Since I’m documenting my live show experiences, I figured why not share what happened when we took my nephew to his first hiphop concert. I wrote this a few days after the show, but of course it hung out in my drafts until now. My pictures from this show kind of suck. We were far away. Enjoy!
A couple of months ago, Lecrae and Dee-1 came through Nashville on The Higher Learning Tour. If you haven’t heard of them, but enjoy rap and love God, I suggest that you give them a listen. I, being the hiphop head that I am, knew that there was no way that I’d be missing this show. My sister and I also decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce my nephew to the world of the hiphop concert. Reginald, affectionately called Nunu, is forever singing in the car and we’ve had to be mindful of what we play when he’s around. It’s great to have rap artists who can be played at obscenely high volume in the car without worrying about what my eight year old nephew is hearing. Needless to say, he loves Lecrae and I’m pretty cool for playing his music.
The day of the show, Nunu runs into my room after school and jumps on my bed. “Are you going to the concert?!” I, in a nap induced haze, have no idea why he’s asking me such an obvious question. I forgot that my sister never tells him when she’s planned something just in case he acts up and plans have to change. Mothers are slick like that. He was on pins and needles until it was time to get in the car. We get to TSU’s Gentry Center and there are no signs of life, let alone a concert. Apparently, the venue that was advertised was not where the concert was being held. Mind you, the advertising was close to non-existent. Nashville has to do better. But that’s another issue for another post. Back to this story, we found the building and were ready for a few hours of fun.
Nunu chooses a spot on top of the closed bleachers where he could take in the entire room. The opener was Propaganda, a former teacher from LA. We, and most of the people in attendance, had never heard of this guy but he was super hype. I love to see an artist on their first tour because their performance is so organic. They love what their doing so much that they will rock on that stage alone and enjoy every second. That love is what makes the crowd eventually rock with them. It’s contagious. I loved the way that Propaganda mixed spoken word into his set. It wasn’t gimmicky. Nunu, on the other hand didn’t seem to be impressed. Uh oh.
Next up was the comedian/host. (I forgot his name) Now, this guy was a hit with the kid. Brandi and I weren’t as impressed, but Nunu was cracking up at every joke. Every time I looked up he was doing the knee slapping belly laugh. While the comedian was on, I noticed the next act, Dee-1 on the side of the stage. It’s normal for artists to be off to the side before their set, but I thought that it was kind of cool that he had his notebook out and looked to be drawing. Now, I’ve quit paying attention to the stage and am watching Dee-1′s process. The pacing was never-ending, probably due to the fact that the comedian obviously ran over his time and then kept going. Oh, and how much can one person have in their pockets? I’m almost positive that Dee-1 had them beat. And after spending what seemed like forever handing his pocket contents to his homeboy, he still had to stop at the dj booth to unload one last item. Do all artists go on stage with empty pockets? I’ve met and seen him perform before, so I kind of knew what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much his stage presence has improved in a year. He was comfortable on stage.
Check back in with Nunu, he’s bobbing his head, but Brandi and I are obviously enjoying the show more. By this time I’m a little worried. This kid, who dances all the time and makes up a rap version to every song, is sitting still. He’s not jumping. He’s not even standing up. Was this a mistake? Were the lights and sound too much? Does he really not like hiphop as much as we thought? But there was no turning back because Lecrae was up next.
Lecrae hits the stage and I see a whole new side of Nunu. He’s jumping and rapping along and having a ball. He’s even come down from his perch to enjoy the show beside Brandi and I. His hands are up, he’s smiling. Lecrae is performing all of his favorites. It looked like all was perfect in his little world. I’m so happy that I could be a part of that moment.
Thanks to positive artists like Lecrae and Dee-1, I can share my love for hiphop and live music with my nephew at such a young age. They are dope lyrically without cursing and negativity. They are men of God and great role models for young men. The type of “cool kids” that I want the little men in my life to look up to. We had such a great time.
I found out later that Nunu loved all of the artists who performed that night. His reason for not acting like it: he was saving his energy for Lecrae. The logic of an eight year old. I love him.
