all over the world cannot stand his narcissistic attitude and crazy personality. However, these same qualities have built one of music’s largest and most devoted fan bases. Regardless, West is the most decorated and arguably one of the most successful artists of the 21st century.
West has 21 Grammy Awards, winning the most in the decade of the 2000’s, and has tied for the tenth most Grammys of all time. He has released seven albums, founded a record label, designed and released multiple shoe and fashion lines, as well as co-owning a music streaming service, Tidal. His approximate net worth is $145 million.
Despite being known as a very decorated rapper, West began his musical career as music producer in his home city, Chicago. In 1996, the ambitious 19-year-old received his first production credits when a Chicago rapper named Grav released his debut album, “Down to Earth.” His contributions to eight songs on that album created his identity and gained West more publicity in Chicago. He began to attract more attention and career opportunities, most of them were with up-and-coming rappers. In 2000, Kanye began producing for multiple artists that were represented by Roc-A-Fella Records, one of the largest and most successful record labels. Eventually, West had the opportunity to collaborate with one of the founders of the label and rap mogul concept, Jay-Z. Kanye served as the main producer for “The Blueprint,” an album released by Jay-Z in 2001.
This marked a significant turning point in West’s career. After his success on “The Blueprint,” he became an in-house producer and worked with more prominent stars of the music industry, including Ludacris, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson. Even though he was a very successful producer, his dream was to make it as a rapper. Executives of other labels told him that they would not sign him because of his past. A majority of rappers in the 1990’s and early 2000’s had tough, gang-affiliated images. West’s upbringing was not similar to most rappers. He was taken care of by his mother Donda, who was a collegiate English professor. After being denied by multiple major record labels, West gave the executives at Roc-A-Fella Records an ultimatum. He said he would leave the label if he did not receive an opportunity to become a rapper. West was reluctantly signed.
In October of 2002, West fell asleep at the steering wheel, got into a serious car accident and needed to have his jaw wired during emergency reconstructive surgery. During his rehab and time in the hospital, instead of being discouraged and giving up, West was inspired and began to work on one of his first hits, “Through the Wire.” This song was on his debut album “The College Dropout.” This album was delayed multiple times because he wanted to perfect it as much as possible. After it was released, over four million copies of his album were sold worldwide, and West became a household name. West’s long wait to release an album was finally over, but his rapping career had just begun.
He collaborated with dozens of other artists, continued to write and produce, and became involved in business ventures outside of music. After he released his first album in 2004, he partnered with SONY and founded G.O.O.D (Getting Out Our Dreams) Music, Inc. The label signed Grammy-winning vocalist John Legend and Grammy-nominated rapper Common to be fellow faces of the label with West. West never thought that all of his creative visions could be released through music. He began to design clothing and sneakers. Partnering with Nike, Louis Vuitton and Adidas, West’s success was not only in the music industry anymore. One of his latest business ventures included a partnership with Jay-Z as a co-owner of Tidal. These business ventures and his musical legacy turned West into one of the most influential men in the world.
Despite his success, West is one of the most scrutinized celebrities in the country. When he speaks without a filter on camera or displays blatant narcissism, he is often criticized by the public. In February of 2016, West compared himself to Walt Disney, Michael Jordan and even God. In anticipation of releasing his seventh album, “The Life of Pablo,” he tweeted these comparisons. This album and tour were highly anticipated across the globe.
On Sept. 3, West brought his “Saint Pablo Tour” to TD Garden in Boston, Mass. West came onto a stage, hanging by cables about 25 feet off of the ground, around 10:30 p.m. As he walked on the stage and as it was pulled towards the ceiling, he hid behind clouds of fog. The beat to the opening song, “Father Stretch My Hands,” began and West appeared in the spotlight. Thousands of fans began to scream out of pure joy, anticipation and excitement. The packed arena was literally shaking from a combination of the enthusiastic crowd and the magnificently loud bass. No matter what song West sang, the entire crowd screamed along. He did an amazing job of exciting his fans, as well as illustrating his excitement with his dance moves on stage. He genuinely looked thrilled to be performing. He performed a majority of his newest album and incorporated a lot of his hits that made him famous, such as “Gold Digger,” “Jesus Walks,” and “Power.” Personally, my favorite performance was when he sang “Heartless,” a song from his 2008 album, “808s & Heartbreak.” During this song, the music slowed down and he sat down on the stage and sang. This showed how much energy he put into the concert; West needed to rest during a song. The concert lasted until about 12:15 a.m, and West performed for an hour and 45 minutes by himself.
The lighting effects put on by his crew were fantastic. Throughout the set there were combinations of strobe lights, flashing lights and light beams. The experience of having a floor ticket was greatly improved by the ability to be under him on the hanging stage and by being able to look straight up and see him so close. What made the entire concert great was the fact that West just performed his music and didn’t break out in any rants. West solely rapped and sang — what he does best. Because of that, fans like myself walked away satisfied and thrilled by a fantastic show.